Twitter Tuesday: Chiefs win, Royals hope, Mizzou bombs, K-State thrives, and Jamaal Charles' workload
The Kansas City Star
So, before the season, I figured the Chiefs to be 1-2 at this point and 9-7 after the season and here they are, 1-2, at this point so why does this still feel like 6-10?
Two choices:
The problems we’ve seen are fundamental and impossible to fix on the fly, meaning there is good talent on the roster being mostly wasted if the goal is a Super Bowl because the Chiefs are ill-equipped to win a championship in today’s NFL, or…
I’m a grumpy jerk with no clue.
Now, we can argue about whether I’m a jerk or have a clue, but I am in a pretty good mood today.
This week’s food recommendation is Port Fonda, where me and The Lady had a preposterously good meal on Friday night highlighted by the queso fondido and meatballs.
@Thurmonator8 think the chiefs and Charles can keep this up?
No, absolutely not, no chance, and that’s why I wrote this column. The Chiefs winning is repeatable – the way they won is not repeatable.
There’s just no way. You can’t count on THAT many people playing that well, and unless I’m missing something, the Chiefs have no more games against teams in complete and utter disarray including but not limited to an interim for the interim coach and suspended players from a fraudulent league crackdown.
One of the wonderful things about the NFL is that there are no perfect teams. The Packers give up a lot of points. The Ravens have an aging defense. Peyton Manning’s arm strength is suspect. The Jets have Mark Sanchez. The Giants can’t run the ball. Etc.
But the Chiefs have a fundamental problem at the quarterback position, and in this NFL, that’s pretty close to insurmountable. They have good players, but they’re not so overwhelmingly stacked that they can make up this.
What will be interesting is to see if they win eight or nine games, whether the Chiefs’ decision makers own it and address it, or whether they keep spinning their wheels in mud.
Basically, what this guy is afraid of…
@theGeneric1 Sunday was fun, and I love the #chiefs to death, but if they go 7-9 and draft anything but a qb, I’m going to lose my mind. You?
Well, I wouldn’t lose my mind. But it would be frustrating. Part of the mess here is that when Pioli says it’s not about drafting a quarterback high, but about finding the right quarterback…he’s right.
But the response, then, is that it’s critical to go get the right quarterback. If he can find Tom Brady 2.0 in the sixth round again, wonderful. But while the success rate of finding star quarterbacks high in the draft isn’t perfect, it’s a lot better than pretending Cassel is a championship starter.
@countzerokc If Tyler Palko was a tricycle compared to Cassel what are the replacement refs to the ones on strike comparable to? #TT
If the regular refs are a fairly comfortable couch, the replacements are a punch in the man-region.
My gawd, that was awful last night. Can’t happen. And check back with me today, because I’ll have more on this. I haven’t seen anyone write the real reason this sucks so much.
@donkeylips2010 Pioli sez KC is spending $140M. Why do we only hear criticism of Clark for “not spending”? Where’s criticism of SP for wasting $?
The criticism of Clark not spending is misguided and largely misplaced, but if you’re asking me to agree with you that Scott Pioli is not being criticized in Kansas City you should probably go somewhere else, no offense.
The spending thing is much more layered and nuanced than most people want to believe, and it’s certainly too complicated for this silly little exercise we do here.
Maybe I’m forgetting someone obvious, but aside from underachieving high draft picks (hello there, Tyson Jackson) whose contracts are largely predetermined, I’m not sure where Scott’s wasted a bunch of money. Matt Cassel is rich, but relative to other starting quarterbacks, he’s in the middle or bottom half, even if he should be around 28th or 29th.
Which brings up another point…
@KevinJW1 proposing new season of “Deadliest Catch: Playing Wide Receiver for Matt Cassel.” Hats off to WRs for going after dangerous grabs
Cassel had about the worst game a quarterback could have with only one turnover. His final numbers were innocuous enough, but he turned his receivers into stuntmen going over the middle and constantly reaching up for balls thrown too high.
It’s not Cassel’s fault that Dexter McCluster got hurt, of course, but it’s also true that if the pass didn’t force McCluster to reach so far up and lose his balance the play probably would’ve turned out differently.
All in all, it was about as bad a game as Cassel could possibly have with the Chiefs still winning. His receivers have to be tired of the high passes, and his teammates have to of noticed their coach showed precious little faith in the quarterback at the end of regulation.
@KBruindTheJungl Why do we have Matt Cassel on the team since he is not very good at football?
Maybe I’m naïve, whatever, but I do think – barring a drastic turnaround – that this is it. If the Chiefs don’t win AT LEAST nine games this year, it’s going to be difficult for even Scott Pioli to continue his stance that a team in today’s NFL can win a Super Bowl with Cassel as the starting quarterback.
