Mitch Holthus

Happy New Year and welcome to 2008. The year that sees the new beginning of the Kansas City Chiefs. The good news is that 2007 is over, and there has been much written and discussed how the Chiefs fell to 4-12. This blog looks to the future, 2008 and beyond.

The Chiefs are starting over. There is excitement to "building" a new team and a new approach. Most experts thought Lamar Hunt was an idiot when he started a new team and a new league in 1960. It took hard work and an investment of time, physical, financial and emotional effort. Yet, it was exciting to prove all the nay-sayers wrong. First, to build an AFL winner in Dallas. Secondly, to be the AFL represenative in Super Bowl I and to win a World Championship in Super Bowl IV.

There was excitement in 1989 when a new approach was brought to the Chiefs. The franchise had been to the playoffs only one time in seventeen years. The Chiefs hadn't won a playoff game since the 1969 Super Bowl victory. Arrowhead became a destination, a destination of victory. There was excitement when the Chiefs won a playoff game over the Raiders. There was even more excitement when the Chiefs beat Pittsburgh and Houston in the playoffs and lost to Buffalo in the AFC Championship game in 1993.

The win over Houston was this franchise's last playoff victory. It has been 14 seasons since that win. There could be a sense of despair in the Chiefs 4-12 season or there could be the same sense of excitement of starting over that was evident in 1960 or 1989 or.....2008.

This team will approach the off-season differently. The team will build through the draft and some prudent free agent purchases. The team wants to build a young, feisty defense that can replicate the defenses of the early 90's and the late 60's. That defensive philosophy needs to carry over to the special teams, which will improve with a better level of athlete throughout the roster.

The offense will be changed right away. It will be an offense that establishes a tough inside physical run game with a passing game that can be explosive outside the "numbers" on the field. It will be an offense that will strive to AVERAGE 24 points a game. It will be an offense that will replicate the Chiefs offenses of the late 60's and early 70's.

It is time to start over. There is some anticipation in doing so....just ask the fans of the Texans in 1960, and the Chiefs fans of 1963 and 1989.

I'LL SEE YOU AT ARROWHEAD! THE 2008 SEASON STARTS NOW!

Dear Santa:

I hope this finds you well. I hope you had a better fall than I've had.
Santa, don't get me wrong, I'm very appreciative for all the blessings that I have in my life. I'm blessed with health, a great family and awesome friends, but it's just been a long time since I've had to endure an eight game losing streak. I'm also grateful for being able to live in this great country and being able to live in the "Heartland of America". I'm also thankful for the opportunity to be the "Voice" of the Chiefs Kingdom. That being stated, here is my Christmas list for this year:

1. A playoff win sometime. I've asked for 14 years, but I'm a patient man.

2. Two, maybe three defensive cornerbacks that can play. I've asked for 8 years, but I'm a patient man.

3. Two, maybe three offensive lineman that can play. I've asked for two years, but I'm a patient man.

4. A REAL GOOD draft in 2008. Santa, are you Mel Kiper? People say you and he only come around once a year. Are you the same person?

5. That Herm Edwards gets the opportunity to "build" the Chiefs. I've seen his plan and it looks like the approach that the other successful AFC teams are using.

6. That Chiefs fans and all members of the Kingdom get to restore their pride in 2008.

Thanks, Santa...I like the fact that you wear red and not Raiders black or Bronco blue, it makes me think that you are a Chiefs fan.

Yours in Chiefs winning,

Mitch Holthus "Voice"

One of my wife's favorite movies is Groundhog Day. It's the 1993 movie starring Bill Murray as a Pittsburgh weatherman who is destined to live Groundhog Day over and over in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. In similar fashion, the Chiefs are living the same scenario over and over during the 2007 season. It's the first Chiefs offensive possession of the second half. It has doomed the Chiefs all year.

Remarkably, the Chiefs have led at halftime in four of the past seven losses. They were tied at halftime in two other games of the current seven game losing streak. In every instance, the first possession of the second half has dictated the demise of the team in ALL seven games of the current streak. It has set the tone for the second halves of all fourteen games this year. The overall season result of those possessions are as follows:

*14 total possessions
*11 punts
*10 "3 and outs"
* 2 game changing/season changing turnovers (@ Houston, Denver)
*37 pass attempts, 21 completions, 160 yards
* 5 sacks
* 4 penalties
*22 running plays, 41 yards (2.0 avg.) (6 negative runs)

Overall, the Chiefs have scored only 3 points all year on their first possession of the second half, only Carolina is worse in the NFL and they have been shut out. Moreover, the Chiefs are losing yardage and field position on these drives, changing the momentum of the game. The passing attempts are perplexing. There have more passing attempts to Kris Wilson than there have been to Tony Gonzalez on these particular drives.

