Credit Chiefs’ Coaches For Young Talent

What can we take away from another heartbreaking loss? Some may be enamored with the play of Tyler Thigpen, some may be jazzed about Glenn Dorsey’s breakout game, some may be questioning play calling, but let me tell you what I’m taking away from KC’s 20-19 loss to San Diego.

This coaching staff is is doing a good job, Thigpen is playing like he wants to be the Chiefs’ quarterback of the future, and there is some young talent on this squad.

Herm Edwards and Chan Gailey put their heads together a few weeks ago and opted to ditch their play-action offense in favor of a spread attack. It’s resulted in three consecutive winnable games in which the Chiefs were just a play or two away from winning.

Last week the Chiefs lost in overtime. This week Edwards made the decision to go for two near the end of regulation. The fact that Edwards and Gailey have truly embraced this offense says something, and its effectiveness has been taken for granted. That decision was a tactical one, and it should be heralded by fans and media.

The second piece of evidence in favor of KC’s coaching staff is the obvious improvement this team has shown over the last three weeks. Dorsey registered his first career sack Sunday, and he’s soaking up double teams week after week. Thigpen is admittedly much better now than he was a month ago, the offensive line is playing at a much higher level, and the team as a whole is playing their butts off for Edwards and crew.

Improvement from this young team is a sign of good coaching. The Chiefs are getting better because of coaching, not despite it.

I’m sure right about now many of you reading this are steaming, but I’m not an apologist, I’m a realist. These coaches are working with an extremely depleted roster that wasn’t bolstered with depth to begin with. The long laundry list of players who’ve been injured is wasting half a rainforest’s worth of paper.

The linebacking corps in week one was bad, now Derrick Johnson and Donnie Edwards’ injuries have given way to Rocky Boiman and Demorrio Williams. The defensive pass rush has stunk since Jared Allen was traded, now Alfonso Boone and Wallace Gilberry are playing big minutes at defensive end. Brandon Flowers and Patrick Surtain are sidelined and replaced by Maurice Leggett and Ricardo Colclough.

The Kansas City Chiefs are not a good team healthy and they’ve been as snake bitten, if not more, than every other team in the league with injuries. To put together three extremely competitive games in a row with this team is almost a miracle.

Thigpen has performed like a good NFL quarterback for three consecutive starts. In that time, he’s probably been the best signal caller in an AFC West Division with three first-round draft picks at quarterback. It’s still too early to call off the quarterback of the future search, but Thigpen is slowly playing his way to a long career, one that seemed impossible after his three-interception performance in Atlanta.

Last week I talked about the young players on this team who have stepped their game up. This week, even more came out of the woodwork. Some of those nobodies I talked about earlier played well against the bolts, like Boiman and Leggett. If Leggett can continually cover like he did Sunday, he’ll make a good third corner, and allow the Chiefs to almost completely ignore that position in the draft. If Tank Tyler can put pressure on the quarterback like he did Sunday, he and Dorsey could bolster the interior defensive ine for quite a while, and if Kevin Robinson builds on a solid debut he’ll become a weapon on special teams.

This Chiefs team is really starting to show signs of promise. With more experience and good coaching, the young players on this squad will become solid pros. After seeing some more production from these drafted and undrafted rookies, the Chiefs may be one more solid draft and a year away from being a really good football team. Whether or not this organization finds itself with or without Edwards or Carl Peterson in the near future, its heading in the right direction.