John J Savala's Kansas City Chiefs fan blog

With the St Louis Rams and the Atlanta Falcons scrambling to be the first to hire offensive tackle Jake Long, the Chiefs will probably have to turn to free-agency in order to fill their holey (and I dont mean religious) offensive line.  Ryan Clady of Boise State and Chris Williams of Vanderbilt are both good, solid tackle prospects that should go in the first round.  But neither of these players are top five material.  So where does that leave the Chiefs? 

The most likely scenerios would be the acqusition of DT Sedrick Ellis or DT Glen Dorsey.  Looking at the stats from their respective collegiate careers, one would think Dorsey would be the obvious choice, with him being the most decorated LSU lineman of all time.  But there is an unseen issuse with Dorsey that might make the Chiefs pass him over for the Trojans star defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis.  His chronic knee injuries have plauged him over these past two years and will continue to plauge him throughout his career.

Continue reading "Draft Day Dodger"

    As I have stated in some of my previous blogs, the offensive line of my Kansas City Chiefs this year was truly horrendous and definitely offensive.  With pro bowlers Will Shields and Willie Roaf gone, the front five have shown lack of leadership, lack of cohiesiveness and lack of skill.  Two things they have shown are the ability to hold and jump offsides, which aren't all that helpful to anyone except the opposing defense. 

    In the upcoming 2008 NFL Draft, KC has the fifth overall pick, and if Michigan's star offensive lineman Jake Long is still available, there is a extremely good chance he will be playing at Arrowhead Stadium in the very near future.  At 6'7" and 313 pounds, he will add some much needed size and strength to the tackle position, and his smart, agressive play should make him a leader of the hodge podge offensive line.  While blocking at Michigan, he was called for only one holding call during his entire tenure!  That is much more appealing than the two holding calls per game that the Kansas City Chiefs were called for this past season.  

Continue reading "Still a Long Way Off..."

In my previous blog i talked about the three things that i saw as the biggest problems plauging the Chiefs throughout the 2007 season: Tackling, lack of offensive production and the increasing number of big plays given up on defense.  Since this is clearly a rebuilding year, i saw fit to post another blog illustrating three more issues that caused us Grief: The Offensive Line, The Quarterback Situation and the Coaching Staff Crisis.

1.  Offensive Line:  In 2003, the Chiefs offensive line gave up only 21 sacks with an aging and immobile Trent Green behind the center.  This year we surrendered 55 sacks and our play callers had much younger legs under them.  It seems like the opposing D Line spent as much time in the backfield as any particular player on the Chiefs squad.  Other than C Casey Wiegman and G Brian Waters, our offensive line is populated with hold-happy non-blocking lineman.  Don't be suprised if this problem is addressed in the 2nd or early 3rd round of the NFL Draft.

Continue reading "3 More Issues With The Kansas City Griefs"

    Well, it's finally over.  My beloved Kansas City Chiefs closed out the season with their ninth  consecutive loss on sunday, this one coming againts the equally hapless Jets.  It seems like only yesterday that we were 4-3 and sitting atop the AFC West, with at least 5 "sure win" games ahead of us.  But alas, how quickly everything falls apart.  While the New England Patriots were making a run at history with a 16-0 record, so too were the Chiefs chasing their own piece of history, finishing with their worst single season record since 1978. In the recent past, teams dreaded the day they came to Arrowhead to face the Chiefs on their own turf, but now, most teams mark their calendar excitedly with a W long before the game actually takes place. I remember a time, (granted i am only 25) when the Chiefs were renowned for being the only team to make it to the playoffs every year in the 1990's.  And now we are seen as the butt of many jokes around the NFL.  What caused this decline in prestige and wins in recent years?  Here are just a few reasons we went from the Chiefs to the Griefs:

Continue reading "Parting is such sweet sorrow..."

    For most Kansas City Chiefs fans, it was bittersweet to watch the Denver Broncos get knocked out of playoff contention thursday night versus the Houston Texans on NFL Network.  On one hand, watching the archrival Broncos lose to any team makes my heart feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  The fact that Denver needed a win to stay in the AFC wildcard hunt made that particular loss even warmer and fuzzier.  And yet, as soon as I begin thinking about the available AFC playoff spots, I am reminded of the spot my beloved Chiefies are currently occupying, the cellar.  With only four wins this season the only possible way, mathematicallly or otherwise, for the Chiefs to make a playoff appearance would be for them to buy a plane ticket and watch the game from the

Continue reading "K.C. Chiefs, A Truly Offensive Team...To Watch"