The Post I Didn't Want to Write

AP Photo

As the title says, I didn't want to write this post. More like, I guess, I wish I didn't have to write this post. I wish I could just stick my head in the sand and be ignorant of what is happening. I had done so, even though I knew better, during our four game win streak. Afterall, why criticize a good thing? But after the whooping we took from the previously winless Dolphins, I have to say something. What I am forced to say comes as little surprise to most Chiefs fans, but I hope this post serves two purposes: to inform and to motivate. So here we go.

Matt Cassel, right now, is not a good quarterback.

Now that it's out in the open for all the world to say, I feel like I should justify this claim with an explanation (as much as many of you don't require an explanation for this statement).

Last season was a great year for Cassel. He finished with 27 touchdowns, 7 interceptions, was selected to his first Pro Bowl, and finished with the 8th best passer rating in the whole NFL. But the last two games the Chiefs played, which includes the playoff loss, left a sour taste in my mouth and made me have my doubts about Cassel. Although I had been a Cassel supporter all year, my posts became a little more guarded, and sometimes pessimistic, about our starting QB. Posts such as when I compared him to a floundering Derrick Anderson, and when I depressingly compared him to Aaron Rodgers, began to make their way onto my blog.

Then the offseason came, and the bad taste was still left in my mouth but the lockout covered up any lingering thoughts I had about Cassel's effectiveness. Whether we would have a season or not became the primary issue. But even during the lockout, Cassel was doing his best to make me forget about how he fell apart at the end of the previous season. He was bringing in teammates to hold practices since no team organized practices could be run. He was even letting guys stay at his house for extended periods of time so they could work on routes during the day. He was emerging as a hero, and the fans took notice. I was, once again, sold.

This season is a different story than last year. The lockout caused coach Todd Haley to change his strategy for the preseason, and as uneffective as Cassel looked in the preseason, I was convinced that was just because of how the lockout had effected his offseason progress.

However, eight games into the season, I find it hard to defend Cassel any longer. I was finding it hard to defend Cassel back in September, but after a good game and a half (second half against the Vikings and the game against the Colts), I was willing to defend my QB (like Terell Owens but without the tears). And although he looked poor against the Raiders and the Chargers the second time around, the Chiefs kept on winning. But that winning streak was snapped, and our QB exposed.

After a loss, it's hard not to write this post. I was contemplating writing it last week, but I didn't want to jinx anything. I knew the wins and the recent success was hiding a problem with our offense, but, like certain college coaches, I decided to do nothing.

For the season, Cassel is 147/241 (61%) for 1,620 yards, with 9 TDs and 9 INTs. To compare that to the rest of the league, Cassel is 22nd in passing yards (sad stat - the players behind Cassel are Tarvaris Jackson, Alex Smith, Sam Bradford, Curtis Painter, Jason Campbell, Rex Grossman, Donovan McNabb, Kyle Orton, Matt Moore, Blaine Gabbert, Chad Henne and John Beck - all but Alex Smith has missed games this season due to performance and/or injury). Cassel is tied for 20th in the league in TD throws, tied for 5th in the league in INTs, 14th in the league in sacks, and tied for 23rd in the league in passer rating with a 77.8 on the season. His Total QB Rating (as designed by ESPN) isn't much better, having Cassel 15th in the NFL.

Cassel has had different offensive coordinators every single season in the NFL since he began to start games. This is a common Cassel defense statistic, and, while there is an effect to that, Cassel should be at the stage where different terminology and coaching styles shouldn't have a profound negative effect on his playing capability. Afterall, rookies such as Cam Newton and Andy Dalton are having immediate success in their offenses, even with the lockout shortened offseason. In fact, both are having better statistical seasons than Cassel. Even Matt "the ageless wonder" Hasselbeck, after switching teams during the offseason, is putting up a very respectable season thus far.

So when is Cassel going to get it?

He had a good season last year, but it's beginning to look more like the exception rather than the norm. Matt Cassel doesn't have a good receiving corps around him. That was another defense for Cassel. In 2009, Cassel struggled, and Dwayne Bowe struggled, and the team only won four games. Chris Chambers had come in mid-way during the season, but only two decent receiving options surely couldn't be enough to rally that offense into anything other than mediocre. In 2010, Chambers fell off the map but Bowe emerged as a juggernaut. With Bowe and rookie tight end Tony Moeaki, Cassel now had two good receivers. But again, two just wasn't good enough in the playoffs, and the Chiefs season halted. But this season, Cassel has arguable one of the best receiving corps in the NFL with Bowe, Steve Breaston and Jonathan Baldwin. Even with Tony Moeaki out, he has three go-to guys to throw the ball to. But even with these weapons, Cassel is struggling more than ever.

There has to be a point when Cassel either gets it or he doesn't. Right now, it looks like he is not getting it. The last time I wrote a post criticizing Cassel, he went on to have a decent two game stretch including perhaps the best game of his NFL career against the Colts. So, for the sake of this season, I hope he responds in the same manner to this post. Otherwise, the Chiefs four game win streak will be nothing other than a flash in the pan, and Cassel might be on his way out in Kansas City.