MVN: Most Valuable Network

The Kansas City Star is reporting that Kansas City Chiefs' outside linebacker Derrick Johnson is moving to the middle of the defense, in an effort to rejuvenate an underperforming unit, and to possibly spur some more consistent play from Johnson.

Is this a good move?  I'm not sure - it really can't be much worse than what's going on now, can it?  The Chiefs are on their third MLB of the season (Nap Harris, Pat Thomas, and Rocky Boiman), and have been frustrated with Johnson and his lapses in performance this season.  Johnson's two best games have been the only victories of the season for Kansas City.  Coincidence?  Probably - but maybe not.

The Chiefs have invested HEAVILY in their defensive front four - two first-round picks, a second, a third, and a couple of high priced free agents.  However, except for Johnson, the linebackers have been pretty much an afterthought.  The teams signs retreads and older players, or picks up scraps off the free agent heap.  Even their attempt to sign a starter went awry with the poor play of Demorrio Willams this year.

So moving Johnson to MLB does several things in Kansas City's favor: It puts their most athletic (not their best) player in the middle of the field.  It almost forces Johnson to have his head in the game 100% of the time, as he is responsible for the other 10 men on his team.  It gives the team an idea of who they should draft next April (a MLB? an OLB?) - and may give Johnson the motivation to play for a new contract, when his old one expires in 2009.

Granted, the "Can it really be any worse?" arguement is a poor one for any situation, but in the Chiefs' case, this may provide several answers to some looming questions.  If DJ can cover the MLB spot adequately, even above-average, then the other needs of the 2009 AFC West champions (yeah, I said it) can be addressed with free agency and the draft.

I hope it works out - I remember being ecstactic when the Chiefs drafted Johnson in 2005.  I couldn't believe our luck when he fell to us at #15.  However, since then, I have been more frustrated than happy with his performance - mostly at how maddeningly inconsistent he's been.  Hopefully this move transforms Johnson into the player I - and most of the Chiefs fanbase - thought he would be.

I know there are many fans out there who rooted for the Chiefs to lose against the Raiders. I can understand the frustration--a one-win season could secure a better draft position and potentially push Herm Edwards into the unemployment line. I can't be one of those people. I root for the Chiefs even if a win means a fall in draft position. And even in a two-win season, I'm ecstatic about a win against the Raiders. Let me start with the good from the game:Tyler Thigpen finally got a win. As a young QB, that had to be a huge monkey on his back. That was really frustrating to watch Thigpen play lights out the last few weeks and not come home with a win because his teammates failed him. Here's an interesting note: this is the first game won by a QB under the age of 30 since December 18, 1999 when Elvis Grbac... Read more

I think the answer is a little bit of both. I know this train of thought is random, but as I watched the games on Thanksgiving, I saw pretty clearly that Kansas City is not nearly as bad as their record indicates. Detroit and Seattle did not just lose on Thanksgiving, they got absolutely waxed. That got me to thinking: how come the Chiefs don't get to play teams like this? When you look at the Chiefs' schedule, they have only played two teams all season that are under .500. TWO TEAMS! That's outrageous. There are 7 teams in the NFL that have 8 wins or more and the Chiefs have played 4 of them. Here's another thing that absolutely enrages me: the Chiefs were third in the division in 2007, which suggests that they should at least get two easy games. Wrong. The Chiefs' two off-games were against the 10-1... Read more

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!There are a few things in life that I absolutely despise: death, taxes, and the Raiders. Chiefs fans have needed something all season to be excited about and they finally have it--this week, the Chiefs have the opportunity to prove that even if the Chiefs are a bad team, they are not nearly as bad as the Raiders. So for this week only, let's forget about everything that sucks in Kansas City. Forget about how much you hate the General Manager, forget about our lousy defensive coordinator and the head coach that is encouraging him to come back, forget about the run defense that even Mike Cloud could run through, forget about the empty stadiums and fans with paper bags on their head. For this week, the Chiefs have the opportunity to be the better of the worst and they can do it against the Raiders. I know many of... Read more

I figured Jon would write the "Fire Gunther Now" column, so I waited until he posted it - and he's right.  Gunther Cunningham needs to go - today.  Install David Gibbs as interim (soon to be permanent) defensive coordinator, and play out the remaining slate of games.  However, what was most telling about yesterday's embarrasment was that I really wasn't surprised.  Nothing surprises me this year regarding how bad our defense is.  It all seems very routine and almost ordinary. Give up over 200 yards rushing?  Big deal.  A 400 yard passing game?  Yawn.  It seems like I have seen lots of "Insert player name here" has set a new franchise/single-game/career high for "insert statistic here" graphics during games.  The lack of quarterback sacks (six and holding steady) is unbelievably humiliating...yet most of us just shrug our shoulders and say "What can you do?".  Doing the same thing over and over... Read more

