Vrabel to Chiefs

It looks like new Kansas City GM Scott Pioli is busy adding some old Patriot magic to the Chiefs, bringing in LB Mike Vrabel via trade from his old team.

KC gets some much needed experience and leadership from a veteran player, New England has the opportunity to inject some youth into their aging linebacking corps. I'm not sure what the Pats get in return, but so far this seems to be a pretty one-sided deal.

Pioli Leaves New England for Kansas City

In one of the best examples of "from the penthouse to the shithouse" Scott Pioli has left his position as Vice President of Player Personnel for the New England Patriots in order to take the GM job with Kansas City.

I understand why Pioli left his position with the Pats - he wants to carve out his own legacy. He didn't have full control in New England, everyone knows that was Belicheat's team. Pioli is the only guy holding the reigns in Kansas City. He doesn't have to defer to anyone else (except maybe the owner.) If Pioli can build the Chiefs back into a contender then he's the hero, not Belichick. So, I understand why he took the job, I just don't agree with it.

Kansas City needs a lot of work, and there's a very good chance that Pioli could also tank his career by taking this job. If he builds a winner then he's going to get a lot of credit and respect, but the odds are stacked against him.

This also likely means the end of Herm Edwards in KC. ESPN's Michael Smith reported an unnamed source close to the team said not to rule out Herm Edwards to continue as Head Coach, but I don't buy it. I like Herm Edwards a lot, but I really don't like him as an NFL head coach. He is far too conservative for my tastes. He's an average coach. An 8-8 kind guy, meaning he has the ability to eek out 8 wins from a terrible team, but he'll also frusterate fans by losing 8 games with a great team. I just don't think he's the answer for the Chiefs and he will get the axe sometime this offseason.

Larry Johnson Returns to Field

Larry Johnson has returned to practice for the Kansas City Chiefs. Johnson has missed the last four games, three because he was benched by the team and one because he was suspended by the league for violating the personal conduct policy.

The Chiefs changed their gameplan in L.J.'s absence, opening up the air attack and allowing Thigpen to hurl the ball - which he did quite well.

The offense may look different, but it can only help having the team's top back return to the field. If anything, the emergence of a decent air attack is going to force teams to back off the line and give L.J. some extra running room, allowing him the chance to match his ridiculous '05 and '06 stats.

As for Johnson's continuing legal problems. He is being sued by a woman named Ashley Stewart for allegedly spitting a drink in her face at a club. I once had a law professor tell me that "you can't sue for hurt feelings." And since I doubt she has extensive medical bills from that liquid to the face I hope to God that she gets what she deserves: Nothing. Unfortunately this is America, where people love to punish the wealthy and successful. Johnson's probably going to end up "settling" out of court. Which is just code for hush money.

My Apologies to Tyler Thigpen

I recently wrote an article ranking the Kansas City Chief's QBs as the worst in the league halfway through the season.

I wasn't overly critical of Thigpen, although I did say that he wasn't a long term solution in Kansas City, but after watching his performance against San Diego I'm rethinking the situation. I think Tyler Thigpen could be the answer in Kansas City.

Let's get a few things out of the way first. San Diego is ranked last in the league in pass defense. It's not rare for a quarterback to have a career game against this team. But Thigpen also managed to post a QB rating of 89.4 against Tampa Bay's 5th-ranked pass defense.

Thigpen had one of the best games of his short pro career, passing for 266 yards and 3 TDs, but his performance went beyond his stat line. He was tough all game long. He stood strong in the pocket and delivered the ball with accuracy. He identified his top targets and hit them often. He seems to be developing a very good rapport with Gonzalez, Bradley and Bowe. Some offenses thrive on spreading the ball around, but Kansas City can win feeding it to these three guys and supplementing it with some hard running from whoever happens to line up in the backfield each week.

I'm not climbing aboard the Thigpen bandwagon just yet. He still has a long way to go and is sure to have his ups and downs, but with only 2 teams ranked in the top half in pass defense remaining on the schedule he does have the chance to post some strong numbers.

Fantasy owners should consider targeting him for a playoff run. KC fans can console themselves a little knowing that Thigpen is showing promise. And I will absolutely eat crow and admit that Kansas City does not have the worst QBs in the league.

State of the Late Games at Halftime

How is each team faring at Halftime for the Week 10 late games?

Carolina 14, Oakland 0: JaMarcus Russell is inactive for this week's game. Not that it would have mattered. Carolina is rolling behind DeAngelo Williams' 93 yards on 10 carries. The only thing keeping the margin from being any higher are Delhomme's 2 picks. Oakland looks lost, but what do you expect from a team that fires it's head coach and one of it's prized offseason aquisitions before midseason?

Indy 14, Pittsburgh 17: The Colts scored just before halftime to close the gap a bit, but they're not playing terribly well. Manning has only 9 completions on 23 attempts! The Colts aren't out of it, but they need to play better offensively and defensively if they want to get past this tough Steelers team.

Kansas City 13, San Diego 6: Tyler Thigpen is playing excellent football in this game. He is nearly perfect so far. Phillip Rivers isn't playing that poorly, but a costly interception in the end zone ruined almost sure points. I knew San Diego was playing terrible football, but I didn't think they were bad enough to lose to the Chiefs. They haven't really gotten their running game on track yet and for some reason I don't see it happening in the second half. I'm seeing an upset in the making.