@jlmacn913 #TT biggest play for the Chiefs against Saints on Sunday?
All respect to Justin Houston sacking Drew Brees in the end zone, and Stanford Routt making the interception near the goal line, and Pierre Thomas’ touchdown being called back on replay and Cassel’s fourth down pass to Bowe, I’m going with Charles’ 91-yard touchdown.
To me, everything that followed was related. Charles’ run was the tap of the keg that got the party started.
And it’s also double awesome that Charles shouted out his knee afterward.
@Eric_Clarkson Doe the Chiefs honestly think Jamaal Charles can physically sustain 40 touches per game???
It’s wild, right? Two years ago Todd Haley and Charlie Weis treated Charles like fragile little snowflake. Then the guy goes for major knee surgery, listens to Romeo wonder if he’ll ever be what he once was, and then gets 33 carries and six catches.
It’s enough to make you wonder if Romeo – in addition to wanting to limit his dependence on Cassel – was feeling enough pressure after two consecutive stink-bombs that he was willing to sacrifice some future for some now.
The whole thing reeks of desperation, inconsistency, hypocrisy, and danger. This is going to be an issue going forward.
@PhilGarver Frenchy & Hoz have basically been the exact same player this year. Why do the experts rave about Hoz & say get rid of Francoer?
Because Hosmer is 22, still wildly talented and beloved by scouts, and Frenchy will make $7.5 million next year playing the same position as uber-prospect Wil Myers.
I mentioned this on Twitter a week or two ago, but you can bet on Myers being called up in April, sometime shortly after the service time deadline. The indications I get are that the Royals will play Myers in front of Francoeur if they feel like it makes them better, but at the very least that will create some awkwardness.
@mrchipdouglas three words on #Royals note to fans? http://tinyurl.com/fhah-link
Nice, but eh.
@HoulahanMVP Is it weird that I feel excited that the Royals lasted until September 23rd to be eliminated from the playoffs this year? @mellinger #TT
A little bit, yes, but then again you root for the Royals so this is the life you have chosen – aiming for .500, obsessing over minor leaguers, and wearing Mike Jacobs t-shirts to mow the lawn.
The Royals have been a lot of things this season: promising, depressing, frustrating, promising again, then depressing again, and now…
@prezmike25 How should we rank the #Royals season? A lot of people said 75 wins , and we could still reach that. Is it a success.
No, it’s not a success. Eric Hosmer and Danny Duffy are each absolutely critical to the team’s future, and each had huge setbacks. Felipe Paulino fits in there as well. Luke Hochevar stunk again. Lorenzo Cain proved he cannot be trusted to stay healthy. Jeff Francoeur is having a terrible year, and the Royals are entering an offseason in which they have to improve their starting rotation in a market where a lot of big money teams are looking for starting pitching.
So it’s not a success. It’s disappointing, but it’s not the abomination that it once looked like to some.
I expected 78 or 79 wins going into spring training, and then after seeing the team down there and the injuries to Sal Perez and Joakim Soria adjusted that down to 75. That’s about where they’ll end up, and while the disappointments in the first paragraph of this answer are the bigger deal there are also reasons to be encouraged.
Alcides Escobar and Perez are each studs at premium positions and under long-term club control. Of everything that happened this season, that’s the most important, and gives the Royals reason to hope going forward. Alex Gordon had a terrific season, even if a lot of people don’t realize it. Mike Moustakas is developing. Jake Odorizzi made it to the big leagues. Billy Butler is still Billy Butler.
So there’s enough here to feel good about the immediate future, so long as it’s boosted by the right additions this offseason.
And that’s a whole different thing that we’ll get into more in the next few months.
@Thuettenmueller on a scale from Johnathon Sanchez to @dduffkc23 what is Odorizzi’s potential? #BenchCassel
First of all, this might be the most Kansas City sports fan question in the short-but-world-changing history of Twitter Tuesday. You have proper snark at Sanchez’s incredible level of suck, a high hope for one Royals prospect currently rehabbing an elbow reconstruction, are wondering about another prospect we’ve all heard so much about, and then you top it off with some Cassel hate.
Really, just a wonderful job by you. Cheers, sir.
And to answer your question: Odorizzi’s ceiling is at least as high as Duffy’s. I remember when the Royals made the Greinke trade – one of the few times both teams can look back and be both pleased and honest – the description I kept hearing of Odorizzi went something like this:
“I know this sounds silly, but he’s a lot like Greinke.”
Now, Odorizzi’s potential is less than what Greinke has accomplished, but the point the scouts were making is that the two have similar styles and talents. Odorizzi doesn’t have Greinke’s fastball velocity or slider bite, but he does have similar ability that projects toward the front of a good rotation.