The Chiefs need to win the next two games to take some momentum into 2008. They have a chance to win at Detroit and at New York against the Jets. Let's just hope that there is better production on the first possession of the second half.

It is very apparent that the Chiefs need help at various positions on the roster. However, don't expect the Chiefs to be big "free agent market" shoppers this off season. Herm Edwards wants to build this team through the draft. Plus, there is still "dead cap" money on the books from past free agent mistakes.
Enter Chiefs Director of Pro Personnel Ray-Ray Farmer, portrayed as the "Grip Reaper" on HBO's Hardknocks. He became familiar to Chiefs fans who watched the series as the guy who had to tell players they were cut from the team. Ray-Ray is rapidly becoming one of my favorite Chiefs employees. He is not the Grip Reaper, he is the "Angel of Life".
He is bringing life to the Chiefs organization by working seven days a week at scouring the football world to find new talent. Ray-Ray has worked non-stop rotating the Chiefs practice squad and auditioning players. His work could pay big dividends.
The Chiefs since September 1st have made 35 PRACTICE SQUAD TRANSACTIONS! Ray-Ray watches the tape and works the phones looking for "hidden gems" from all levels and all kinds of football. Already, the team has benefited from his work, four current players on the active roster are refugees from the practice squad. They are:
*Gilbert Harris, RB
*Khreem Smith, DE
*Bobby Sippio, WR
*Tre Stallings, OL
There are others who are currently on the practice squad who could move up next year. They are:
*Jackie Battle,RB
*Claude Harriott, DE
*T.J. Jackson, DT
*Jason Capizzi, OT
Chiefs fans will always prepare for the two day NFL Draft with zeal. Ray-Ray Farmer's draft lasts all year as he strives to find the "diamonds in the rough" of the NFL. Some of the players listed above have been very impressive in Chiefs practices this year, prompting me to wonder if there is a Practice Squad Pro Bowl somewhere. I may have to start one. I'll have the game at the Earlham, Iowa high school football field just west of Des Moines. I'm not sure how big a crowd it will draw, but I know one person who will be there watching....Ray-Ray Farmer, the Angel of Life.

This past five weeks of the Chiefs season reminds me of day old donuts. My grandfather used to run a famous donut shop in Northeast Kansas. The donuts were awesome when they were fresh. Grandpa, like every donut maker, tried to sell his day old donuts, but they were stale and not nearly as good.

The Chiefs roster is a big donut. You can scroll down and find my earlier blog on "WHERE'S THE MIDDLE CLASS" and see what I mean. The 53 man Chiefs roster this past Sunday included 15 players with 8 years or more experience. Tony Gonzalez and Donnie Edwards are the only two players in that category who have played at a consistently high level for the entire season.

It could be predicted that 10 of those 15 players will not be with the Chiefs next year. That list would include; Ty Law, Jason Dunn, Damon Huard, Eddie Kennison, Chris Terry, Kyle Turley, John Welbourn, Greg Wesley, Casey Wiegmann and John Carney. It is not shocking that seven of the ten are offensive players. One of the strategic blunders of the past two years is that the Chiefs tried to run the same, old offense with the same, old players. What once was an offense that resembled a fresh donut became day old donuts at the end of the shelf.

In contrast, the other part of the donut is that 23 of Sunday's 53 man roster had 3 years or less experience. It is interesting that three of the five Pro Bowl worthy Chiefs players are in this category. Dustin Colquitt, Dwayne Bowe and Derrick Johnson have all performed as All-Pro types along with T Gonz and of course, Jared Allen.

Herm Edwards deserves the chance to rebuild this team and do it his way (acutally the way the Colts, Patriots and Steelers are doing it). He should have the opportunity to have to bring balance to the roster with older, experienced high performing players being a base for a roster mostly built with younger, developing stars.

You have four more weeks to buy the day old donuts. Then, hopefully the donut shop will be closed.