Join Chiefs365 | Insider Forum with Josh Looney - Talk it up! | Looney Bin Archive

CHIEFS INK FIVE FROM PRACTICE SQUAD
January 4th - 4:45 PM

Practice squad players are essentially free agents throughout the regular season. They are eligible to be plucked by an opposing 53-man roster, and many teams do just that. The Chiefs, for example, signed S Reshard Langford from Philadelphia’s practice squad on Christmas Day. On the flip side, San Francisco lifted T Chris Patrick from the Chiefs practice squad on October 27th.

Once the season concludes, many of these practice squad players sign contracts with their respective team. Typically, if you like them, then you sign them. The move ensures you have the rights to the player heading into offseason workouts. The Chiefs did just that on Monday with five players.

Five of Kansas City’s six practice squad players didn’t get out of the building following the final team meeting today without inking reserve/future contracts.

The Chiefs signed reserve/future free agents CB Jackie Bates, DE Bobby Greenwood, RB Kestahn Moore, OL Jermail Porter and WR Chandler Williams. Both Bates and Greenwood joined the team during the 2009 offseason as rookie free agents and attended training camp with the Chiefs in 2009. Both players also spent the entire 17-week NFL season Kansas City’s development team.

Moore and Porter are both rookies who joined the Chiefs practice squad mid-season, while Williams is a first-year player that came to Kansas City’s practice squad on December 23rd.

WR Logan Payne is the only player who finished the season on Kansas City’s practice squad that remains unsigned. Typically the Chiefs have all eight practice squad slots occupied during the season, but DT Derek Lokey and S Ricky Price were promoted from the practice squad on December 26th when LB Justin Rogers and S DaJuan Morgan landed on injured reserve. Kansas City didn’t fill those two remaining slots for the final week of the season.

THE MORNING AFTER – DENVER (2010 EDITION)
January 4th - 6:08 AM

VOTE: Jamaal Charles Candidate for Fedex Air Ground® NFL Player of the Week Honors

Could there have been any better way to usher in a new decade of Chiefs football? While 2009 closed with a thud, 2010’s debut didn’t hold anything back.

Records fell on both sides of the football, the Chiefs got points from three different phases of the game and the franchise won its first contest ever at INVESCO field. Kansas City’s 44-24 victory was the biggest margin in Denver since 1982, and it helped keep Denver out of the playoffs to boot.

“This was an important win for the Kansas City Chiefs ,” head coach Todd Haley said. “I take my hat off (to the players) for sticking together, continuing to practice hard and knowing that there was a light at the end of the tunnel. When this thing started there wasn’t any light. But we continued to forge our way through and it’s nice to see some results.”

Broncos fans stood, booed, and headed for the exits early, all while Kansas City put together that complete game which had been so elusive in 2009. Better yet, Denver became just the third team since the NFL merger in 1970 to begin the season 6-0, yet miss the postseason.

“We’d love to have 10 wins and be part of the playoffs, but we’re not,” Haley said. “The important part of this year was to get through it and for us to get better, number one. For our coaching staff to get better, for me to get better, for each and every player to improve and understand what’s going to be asked of them.

“The most important thing is for us to find the nucleus of this team to go forward and be a good team,” Haley continued.

Sunday was a decade of goodness all packed into one afternoon. Everything clicked. This is how it’s supposed to feel. Denver hung 44 points on the Chiefs at Arrowhead just four weeks ago, and Kansas City broke the INVESCO hex with the same total. What a transformation from the first meeting this season.

“We felt like they came in our house and embarrassed us,” RB Jamaal Charles said. “We just wanted to come in their house and show them what they did to us.”

Two rivals ended their seasons in two very different fashions. One team completed a late-season collapse of epic proportions, while another is buzzing with the confidence of a breakthrough performance. Both teams begin their offseason today, but the taste is far from the same.

“Our goal was to be 1-0 in 2010,” Charles said. “That was our goal and we can build off that for next season.”

Let’s “Take 5” from the Chiefs most memorable game of the 2009 season.

Breaking News – Jamaal Charles is Good

Jamaal Charles is the center of the Chiefs offensive universe.

Most of Sunday’s national attention was on Tennessee RB Chris Johnson toppling the 2,000-yard mark; not Charles breaking 1,000. All the while, Charles’ 1,000-yard season was just as impressive to Chiefs fans and players. Everyone was pulling for the guy.

“The ultimate goal was to win the game, but we had it in the back of our minds that Jamaal only needed 139 yards,” FB Mike Cox said. “Once we got that, we just kept rolling with it. It was like, ‘why not go for 200?’ He kept going and got he team record. It makes the win that much sweeter.”

