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.

The Chiefs are in a rebuilding/retooling/transition mode. However, there are certain situations that require precision no matter the status of the team. A perfect example is kicking 30 yard field goals. Len and I hold our breath and cross our fingers everytime the Chiefs attempt a 30 yard field goal. That shouldn't happen in the NFL.

Dave Rayner has missed THREE field goals of 33 yards or less in 10 games!Justin Medlock missed a 30 yard field goal at Houston to begin the season. FOUR missed field goals of 33 yards or less in 11 games? It shouldn't happen. 30 yard field goals are commonplace for high school kickers throughout the Chiefs Kingdom. The problem is amplified when you compare what has happened in 2007 to the Chiefs kickers with the rest of the AFC West.

Jason Elam has been the Denver Bronco kicker for 15 years. He has missed 10 field goals from the 30-39 yard range in 15 years! This year he is 3-3 from that range. "SEABASS" Sebastian Janikowski has been the Oakland Raider kicker for 8 years. He has missed 7 field goals from the 30-39 range in 10 years! This year he is 5-5 from that range. This week, the San Diego Chargers come to town with Nate Kaeding as their kicker. The 25 year old has missed 2 field goals from 30-39 yards in 4 years. He is 3-4 this year from that range.

Len and I are usually short of breath anyway, we or Herm shouldn't have to hold our breath when the Chiefs are trying a 30 YARD FIELD GOAL. Yes, this Chiefs team is rebuilding/retooling/transitioning. However, the Chiefs COULD have beaten Green Bay and Indianapolis and SHOULD have beaten Denver and Oakland at home. This week should have been a showdown game with the Chargers featuring two teams leading the division with 6-5 records, now the focus is just to win a game and sweep the Bolts. Let's just hope that 30 yard field goals become automatic again someday soon for the Chiefs.

Has anyone else noticed that the AFC West has gone from the BRAVEHEART division to the DAYCARE division? The youngest group of starting quarterbacks in the NFL now resides in the AFC West. It's about time, the division is five years behind their counterparts.

Brodie Croyle is now the Chiefs starting quarterback and played admirably against the Colts. He gave his team a chance to win, didn't throw interceptions and his touchdown throw to Dwayne Bowe was hopefully the first of many to come.

Croyle is 24 years old and is a second year player in the NFL. What about the hated Denver Donkies....errr Broncos? Jay Cutler, the starting Bronco quarterback is 24 years old and is a second year player in the NFL. Does that description sound familar?

The grandpa of the young quarterbacks is San Diego starter Philip Rivers. Rivers is an age old 25 year old, fourth year player. However, he is really in his second year of playing fulltime after sitting for two years behind Drew Brees.

The Raiders quarterback situation is not far behind. Here he comes and get ready for the baby of the babies.....JeMarcus Russell, a 22 year old rookie who has been waiting and waiting on the Raider bench for a chance to play. It would be interesting indeed if he played this week for the Raiders against the Chiefs. Russell is "tight" with Chiefs WR Dwayne Bowe and worked out with the Chiefs rookie while both were holding out during training camp.

The AFC West for years kept plugging in old, retread quarterbacks with the exception of John Elway who was brought up mostly in the Bronco system. That strategy belongs in the 1990's as much as cassette machines. The NFL has entered the digital age of drafting and developing young quarterbacks. Who is the best team in the NFL? New England drafted and developed Tom Brady. Who is next? Indianapolis drafted and developed Peyton Manning. Who is next?

Pittsburgh drafted and developed Ben Roethlisberger. Who is next? Dallas took an undrafted free agent WHO LOOKED AT KANSAS CITY by the name of Tony Romo and developed him. He was a 2003 free agent who was scouted by the Chiefs, but the Chiefs were not interested in looking at a young quarterback at the time.

It is a new era for the Kansas City Chiefs, and a new era for the AFC West. It was an era that the rest of the successful teams in the league started four to five years earlier. Vinny Testaverde need not apply...youth is being served in the AFC West.

The loss on Veterans Day to a pedestrian Denver Bronco team was hard to take. Denver had only four starters in the game Sunday that started for them last Thanksgiving night in Kansas City. It was the weakest Denver team that I have seen in 14 years. I have not slept well since the loss, because some numbers keep spinning in my head.

TWO POINTS: It will be maybe the most controversial Chiefs halftime lead in recent Chiefs history. I fully expected Herm Edwards to replace Damon Huard with Brodie Croyle at quarterback AT HALFTIME. Damon Huard was having his worst game and had thrown an interception at the Denver two yard line. Moreover, Denver had dropped a couple other interception opportunities. Yet, the Chiefs had a nervous two point lead at halftime. It would have been an easier decision for Herm to make if the Chiefs would have trailed by two at halftime. As it were, Huard started the third quarter with a devastating "pick" that led to.....

NINETY-SEVEN SECONDS OF 14 Bronco points. The Chiefs had the lead and the ball to start the third quarter. Huard threw the aforementioned interception that turned the game. The Chiefs defense also allowed 4.9 yards per rushing attempt in the game. A rushing total that included a 20 yard TD run by undrafted rookie free agent Selvin Young in the ninety seven second onslaught by Denver.
Keep in mind, the Chiefs entered the week as the number one "red zone" defense in the NFL.