He’s a poor man’s Greinke, in other words, which can be a very valuable thing – especially with six years of club control.
@kent_swanson Could you eat a Half Order of Peanut Wings and a Z-Man in one sitting?
I’d love to give that a try. You didn’t mention the fries at Oklahoma Joe’s, so I think I’d have a chance. When I got back from London, one of the first meals I had was with Jason King at the Peanut and we were showing off – split 18 wings, and I had most of an order of chili cheese fries.
I’m a disgusting human being, is what I’m trying to tell you guys.
@Z12superfly how much harder do you work than @kentbabb ?
How much hotter is Kate Upton than Eric Winston’s feet?
@patronaut0709 #TwitterTuesday With the win over #Oklahoma Saturday, is #KState the favorite to win the #BigXII? Not sold on #WVU or #TCU yet
They’re not the favorite, but that’s as much to do with having to play West Virginia in Morgantown as anything else. TCU is good, but even playing in Fort Worth is winnable for the Wildcats.
The Big 12 is far too balanced and we’re still far too early to say anything definitively – I mentioned in the columnXXXX off the win in Norman that everything is possible but that a lot still needs to go right – but to me it’s basically a four-team race between K-State, West Virginia, Texas and Oklahoma.XXXX
@KSUwildcat311 How will our intensity be on Oct 6th? It seemed a little down the week after the Miami game. I hope an extra week helps.thoughts? I would say that if the Wildcats show up sober and in uniform, you shouldn’t have much to worry about. @ApexToApex I think there are some KSU fans that should focus on enjoying what’s left of the Bill Snyder ride instead of talking smack on KU.
Noted.
@saragfunkera Just now, on The Herd with Colin Cowherd on ESPN, he just said KState is not really that good and they are a junior college!
Colin Cowherd is a troll, the radio version of Skip Bayless.
@aubreyleiter Did Mizzou’s performance on Saturday scare you as much as it scared me? Chances of us winning at UCF? #TwitterTuesday
That thing got ugly, and quickly. There are red flags all over that game tape, most notably Mizzou’s apparent allergy to tackling and James Franklin shrinking.
Every concern you can have about Mizzou right now is legitimate, but here’s where I stand:
They’ve lost two games to teams currently ranked in the top six. They have one more unwinnable game (Alabama at home), one more that will be very tough (at Florida), but I haven’t seen anything to make me run away from what I thought before the season about this being an 8-4-ish team.
Mizzou in the SEC is a big enough topic that we all need to agree on or at least be clear on what we mean when we talk about whether the Tigers can compete in the SEC.
To me, they absolutely can compete in the SEC because by “compete” I mean “be competitive with most of the teams in the league.” If you mean “compete” by “compete for the league title” then, obviously, the answer is a flashing red No. But let’s remember they never won a Big 12 title, either.
Of course, I reserve the right to change my mind on all of this if they lose to UCF this weekend, or Kentucky or Vanderbilt once they get back to SEC play.
@SEsco10 What week should Crist be pulled in favor of the future of QB at KU?
Look guys, I know we talk a lot about Pioli being tied to Cassel with the Chiefs, but that bond is made of silly string compared to the one between Crist and Weis.
And since Jake Heaps isn’t eligible to play until next fall, doesn’t it seem like it might take one of those huge tow trucks they use for 18-wheelers to get Weis away from Crist?
@BrianSchmid1 over/under on the number of times Collin Klein throws a spiral this year?
When Collin Klein throws a ball that doesn’t spiral, it’s only because the ball is so jacked about being thrown by Collin Klein.
Mark Peavy
7 months, 3 weeks agoSam wrote: “No, it’s (i.e., the Royals’ season) not a success.”
Yeah, I’d say that’s a pretty safe statement, given that this season was ordained “Our Time” and “Mission 2012.” This is Dayton Moore’s seventh season in KC, and he has yet to put a team on the field that has come close to .500. How much more time should a GM get to assemble a .500 team? You know Scott Pioli has to wish the fans were as patient with him as they are with Moore.
Brian Grant
7 months, 3 weeks ago“When Collin Klein throws a ball that doesn’t spiral, it’s only because the ball is so jacked about being thrown by Collin Klein.”
Classic. Chuck Norris is so last year.
When the boogeyman goes to sleep, he checks under the bed for Collin Klein.
Todd Templer
7 months, 3 weeks ago@Mark Peavey I think the Mission 2012 was more of a fan thing, right? I think the RFO thought it was Mission 2013, but I could be wrong.
Our Time was more of a marketing gimmick because we had the ASG. Of course, losing your starting Catcher and Closer and then 2 SP at the front of the season doesn’t help any campaign.