With an anything but routine 139 yards left to topple the barrier, Charles came, saw and conquered at INVESCO. Records fell like the walls of Jericho on Sunday.

Charles set a Chiefs single-game record with 259 rushing yards. He was the first to rush for 1,000 since 2006 and the fastest in franchise history to reach the mark as it took him just 190 attempts.

“Everybody wanted me to get 1,000 yards, but coach wanted me to go for 200 (against Denver),” Charles said. “I just prayed on it. I know you can do anything through Christ. My goal was 150, but I’ll take 200 if he wanted me to get 200.”

Haley began to challenge Charles early in the week as the team met to prepare for Denver.

“He said that our goal was to knock Denver out of the playoffs, get Jamaal to run for 200 yards and our defense to hold them under 20 points and for our offense to score over 30 points,” Charles said.

First 139 fell, then 200 and finally 250. It was fitting that both his 1,000th yard and run the broke the single-season franchise record came on touchdown runs. Coincidence or not, the symbolism is a snapshot of Charles’ explosive season.

By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, Charles was closing in on the all-time NFL rushing record of 298 yards. His 259 had already given him the eighth-highest single-game rushing total in NFL history. With 2:43 left to play in the game, Kansas City took over the football at their own 20 yard-line.

Jamaal had a chance to break the record if he could break a big run, but he wasn’t in the game any longer. Charles’ day was over. As it turns out, Charles was the one who decided to end his day and a shot at the all-time record.

“I really didn’t want to get it because I want to get it when I’m in the game and it’s competing time,” Charles explained. “People give up at that time and don’t really care. I could have gone back in game, but I told coach that I was satisfied and that I’d get it some other time.”

Charles defines the term “speed kills.” He can zig, zag, slash and gash at virtually the same speed as he runs in the open field. He averaged 10.4 yards per touch on Sunday; a day where he tied a career-high with 25 rushing attempts.

“We started by saying that this was a 15-carry per game guy,” Haley said of Charles. “He’s forced us to think differently about him.

Oh, about that whole Chris Johnson thing. Stretch Jamaal Charles’ totals, post-LJ, over a 16-game season and we might have been talking about 2k instead of 1k this weekend as well.

“I’m blessed to have the opportunity to show everyone what I can do,” Charles said.

DJ’s Fantastic Finale

Right now none of us know if Sunday’s game was LB Derrick Johnson’s curtain call as a Chief. Free agency implications from an uncapped year and scheme/personnel shifts for 2010 are just two of the many factors playing into Johnson’s future in Kansas City.

Team finale or not, Johnson’s finish to the 2009 season was his best yet in five years as a Chief. DJ tied an NFL record with two interception returns for touchdowns totaling over 100 yards.

“Usually I catch the ball and end up getting tackled,” Johnson laughed.

His demolition of the Donk’s offense makes him a shoe-in to win AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors.

“It’s been frustrating going in and out and playing a different role this year,” Johnson said after the game. “I love football and I got a chance to make plays for my teammates.

“This win feels good,” Johnson continued. “The bumps and bruises don’t hurt as much and a win just helps out everyone’s morale.”

His first interception was sheer athleticism, picking off an underthrown pass, off-balance, in a zone drop. It was one of those patented DJ plays that Chiefs fans have seen flashes of during his Kansas City tenure. When Johnson makes a big play, it’s typically filled with athleticism and is quite impressive.

Those big plays haven’t always come as consistent as some would like, however. Johnson, a mainstay in Kansas City’s linebacking core since being selected in the first round of the 2005 draft, was relegated primarily to nickel packages this season.

“You can’t worry about the situation,” Johnson said. “If you love football, you just have to go out there and seize the moment. Do I wish that I would have played more? Yeah. I’ve got a lot of confidence in myself.

“All the coaches have great intentions and it wasn’t anything about trying to do something bad to Derrick Johnson,” Johnson continued.

After seeing Johnson make not one, but two game-changing plays to become just the 25th player in NFL history to log two INT return TDs in the same game, the question naturally becomes, “why has Johnson been coming off the bench in 2009?” DJ was asked that directly following Sunday’s game.

“It’s probably a combination of things,” Johnson said. “We disagree on some things and (Haley) knows that. But we don’t have any beef or nothing like that. It’s been going on all season, so I’m not in denial about it, but I know how to handle it now.”

Johnson doesn’t know where he’ll end up next year and he isn’t opposed to seeing through this transition as a member of the Chiefs. He just doesn’t want it to be in the same role.