6...3...4...5...: Don't misunderstand me with this blog. The Chiefs are rebuilding under Herm Edwards, but this Chiefs team could have beaten Green Bay and SHOULD have beaten Denver. Two straight home losses, two straight lost halftime leads, a possible one game division lead with seven games to go all can cause insomnia.

Herm Edwards has faced nothing but challenges since he took over the Chiefs in January, 2006. He has fought off challenge after challenge. He faces another huge challenge the next seven weeks. He must keep this team afloat while rebuilding for the future.

The 33-22 loss to the Green Bay Farve's had me tossing and turning Sunday night/Monday morning. It was a wild surreal 60 minutes of good news and bad news.

GOOD NEWS: The Chiefs offense finally had an epiphany of sorts with two consecutive drives of 74 and 82 yards to regain the lead TWICE against the Packers. The Chiefs offensive coaches had told me that they had a sense that the offense could start clicking after the bye week. They had put in some new wrinkles and some of those new formations and plays worked.

BAD NEWS: This offense CANNOT wait 45 minutes to get cranked up. If the Chiefs are going to win the AFC West, the offense needs to take their epiphany and do it in the first half. This team has struggled in the first half of every game sans Cincinnati. The Chiefs didn't cross the 50 yard line on offense until the 13:15 mark of the FOURTH QUARTER. That puts too much pressure on the defense early in games.

GOOD NEWS: The Chiefs defense stood toe-to-toe with arguably the toughest quarterback to play in the NFL and held their ground.....for three quarters. The Packers use a lot of three and four and five wide sets (TD to Jennings). The Pack reduces your defense to the lowest common denominator, your nickleback and dimeback. They can also "formation" to big plays (TD to Jennings). The Chiefs D did their part and defended Farve for 56 plays, unfortunately the Packers ran 62. The Chiefs entered the week 7th in the NFL in disallowing pass plays of 20 plus yards.

BAD NEWS: The Chiefs won't be 7th in that category this week. They allowed a 44 yard pass to Donald Driver, a 48 yard pass to a tight end and the 60 yard (TD to Jennings). The defense is a main reason that the Chiefs have won 4 games this year. However, the offense had given the Chiefs a 6 point lead with 5:18 to go at home and the Packers had to go 82 yards (TD to Jennings).

GOOD NEWS: The crowd was electric Sunday, it was like a playoff game.

BAD NEWS: How did all of those Packer fans get tickets? The game at times seemed as if it was played in a neutral stadium. I could not believe the noise I heard in my head phones during big Packer plays (TD to Jennings).

GOOD NEWS: The Chiefs can win the AFC West. It is up for grabs and the Donkeys are coming this week and hopefully we can get our stadium back.

BAD NEWS: There is no bad news here. Don't apologize for the AFC West, or I'll send you a DVD of the 1997 Chiefs playoff loss to the Donks. Remember? The Chiefs were 13-3 and the Donks were 12-4. ITS TIME TO WIN THE DIVISION. The Chiefs have only one division title since that 1997 playoff loss, so don't get picky, just do it.

ILL SEE YOU AT ARROWHEAD... ITS DONKEY WEEK!

My parents still live on the family farm in north central Kansas. Their dog, General is not a dog of pedigree. General is a "mutt" cross of German Shepherd and something else. It is the best dog the farm has ever had roam the property and the farm has been around for one hundred years. Why is this dog so special? General is tough and takes on all intruders and whips them all; snakes, bobcats, skunks, coyotes, stray dogs....anything!

That dog reminds me of this 2007 Chiefs team or this team reminds me of that dog. Take this into consideration as we all head into the bye week. THE CHIEFS ARE THE ONLY AFC TEAM WITH A WINNING RECORD THAT HAS NOT OUTSCORED ITS OPPONENTS. The Chiefs have been an UNDERDOG in 6 of their 7 games, including being a home underdog twice! The Chiefs and the New York Giants are the only two teams in the NFL that lost their first two games of the season and have a winning record after seven weeks.

It doesn't make sense, if you look at the statistics. This team isn't about stats, its about doing what it takes to win....ugly, pretty or otherwise. OK, I'm still waiting for the pretty win, but you know what I mean. This week on the Dodge Chiefs Insider television show seen throughout the Chiefs Kingdom, I'm going to show what makes this team tick. It makes key plays under difficult circumstances. Examples include plays you have forgotten about; Jared Allen's strip of Adrian Peterson in the Vikings game, Jarrad Page's strip of Michael Turner in the San Diego game, Pat Surtain bird"dogging" Chad Johnson in the Bengal game and Damon Huard showing guts in making two throws in the Raider game.

This team is like that "stud" farm dog....it just fights...and its not especially a team of pedigree...not a "pretty" team and as Herm Edwards would say.."that's ok". Herm's response on our post-game show Sunday was profound when I asked him what we have learned about this team after seven games. Herm said, "..they are a team of tremendous will". I like this "dog" and you should too, theres a lot to like about it....just like that farm dog.