Former NFL head coach Brian Billick was on NFL Network the other day talking about what we can learn from the four teams remaining in the 2012 NFL playoffs.
I found his points interesting. The Chiefs hit on two out of three.
1. Draft a first round quarterback. The Giants and 49ers the first overall pick on Eli Manning and Alex Smith, respectively. The Ravens picked up Joe Flacco in the first round. And Tom Brady...well, as Billick said, he'll always be the outlier. The Chiefs, obviously, do not have this.
2. Play good defense. Duh. This is one of those cliches we've seen over the years but it really rings true this year. In the "Year of the quarterback", we have two of the top three defenses in the final four (Ravens and 49ers) as well as a team (Giants) that have made it due in large part to the rise of their defense.
3. Make sure you have a tight end. This really should've been the year of the tight end. Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez are game-changes and Vernon Davis helped the 49ers big-time in beating the Saints last weekend. Tight ends are the "it" in the NFL. It's a copy-cat league and teams will start using them more and more (until more hybrid linebacker/safety freaks to cover them start to develop more).
4. Have a coach who can manage the game. By this he means one who is not calling the plays. Romeo Crennel will be calling the defensive plays and in three games he did a pretty good job so this will be something to monitor down the road.
0 recs | 64 comments
Lets see, whatever will we argue about....
Romeo calling the defense?
Moeaki’s injury prone-ness?
Whether our defense is good?
Drafting RG3?
Yup, drafting RG3…..
Brsrkr - January 20, 2012
see that everyone
A first round Qb not offensive lineman.
But if we don’t trade for rg3 I wouldn’t be mad about getting a stud O lineman and foles in the 2nd.
chiefnation - January 20, 2012 via mobile
How many of these teams have also drafted first-round linemen?
Nick Britt - January 20, 2012
Good question
Bleedingredandgold - January 20, 2012
Only counting players with the team that drafted them:
Patriots have G Logan Mankins and T Nate Solder.
Ravens have G Ben Grubbs and T Michael Oher.
Giants don’t have any, but they’re filled with 2nd rounders.
49ers have G Mike Iupati, T Joe Staley, and T Anthony Davis.
All teams have a bunch of 2nd rounders.
Richard Hill - January 21, 2012
Thanks for doing the research for me
Yes, QB is the most important position on the field.
But most of these teams are also stacked with “hits” at other positions, notably O-Line.
If you think a player is as close to a “sure thing” as possible, you draft him.
DeCastro is the next Mankins!
Nick Britt - January 21, 2012
If we cant trade for RG3 then I dont see another first round QB worth drafting.
mistamic - January 21, 2012
Looks like one out of four right now.
We can’t be sure of our tight end at this point. Romeo doesn’t have a DC. We do have a pretty good defense. BUT WE DON’T HAVE THE QUARTERBACK WE NEED.
midcalchief - January 20, 2012
but I thought Dex played QB in HS ...
oh wait, he was a 2nd rounder
never mind!
upamtn - January 20, 2012
Eric Berry played QB in high school.
Dex was the Wild Rebel QB at Ole Miss.
bamachief5558 - January 20, 2012 via mobile
I said this and said this when there was all the OC speculation a year ago ... end EVERYONE said "oh no, Haley can call the plays, he's a GENIUS!"
and we come to find out that Haley WAS calling the plays while pretending not to … or whatever … bah
upamtn - January 20, 2012
A lot of geniuses are crazy and paranoid
KingChief - January 20, 2012
I think Romeo's situation is different.
He knows what it takes to be a head coach. And he’s a very experienced play caller.
Brsrkr - January 20, 2012
And he's from "the Patriots way"
Full Metal Jayhawk - January 20, 2012
I believe that Sean Payton won a SB calling plays.
kaiser1118 - January 20, 2012
You're so smart
…that’s what you want to hear right?
chai1836 - January 20, 2012
Most of us only wanted Haley to call plays
after Muir was named the OC. Before that, people were wanting him to hire a strong OC and leave him alone.
Tarkus - January 20, 2012
Where did you read that Haley was calling the plays?
manofnothi - January 21, 2012
As a Giants fan, there is 1 thing that I’ve learned from them. Always draft BPA, position of need or not. When you get cute and try to fill “needs” you tend to reach, overestimate, ect.
Topchief1 - January 20, 2012
But we needed team speed
HIV 2 Elway - January 20, 2012
Speaking of team speed.