I've probably been one of Gunther Cunningham's biggest critics dating back to last season. I'm glad to see that the "Fire Gunther Cunningham" bandwagon is gaining some major steam.Let me take this one step further: The Chiefs need to fire Gunther Cunningham not next week, not tomorrow, but TODAY. This defense has given up on Gunther Cunningham and each week that you keep him on, the young defensive players continue to lose their confidence and develop poor habits. What makes this decision a complete no-brainer is that they have a solid replacement in-house. David Gibbs is the defensive backs coach for the Chiefs. He carries with him several years of coordinating experience on the college level and several years of assistant coaching in the NFL. That experience includes coordinating Auburn's outstanding defense in 2005. Long story short, the guy has the goods. He's young, probably carries around some new big ideas,... Read more

Man, lots of talk about firearms in Kansas City these days. The Chiefs currently have a bulletless Gun leading the defense, and an offense that features a pistol and a shotgun. No doubt that these new looks have created a lot of firepower for the offense (okay, I promise that's the last lame attempt at a joke).But the Chiefs are going to have look beyond the spread offense and the pistol formation if they are going to start tying together wins. Last week, we caught a glimpse of that. The Chiefs were ultra-effective in marching toward the red zone. Once we got there, our offense was completely non-existent. Why?I'm sure there are many who will quickly point the finger at LJ. I think that's an unfair accusation. LJ is trapped behind an offensive system that simply is not effective when defenses tighten up and have to cover a short field.... Read more

Those who have read me for a while know that there are two issues that I am strangely and perhaps controversially passionate about: 1) that the NFL overtime rule is stupid; 2) that the NFL Draft trade chart is stupid. Let me talk about the latter (though, let me again put in a plug for the "first to 5" overtime rule). I think the NFL draft chart is probably one of the stupidest concepts in the book. It's beyond stupid. I can't even imagine how many draft day trades are nixed because teams are too stubborn to go against the book. Here's why it's stupid. The Draft Chart assumes that the #1 pick in 2009 carries the same value as the #1 pick in 2008. Okay, I hate playing the hindsight argument, but let me ask you this: going into draft day, who do you value more? Carson Palmer or Alex Smith?... Read more

I think most would agree that I'm characteristically calm and collected watching the Chiefs trudge their way through yet another frustrating season. Here's the reason why: the Chiefs have shown the past three or four weeks that they have a lot of talent. They are clearly moving in the right direction. There are a few things I have come to grips with. Herm Edwards is not a good gameday coach and Gunther Cunningham is not a good defensive coordinator. I'm fine with that for now, because the objective is not to win games, but to get improvement out of our players. Yes, it would be nice to reward our players with wins, but I don't think either of those things stunts the development of our players. For now, because of those liabilities, it means the Chiefs have to play mistake-free football or else they won't win. The Chiefs can't expect to score... Read more

var iamInit = function() {try{initIamServingHandler(234,337,260638,"http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/Resources/Css/css2.css")}catch(ex){}}() I know that it's too early to talk about draft picks and I still root for the Chiefs to win every game--I cannot be one of those fans who roots against his team because a loss will improve their draft status. I just can't. Still, with the Chiefs playing for improvement and with the playoffs pretty much completely out of reach, it's still worth getting the conversation started. I might be in the minority here, but I don't want the Chiefs to get the #1 pick. I think it's the most overrated accomplishment in sports. The #1 pick is grossly overpaid and it's become virtually impossible to trade out of the spot. Luckily, the Lions are doing a pretty good job of defending that spot. I think by season's end, we'll fall to about 3 or 4. My dream scenario is to draft 5th or 6th.... Read more

A few emails this week - so let's get right down to them. Is Tyler Thigpen legit?  Or is this a guy who's playing way beyond his abilities right now? Robert, Kansas City, MO I think the jury is still out on Thigpen, and that is a good thing.  Because he was as bad as OJ was guilty (the first time) in his NFL debut, so any performance that can get me to reconsider his abilities has to be in his favor.  I think it's a combination of things - Chan Gailey tailoring the offense to Thigpen's strengths (I love the spread), the absence of Larry Johnson (thereby not demanding the ball on 3rd-and-12) and the emergence of Mark Bradley as a legitimate secondary option.  At worst, the Chiefs have found their backup, and we found out the hard way that you should not skimp on the QB position -... Read more