“I want to play,” Johnson said. “I never dreamed of playing this role, but at the same time you have to make the most of what you have.

He did just that yesterday. Time will tell which route Johnson’s career takes next. For now, we celebrate his Sunday at INVESCO.

Who Are These Guys?

Could the game have begun any more bizarrely than it did on Sunday? Not only did the Chiefs come out firing the football, but they came out firing to play-makers in the form of WR Terrance Copper, TE Leonard Pope and FB Mike Cox.

What?

Seriously, what in the world got into this trio? Haley began the game with essentially the same play that the Chiefs ran early against the Broncos in the first meeting at Arrowhead. Back then it was WR Bobby Wade who was running free past defenders, but he couldn’t haul in the football. This time it was Copper getting past the defensive third-level.

Copper had to have been the last player of Kansas City’s receivers that the Denver defense expected to go deep. Haley could have fooled Chiefs fans as well. Copper had recorded just two catches over the course of the entire season. Those two grabs combined to total 11 yards (three and eight yards, respectfully).

This was almost like déjà-vu of Tim Castille from a week ago. Castille came up with that beautiful diving catch in traffic for his first career touchdown, while Copper caught the longest pass of his six-year career to set up another fullback with his first career TD.

“It was a great play,” QB Matt Cassel said. “The week prior to that we started with two runs and (Copper) just made a great play. He read it and the safety bit. It was a great way to begin the game.

On the very next play, Pope hauled in his longest catch since he joined the Chiefs with a 29-yarder to the Denver seven yard-line. Two snaps later, it was a 7-0 Chiefs lead off of FB Mike Cox’s second carry of the season (and third of his career).

“Technically, I wasn’t supposed to be in there,” Cox admitted. “Usually they put Castille in there (for that play), but they called it and luckily I paid attention in meetings. I’ll take it. We only needed a couple of inches and I figured I could get that.”

A blocking back, Cox’s career rushing line was two carries for no yards over 31 professional games. He now has three career carries for three yards with his first-career touchdown to go along with it.

“How did my celebration look?,” Cox asked me in the locker room after the game.

“Well…the spike was powerful,” I answered. “A nice touch.”

“Good,” Cox said smiling. “That’s what I was going for. I don’t really get a chance to practice those very often, you know.”

Unfortunately for Cox, Derrick Johnson gets the TD celebratory award for Sunday. Johnson’s “Mile High Salute” following his second INT return TD was the dagger to the Denver fans.

Speaking of Firsts…

The feat took 16 weeks, but it finally arrived. The Chiefs scored their first TD of the season on an opening possession.

All 31 other NFL teams had taken an opening possession for a touchdown. The Chiefs, however, had only scored once on an opener this year - on a field goal at Jacksonville.

When it clicks, it clicks. Not only did the Chiefs go 86 yards in just four plays, but they replicated the effort again on the first possession of the second half as well.

“It was huge and I think that it set the tone for the rest of the day,” Cassel said. “We executed well, knew what the first 10 plays were going to be and the guys just came out and executed well.”

In all, the Chiefs racked up 151 yard on just 12 first quarter plays. It was by far the most efficient way Kansas City has started a game this season. The quick start parlayed in to the Chiefs most efficient overall performance of the season as well.

What’s Not to Like?

There really wasn’t much to dislike out of the Chiefs on Sunday. Sure, there were a few bad things like Castille’s throwback pass, WR Jabar Gaffney’s career-day and Cassel’s pick to none other than CB Ty Law.

But at the end of the day, the Chiefs put together maybe their most complete game of the year. What the defense lacked against the pass, they made up for it with 14 points on picks. Conversely, what the offense lacked in the passing game, they made up for with excellent protection and nice rushing lanes for Jamaal Charles. For the first time all season Matt Cassel was not sacked.

Remember last week when we talked about pairing together the offensive performance vs. Cleveland with the defensive performance at Cincinnati? Maybe sprinkle in some special teams from the Pittsburgh game too?

Sunday’s output was as close to a mixture of the three that we’ve seen. The Chiefs truly saved their finest for the finale.

“Our big thing was that this was the first game of 2010,” C Rudy Niswanger said. “No the 2010 season, but the year 2010. It’s great for us to get that started with a win. We also had some rushing goals in getting Jamaal to 1,000 yards and scoring 30 points.

“We had all these goal of things that we wanted to do and we accomplished them,” Niswanger continued. “It was a great day.”

The 2010 offseason promises to be another of transition, possibly more than what 2009 came armed with. One win doesn’t block the hurt of 2009, but it certainly eases the pain.

Here’s to the sixth decade of Chiefs football – may this be the beginning of something special!