Your boy Dennis Dixon is likely an available FA this offseason.
GenericBrand - January 20, 2012
Better than anyone we have under contract
Sign him up and hand him keys
HIV 2 Elway - January 20, 2012
He would be a smart pickup for Denver.
He might be one of the best optiopns for a backup that could be trained to run that offense if Tebow goes down.
GenericBrand - January 20, 2012
Yeah except that he'd be straihg tclowning Tebow everyday in practice
Everyone’s got a hard on for that clown Flynn when they should be spankin in to Dixon
HIV 2 Elway - January 20, 2012
Look no further
Scott Frost is the man to battle Tebow!!
Matt_Grbac - January 20, 2012 via mobile
Tyler Palko is holding on line one.
Tarkus - January 20, 2012
Vince young
Would be a good back up to tebow. They wouldn’t have to change their offense.
chiefnation - January 20, 2012 via mobile
I'm all for that as long as...
as Tebow teaches him his throwing motion
tomachop - January 20, 2012
We can hire a QB an OC with one man, Peyton Manning
kaiser1118 - January 20, 2012
Save a dollar, pay the man.
Mr.Pibbs - January 20, 2012
How can Billick say #4
When Belicheck controls everything, which includes playcalling.
ChiefWarPaint - January 20, 2012
Philbin new Miami HC, so matt flynn new Miami QB, i think
kaiser1118 - January 20, 2012
Mortenson is reporting
the first half of that at least
KeyWestChief - January 20, 2012 via Android app
McCoy looks like an idiot now not taking that Raiders interview.
Also if the Packers aren’t planning on franchising Flynn that should tell you something and that’s probably something Philbin is also aware of.
GenericBrand - January 20, 2012
I was thinking the same thing.
About McCoy.
Tarkus - January 20, 2012
And his punishment?
Another year of making Tebow look serviceable.
GenericBrand - January 20, 2012
Win on the line
Strong offensive and defensive lines are necessary for any playoff run.
A strong running game can win you games….the Giants have two good backs, 49ers have Gore, Ravens have Rice, and Pats have Aaron Hernandez….err Ben Jarvis.
Control the clock with good decisions and good execution.
Play really good specal teams….good field position could mean an easy score.
Matt_Grbac - January 20, 2012 via mobile
That's all basic fundemental winning football
THEN you can add some playmakers and make all the sexy picks in the draft.
But you have to have a strong base foundation before you can ever win.
Matt_Grbac - January 20, 2012 via mobile
on defense you gotta stop the run
then you have to get pressure on the qb and cause havoc in the backfield and create tunovers, on offense you get the running game going to set up the pass. Then play great special teams… yep thatabout covers it
tomachop - January 20, 2012
SN: I was watching some D Bowe highlights and....
He’s really good…we have to keep him 1st(Carr 2nd). Though i don’t trust Bowe 100% ,but I trust Baldwin even less…
CHIEFFAN82 - January 20, 2012 via mobile
carr over bowe pal
If we loose Carr, we need to draft CB in round 1 or 2. Not so much if we loose bowe.
That said, lock em both up
chiefnation - January 20, 2012 via mobile
You won't sign one until you sign both.
I know that sounds stupid, but the point is, both of their agents are waiting to see who flinches first. One will sign, then the other will immediately get slappped with the franchise tag and risk some bargaining position. It’s a bit of a game of chicken between Carr’s people and Bowe’s people, regardless of what Pioli tries. I wouldn’t expect movement there until well near the end of free agency.
juvatbull - January 20, 2012 via mobile
No effing way.
Steve Breaston isnt a number 1 and Baldwin hasn’t done jack shit in this league. All he is is raw potential at this point.
Bowe is the single most important piece of the offense after Jamaal Charles.
bamachief5558 - January 20, 2012 via mobile
Everyone looks good in highlights
RamX21 - January 20, 2012
I agree that we have to keep Bowe
…but he seems like a guy that would get lazy once he gets paid, and that scares me.
Streetcleaner - January 21, 2012
Huh?
Tarkus - January 20, 2012
See...
We hit on two of three from the four, but only one of the two from the three. Of course we hit two of the other two from the three, but not two of the other three of the four.
See?
juvatbull - January 20, 2012 via mobile
now THAT makes sense
crystal clear communication :-)
upamtn - January 20, 2012
agreed
chiefnation - January 20, 2012 via mobile
QB in the first round.
Its been awhile since we tried it….what the hell right?
