Well, this is something the Kansas City Chiefs didn’t need. Honestly, how many more hits can this team take? As if this team didn’t already have enough problems, LB Derrick Johnson went out of the last preseason game against the Green Bay Packers with an ankle injury that may or may not be serious. The good thing is that the preseason is over. The bad thing? The Chiefs have just over a week to prepare for the Atlanta Falcons with the possibility of these players missing on defense; Johnson, Tamba Hali (due to a one-game suspension), Brandon Flowers, Kendrick Lewis, and backup Jalil Brown. This is one of the worst possible scenarios you could have painted for the Chiefs going into the home opener. Depending on the cuts that get made here pretty soon, the Chiefs look like they’re ready to trot out their less-than-impressive backups which may include; Travis Daniels, Jacques Reeves, Chandler Fenner, and Andy Studebaker. As a Chiefs fan, it pains me to say it, but Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan and his crew are very likely to have a field day against us. A depleted secondary and an injury-ridden pass rush unit make the home opener a real David-and-Goliath story.
Also, I haven’t even touched on backup QB Brady Quinn. The extent of this injury is unknown, at this time. This brings up another discussion, too. If Quinn is unavailable for a few games, do you get a backup quarterback that gets cut from another team? What about Vince Young? If not, what do you do if Matt Cassel goes down? Yeah, odds are he probably won’t. But what, if anything, have we learned from the Chiefs preseason (and really, the last one)? You can never, ever assume all your guys are going to be healthy. In fact, I would assume almost the opposite. Expect injury, expect to use your depth somewhere down the road, whether it’s sooner or whether it’s later. I mean, are you really comfortable saying “well, we’ll be okay” while trotting out Ricky Stanzi who has a tendency to pee down his leg with the slightest pressure? (That hurts me to say because I’m a Stanzi fan and up until recently have been a Stanzi apologist). It doesn’t make any sense, to me.
It’s critical, now, that we get some better pieces on that defense. Ryan and the Falcons will torch this team if nothing to very little is done. My contention: we need to get some players now. Forget about the “yeah, but he’s not that good” argument because that’s why these guys are getting cut. We cannot fly with this team the way it is. Attempt to make an improvement. Whether the players that are brought in will actually turn out to be an improvement is a different story. But it sends the wrong message to the fans of this city if this organization believes they can go on with players who are developing. This is still, in my opinion, a make or break year for the Chiefs. So what is my main message to the fans? Hope and pray these guys come back healthy sooner-than-later. My message to the organization? Do the same but go out and get some insurance. Because if these injured players continue to miss playing time and practice time, you need guys who can fill that role (and no, Fenner is not an acceptable replacement).
I’m covering all of these bases now and telling you what I know and think in one clean shot because I refuse to write three articles about this that are 200 words long telling you I basically don’t know anything about how badly the players I’ve mentioned are injured and what I think the Chiefs should do going forward just for the sake of meeting a quota. I believe it clogs the internet with junk. It just creates more work for both of us and I believe quality is exponentially more important than quantity, anyway. I don’t do this for the money, I do it for you all. I hope you enjoy what I post, whether you agree with it or not. You deserve your information and my reaction in one clean, efficient piece like this.
And here is an important question I want to pose to the readers: What should the Chiefs do? Who do you go out and get that gets cut around the league? This will be a very interesting next 12 hours.
Thank you for reading, and as always, be respectful if you decide to comment.
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