There is a shortcut that I take when driving from River Falls, Wisconsin to Kansas City. The shortcut takes me through the beautiful town of Northfield, Minnesota. Northfield is the home of Carleton College and St. Olaf College plus it is where the Jesse James gang met its demise in 1876. It is also home of a plant where the famous breakfast Malt-O-Meal is made. You certainly remember Malt-O-Meal, the delicious hot wheat cereal or instant oatmeal that your Mom used to make before the school bus arrived.
The Chiefs pre-season game versus Arizona reminded me of that Malt-O-Meal plant and it reminded me that the Chiefs are NOT Malt-O-Meal. The 2008 Chiefs are not going to be instant oatmeal or a microwave hot breakfast. There is a lot of young talent on this Chiefs roster, but it is going to take a process of development for that talent to mature. I tell Chiefs fans all the time to be excited but to be patient.
The best example of this thesis is Chiefs CB Brandon Flowers. The feisty second round draft pick from Virginia Tech is the most promising young cornerback the Chiefs have had in years. Yet, it is going to take some time for him to develop. Many Chiefs fans want him to be Bronco stud Champ Bailey right away, but those are unrealistic expectations. The Arizona game proved that Flowers will win his share of one on one battles and lose his share as well. The Cardinals might have the best receiver group in the NFC. Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald are the only pair of receivers in NFL history that have had 2 Pro Bowl appearances EACH in their first four years. The Cards decided to go after Flowers with both Boldin and Fitzgerald. Flowers saw a variety of pass routes by the Cardinal receivers. Flowers had to defend; fades, shallow crosses, deep crosses, hitches and double moves. Flowers defended most of them well, but was beaten on others.
Gunther Cunningham and Herm Edwards decided during the off-season to add a variety of defensive coverages. The Chiefs will use zone defenses, man-to-man defenses and a combination of both. However, to employ such strategies requires cornerbacks who have man-to-man coverage skills. Flowers has the ability to play man, zone and combos. Yet, it will take some time for Brandon Flowers to refine his skills to perform at a high level all the time, especially when he is up against the caliber of receivers that the Arizona Cardinals have.
Brandon Flowers is not Malt-O-Meal...the 2008 Chiefs are not Malt-O-Meal...they are a work in progress. My motto for this team continues to be "be excited, but be patient".
