Week 1 Preview

08 Sep 2006


Week 1 preview
Category: Sports

So I know the season started last night with those bastard Steelers punking out the chump-ass Dolphins, and that I'm late with my season preview, but who cares? Are you paying me? Than shut up.



Man, did the Dolphins look weak. The run defense is okay, but Fast Willie Parker dented them pretty good. The secondary is made up of some randoms who allowed Charlie Batch to put up Pro-Bowl numbers on them. Somebody needs to cover the tight end too, Spragan. Zach Thomas and Jason Taylor can't do it by themselves. One of these nobodies need to rise up from mediocrity if Miami wants a chance for even a winning season.



Offensively, the unit seem to have their timing off. Culpepper looks like he's on a different page than Chris Chambers and Marty Booker. Ronnie Brown is a hard runner but really didn't put together much of a night. Talented tight end Randy McMicheal either was ignored by Culpepper or just couldn't get open. It's easy to blame the offensive line for many of the evenings offensive woes, but coordinator Mike Mularky, who was once the coordinator for Cowher four seasons ago, had trouble aligning the right blocking schemes against the crazy linebacker blitzes Lebeau loves to throw at opponents. As talented as Ronnie Brown may be, he can't block Joey Porter and Mularky should know that. I expect the Dolphin offense to improve throughout the season with more reps and game situations, but that defense has a long way to go.



Conversely, the Steelers did what they do. Batch played a lot better than I expected. Fast Willie can bust an off tackle seam better than most, and Hines Ward just doesn't drop passes. But really, it's their O-line that smashes other teams into submission. Those guys are road graders who ware out defenses by the start of the third quarter. I predicted the Steelers would sorely miss Chris Hope but it didn't seem that way at all. Although I think Ike Taylor's somewhat overrated (Chambers dominated him briefly in the third), with Polamalu sniffing out every play call, they only need to seriously worry about down field passing teams - like us. Pittsburgh will continue to bruise AFC teams and likely win one of the wildcard slots.



As for our game Sunday, I'm not so worried. KC's a solid team and Arrowhead is a doozie of a home field advantage, but the Chiefs fans don't cover wide receivers or have to tackle Rudi Johnson. Frankly, the Bengals offense can only stop themselves. Ty Law and Patrick Surtain are one hell of a corner tandem, but Eric Warfield covering Chris Henry is a problem for them. And if you cover Henry, who's gonna look out for Antonio Chatman? Or even Tab Perry? Starting to get it? Too many weapons. I wish we had a healthy Chris Perry and all the match-up problems he creates, but the offense is still great.



All shit talking aside, it should be a pretty close match up. The Chiefs have an offense too and it's become a smash mouth one at that. Larry Johnson is a steam roller. His line is veteran and tough, though some question their athleticism and durability due to their old age. Willie Roaf called it quits before training camp and they replaced him with washed up Kyle Turley who reportedly weighs in at around 280lbs. Justin Smith will be licking his chops against a smallish tackle like that. Smith loves to bullrush and is strong as hell, so look for him to just try to push Turley over. Sam Adams should do his part in forcing Johnson outside where it will depend on our linebackers to make tackles and eliminate runs over six yards. Deltha O'Neal is listed as questionable and hasn't practiced, which in Marvin's camp means he's not going to play. They don't play if they don't practice-Marvin Motto #16. Enter Jonathan Joseph. A rookie corner to start an opener on the road...great. While the Chiefs receiving corps is by no means stellar (Eddie Kennison?), Joseph has had a hard time in the pre-season not allowing easy completions in front of him. Trent Green will smell a weakness and capitalize. It's gonna be up to Madieu and the covering linebackers to help him out.



The Bengal game plan should be fairly basic. Throw down field early, try to get a two-score lead early on, and force KC to throw against us. Wrap up tackles on defense, bend but don't break, no big plays, the usual Marvin talk. Offensively, avoid turnovers and penalties, protect Carson with your lives, and feed Chad early. Once a decent lead is established, pound Rudi again and again. He's got new knees this season, let's see them be put to the test. All Carson needs is one good half. Explode as soon as possible and then just manage the game to victory. The recipe is a basic one. Follow the directions on the box and taste the sweetness of an opening day win. The dark side has done their thing already. Now it's up to us keep pace. It's time people.



Mojokong the Prognosticating Primate