A bit disappointed with the Chiefs’ loss to Oakland last weekend. The Chiefs uncharacteristically committed penalties, made mistakes, and turned the ball over. The Chiefs found it difficult to run the ball against the Raiders front seven. It was easily the Chiefs’ worst performance of the year. And it still took overtime for the Raiders to get the win in front of an enthusiastic home crowd.The Chiefs had numerous opportunities to make a play at the end, and just couldn’t do it. If the Chiefs convert just one of those opportunities successfully, it’s a win.

The loss has tightened things up in the AFC West. Instead of a comfortable 2.5 game lead in the division, the Chiefs at 5-3 are barely in front of the Raiders at 5-4 and the Chargers at 4-5. Other than the Broncos, this is anybody’s race. All of a sudden, this game in Denver becomes very important.

One more note before I get into this week’s game against the Donkeys. I typically like the work that Adam Teicher does for the Kansas City Star. He’s a fine reporter, and typically pretty balanced in his opinions. He’s certainly no homer for the Chiefs. But today he wrote a piece criticizing the special teams play of the Chiefs. It seems to me that while the return game has not been as dynamic as we had hoped, the coverage teams have been pretty good. I went to ESPN.com to checkout the stats. The Chiefs are #5 in the league in kickoff coverage (despite the TD they gave up to the Raiders), and #5 in the league in punt returns. They drop off a bit in punt coverage where they’re ranked #11, though that’s still above average. Their only weakness statistically is in kickoff returns, where the Chiefs are ranked #27. The stats seem to show that the Chiefs have been pretty darn good on special teams. They’ve typically been winning the battle of field position, which is what you want from your special teams.

The Broncos
Last year the Broncos started 6-0. New head coach Josh McDaniels was the wonder boy around the league. Since then? Well the Broncos have gone 4-14, including a crushing defeat at home by Kansas City to end the season last year. Chiefs ran all over Denver and won 44-24.

Enter this year. The Broncos are 2-6. They have virtually no running game (#32 in the league). And they can’t stop the run (#31 in the league). A devastating formula for a football team. Injuries on defense have forced Denver to switch out of their 3-4 defense to a 4-3 defense, but they don’t have the personnel to run a 4-3 effectively.

Looking for a ray of sunshine in Denver? Quarterback Kyle Orton has been very good. Why did Chicago want to dump this guy for Jay Cutler? And he’s got a nice group of receivers, in particular Brandon Lloyd who is having an excellent season.

The Chiefs just need to get back to mistake-free-football and they’ll win this game in Denver.

Prediction: Chiefs 27, Denver 19

So who would have predicted that the Chiefs would be atop the AFC West at 5-2, and that the Raiders would be in second place at 4-4? Who would have thought that the Chiefs would be leading the league in rushing at 190.4 yards per game, and that the Raiders would be in second place at 168.5 yards per game? It’s great to see these two teams ascending so that the old rivalry means something again. I love Raiders Week!

The old adage is that to win in the NFL, you have to be able to run the ball, and you have to be able to stop the run. Both of these teams can run the ball. Jamaal Charles and Darren McFadden are among the league’s top running backs. Despite the fact that Charles shares the load with Thomas Jones, and McFadden has missed a couple games due to injury, both backs are among the top ten in the league. In the last two weeks since returning from his injury, McFadden has rushed for 276 yards and 3 TDs.

But which team can successfully stop the run? I don’t think it’s a stretch to believe that the team that stops the run will win this game. The Chiefs are ranked seventh in the league allowing only 96.4 yards per game. The Raiders are ranked 26th allowing 127.4 yards per game. This would appear to favor the Chiefs.

The Raiders are ranked much better than the Chiefs against the pass (#5 vs #23) and total defense (#9 vs #16). But I think more importantly, the Chiefs hold an advantage in points allowed, where Kansas City is ranked #5 in the league giving up only 17.4 points per game, and Oakland is ranked #15 giving up 21 points per game.