EHJ0815 - January 20, 2012 via mobile
I've been saying this for years
1. Draft a first round quarterback. The Giants and 49ers the first overall pick on Eli Manning and Alex Smith, respectively. The Ravens picked up Joe Flacco in the first round. And Tom Brady…well, as Billick said, he’ll always be the outlier. The Chiefs, obviously, do not have this.
saints_chiefsfan1979 - January 20, 2012
we have Stanzi ... maybe he'll be our outlier
upamtn - January 20, 2012
anything is possible
Just don’t put your mortgage , 401k, investments on it
saints_chiefsfan1979 - January 20, 2012
how about a wal-mart 10 dollar gift card?
no thanks I’ll take the card, hey beer is getting expensive!
tomachop - January 20, 2012
ok ...it's a deal
saints_chiefsfan1979 - January 20, 2012
I dont agree with number one at all thats basically selling fools gold
Who they have at QB is irrelevant at this point whats more notable is how they didnt go into a full blown panic every season about the QB position and have over years built up there other positions especially along the lines.
Alex Smith being a first rd qb means little as hes played like hot garbage for years the fact that even with that being well established they took in 2010 Pouncey and Davis in the first rd
Those types of moves signify a organization building for the long haul not buying into the charade that one guy is gonna save them . In fact all these organizations have drafted and developed for the long haul.
For all the talk of Bradys greatness which is evident hes still never played on a defensive squad thats finished worse than around 15th in points allowed .
Those 4 teams show that the QB is actually irrelevant and that the short term and longterm planning via free agency and the draft are the key.
You gotta know when to cut losses ,when to resign certain talents and when to trade .
Willie Beamon - January 20, 2012
Disagree?
24 of 45 Superbowl WINNERS have/had FIRST Round QBs(53%)! That would be 25/45 if you consider that Brees was traded for a No 1 Pick! 24 of 45 SB MVPs have been QBs(more then every other position total)! Whereas those MVP’s weren’t always the same first round QBs, it just shows that historically, the quality of QB improves your chances of winning it all! 12 of the last 18 SBs(67%) have been won by teams with a first round pick QB(signifying that it is trending upward)!
Jason Drue Keith - January 20, 2012
Just curious
of those 24 winners, how many of those winners were different QBs? How many of those 24 were the same QBs winning multiple times
badassz1987 - January 20, 2012
I'll point out that around 50% of 1st round QBs drafted are starters.
Which means that the 1st round QB stat doesn’t really elevate your team beyond the normal success rate of drafting a QB prospect. It just means that there’s a better chance a first round QB will be successful than a later round QB. So basically, it doesn’t matter if it’s a first round pick or an UDFA, if he can play, he can play. There’s just a higher chance he can play if he’s drafted in the first.
Richard Hill - January 21, 2012
I would like to add that
it is not always the QB’s fault if he is a bust. Many of the best QB’s get drafted by horrible teams with horrible OL or no talent around them and they never really have a chance. David Carr is a great example of this. Mark Sanchez is the opposite of this.
Streetcleaner - January 21, 2012
Have you seen the Brady 6?
If you haven’t , I suggest you do . Brady with all his money, success , wife, still……still feels slighted at being the 199th pick to the point of legitamate tears over that fact. He is still the hardest worker on a team with dedicated guys. Is Stanzi that guy? Is Stanzi shouting at his coaches ‘’put me in god damnniit. I have this!! Did Stanzi go to Clark Hunt and say …’‘this is the best decision you ever made drafting me’’? What about Bellicheck? He failed in Cleveland, Failed his 1st year with the Pats, was 0-2 until Bledsoe got hurt, then Brady came in.. low and behold, he is a genius. Make no mistake, the bulk of that teams success (85 %) is Brady not Bellechick or Pioli
saints_chiefsfan1979 - January 20, 2012
Great point you make about Belichick.
Without Brady as his QB his record as a HC is pretty uninspiring.
mistamic - January 21, 2012
Instead of rg3
Why not just get a qb with our first pick at our slot? Instead of giving up picks for rg3. That woul make better sense to me. Not giving up picks will let us fix the rest of our holes.
kniteeagle67 - January 21, 2012 via mobile
Because if that QB isn't a distinct improvement over Cassel...
Then you’ve wasted the pick. People want to move up to draft RG3 because they think he’ll be a star. No other QB’s besides him and Luck look like that, at least at this point in the draft process.
MP-17 - January 21, 2012
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