But ultimately, this game will come down to coaching. Marty Schottenheimer always said that if you play smart against the Raiders, that eventually they would make the mistake that costs them the game. And Marty won a lot of games against the Raiders. These Raiders still make mistakes. The Chiefs are among the best coached teams in the league. They make few mistakes. They commit few penalties. They don’t turn the ball over. They don’t make negative plays. They don’t take sacks. And they don’t give up many points.

Prediction: Chiefs 24, Raiders 21

Just a quickie this morning. Happy that the Chiefs beat the Bills and are now 5-2. I mentioned last week that this game made me nervous. More nervous than the game against the Jags. The Chiefs needed a bit of luck but they pulled it off.

Head coach Todd Haley is taking heat from the media and even the fans about his decision making. His penchant for going for it on fourth down in particular. I had a theory about this, but have now changed my mind. Let me explain.

Original Theory: Haley understands that he’s got a team that’s still transitioning from a bad team to a good team. They’re certainly not a great team yet. The team is very well coached (I’ll be writing another post about this soon). The Chiefs have good players, but other than Jamaal Charles, I don’t think they have any great players. If the Chiefs lineup on Sunday and play everything by the book, they’re going to lose some games.  But because they make so few mistakes, it’s allowed Haley to be aggressive and roll the dice with some risky decisions.

New Theory: After reading a couple articles on the Kansas City Star’s site, I’ve changed my opinion. Haley may be unorthodox with his decision making (meaning that he has a different approach than most other NFL coaches), but the numbers seem to be on his side. These decisions statistically are not nearly as risky as conventional wisdom would lead you to believe. And often, Haley is on the RIGHT side of the statistics.

Article 1: Kent Babb was the first to offer a statistical explanation for Haley’s decision in the article Numbers Back Up Chiefs Coach’s Unorthodox Play Calls.

Article 2: Martin Manley writes a great piece here in the Star’s blog Upon Further Review titled Rolling the Dice. Even better than Babb’s piece.

It’s easy to do things by the book. Most of us who follow football know what the book tells us to do. As we can see, coaches come under tremendous scrutiny when they deviate from the book. Coaches like Haley, Bill Belichick and Sean Payton appear to be writing not only a new chapter, but a new book altogether.

The Buffalo Bills are in their first year under new head coach Chan Gailey. I’m sure you remember Chan. He was Herm’s offensive coordinator in 2008, retained by Todd Haley, only to be fired a couple weeks before the 2009 regular season. I like Gailey, though he was certainly a surprise pick by the Bills this year. He’s a creative offensive mind. He cut starting quarterback Trent Edwards a few weeks ago, and under their new starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, the Bills offense has shown signs of life. Last week they put up 34 points at Baltimore against a very good Ravens’ defense.

Bills Offense / Chiefs Defense
A quick look at the numbers and you see why Gailey made the switch at quarterback. In two games, Edwards put up only 17 points (8.5 points per game). And in four games with Fitzpatrick, the Bills have scored 104 points (26 points per game). A Harvard graduate, Ryan’s got a quarterback rating of 102.2. (I just picked him up for my fantasy team as my backup quarterback.) Buffalo is also rushing the ball fairly effectively as they’re ranked #15 in the league with about 110 yards rushing per game. The Bills have some decent skill players with Lee Evans and Fred Jackson. And you don’t think that Chan Gailey won’t be extra motivated to have his offense humming against the Chiefs?

This will be an interesting test for Kansas City’s defense. The Chiefs are making that transition from underdog to division leader. And they’ll be facing a pesky and balanced offense capable of scoring some points. The Chiefs allowed the Jags to hang around for a half before pulling away. But the Bills are better offensively than the Jags. The Chiefs are not getting enough pressure on the quarterback, and are capable of giving up big plays in the passing game.

Chiefs Offense / Bills Defense
As a Chiefs fan, this is a match made in heaven. The Chiefs are not only leading the league in rushing, they’re doing so by a significant margin. The Chiefs are averaging 176.5 yards per game on the ground. In second place are the Jets at 159.2 yards per game. Only the Texans average a little more per rush than Kansas City. The Chiefs are creative in the running game. Both Thomas Jones and Jamaal Charles have proven effective running between the tackles and taking the ball outside. Mix in a little Dexter McCluster and this could be a nightmare for the Bills. Why? Because they Bills are the WORST team in the league against the run. They’re giving up 174.5 yards per game on the ground, which is 17 more yards than the Bucs who are the second worst team against the run. Hhhmm, what do you suppose the Chiefs’ strategy will be against the Bills?

Technically the Bills are ranked #9 against the pass, but this is very misleading. Why would you bother passing against the Bills when you can run against this defense?

Keys To The Game
The Chiefs will run the ball and control the clock. It’s difficult to imagine that the Bills will all of a sudden become effective against the run, against the Chiefs, at Arrowhead stadium. The key becomes the Chiefs defense against Fitzpatrick. The Chiefs defense is ranked #25 against the pass, and Fitzpatrick is a smart enough quarterback to find some openings. This game worries me a bit. Actually worries me more than the game against the Jags last week. In the NFL, every week you get an upset. And the Bills are going to find a way to win a couple games this year. Just hoping it’s not this week.

Prediction: Chiefs 27, Bills 24

Every now and then you see a team tempt fate with only two quarterbacks on their roster. This decision may come back to haunt the Jaguars this week. After suffering injuries to both of their quarterbacks Monday night against the Titans, Jacksonville went out and signed quarterbacks Todd Bouman and Patrick Ramsey this week. Starting quarterback David Garrard suffered a concussion, and backup Trent Edwards a thumb injury on his passing hand. Neither practiced on Wednesday. Teams are very careful with concussions, so I find it unlikely that Garrard will play. Hard to tell with Edwards, who was picked up only weeks ago after getting cut from the Bills, and still only knows part of the playbook.

Jacksonville is Struggling
Even before the injuries to Garrard and Edwards, the Jaguars have been struggling offensively. Their offense is ranked #25 in yards per game, and they’re #23 in points per game. Statistically they’re a bit like the Chiefs. They run the ball well (Jaguars #6, Chiefs #1) and find it difficult in the passing game (Jaguars #26, Chiefs #27). Running back Maurice Jones-Drew (described by coach Haley as a “rolling ball of butcher knives”) is one of my favorite players in the league, but I’m a little surprised that he’s only averaging 77.2 yards per game (#13 in the league) and 3.9 yards per carry.

Since the Jags are 3-3, you would assume that their defense must be playing well since their offense appears mediocre at best. But they’re not. They’re ranked #27 in the league in total defense, and are among the worst three teams in the league in points per game.

How are the Jaguars 3-3? You wouldn’t know it by looking at the numbers.

How the Chiefs Will Stop the Jaguars
The mark of a good running game is when the opposing team knows you’re going to run the ball, and you still cram it down their throats. The Chiefs are the best running team in the league. They run the ball effectively with both Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones, and do so in a variety of ways. We’ve seen flashes of an effective passing game from Kansas City against the 49ers and the Texans. I’m expecting to see the Chiefs have some success throwing the ball against the Jaguars as well.

The Chiefs defense was exposed against the Texans last week, giving up four touchdowns on Houston’s last four possessions. But the Texans may have the most explosive offense in the league when you consider their ability to pass AND run the ball. They’re the most two-dimensional offense I’ve seen this year. Houston is going to exploit defensive deficiencies. And the Chiefs still have some defensive deficiencies.

So why has the Chiefs defense played well this year other than the last quarter against Houston? Because they do a great job of shutting down a one-dimensional team. Against the Browns and the 49ers, the Chiefs shut down the running game and dared their opponents to pass. Against the Colts, the Chiefs showed little concern for their running game, and played effectively against Manning and his receivers. The Chiefs are becoming a good defense, but they’re not a great defense yet. The good news is that they’re facing a one-dimensional offense this week who will likely be playing without their starting quarterback.

But you want to know what I want to see this week? Anger. The Chiefs let the Houston game slip between their fingers. They were up by 10 but failed to stop the Texans when it mattered the most. Jacksonville is like a wounded dog. I want to see the Chiefs show up with the attitude that they want to punish the Jaguars after losing to the Texans last week. I want to see the Chiefs close the door on the Jags early and often. And not just close the door, but slam it shut. They can do it. Some of that Arrowhead magic is returning to Kansas City. The Chiefs defense is playing better. They’re running the ball and controlling the clock. The Chiefs need to show that they’re not happy with their 3-2 record. Good teams get mad when they lose. And I think the Chiefs are becoming a good team. They need to kick the wounded dog while it’s down, not let it bite.

Prediction: Chiefs 27, Jaguars 9

You can say this about Todd Haley and Scott Pioli, they’re not afraid to make a decision. Alex Magee was the Chiefs’ third round pick last year in the NFL draft. And now he’s been traded to the Bucs.

Many head coaches and general managers are so concerned about admitting they’ve made a mistake that they’ll hold onto a player even after they’ve decided that the player no longer fits into their future plans. Especially when that player was one of their top draft picks. But Pioli and Haley have a vision of what they want. And who they want. Apparently Magee was no longer part of that picture.

Why? I don’t know. And I’m not sure I care. Pioli has earned my trust. Despite a weak 2009 draft class, the 2010 draft class looks fabulous. The Chiefs are an improved football team with a vision of becoming a championship football team.

Fixing Matt Cassel
“The first thing I wanted to do was help fix the quarterback,” said new offensive coordinator Charlie Weis this summer.

The media took this to mean “See, he’s broken.” The media believe that the Chiefs have pulled the strings on Cassel because they don’t trust him to throw the ball. Despite the Chiefs’ 3-1 record, the fans are running out of patience with the Chiefs’ passing game, which has been largely ineffective so far this year. Some fans are calling for Brodie Croyle to replace Cassel. Some are already looking at next year’s draft to evaluate quarterbacks.

I think we’re looking at this all wrong. I have a theory. Are you surprised?

We’ve all heard the story about Matt Cassel’s college career. At USC, Cassel sat behind Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart. During his four seasons there, he completed 19 of 33 passes for 192 yards. The Patriots saw something in him and drafted him in the seventh round of the 2005 draft. He sat on the bench behind Tom Brady for three years. That’s seven years of practice with virtually no time facing live action. Practice is great, but nothing replaces playing in a real game.

During the last two years, Cassel has started 30 games. We need to think of these 30 starts as Matt’s college career. Not his pro career. I believe that Charlie Weis has decided to start over with Cassel, much like a team would with a newly drafted quarterback. They are going back to the beginning and working on the basics of the quarterback position. Footwork. Reads. Accuracy. Protecting the ball. And avoiding sacks.

I keep thinking about Ben Roethlisberger and Philip Rivers.

In Roethlisberger’s rookie campaign in 2004, he started 13 games, but only threw the ball 295 times. He completed 196 of those attempts for 2621 yards. His numbers were very similar in 2005, where he started 12 games, completed 168 of 268 attempts for 2385 yards. But compare that to 2009 where Big Ben completed 337 of 506 attempts for 4328 yards.

Philip Rivers didn’t become the starting quarterback until his third year in the league, but the Chargers still worked him in slowly to the passing game. In 2006, Rivers started 16 games and threw for 3388 yards. And in 2007, Rivers again started 16 games and threw for only 3152 yards. Pretty pedestrian compared to the last two years where he topped 4000 yards each year.

I’m not predicting that Cassel is the next Philip Rivers or Ben Roethlisberger. The NFL is littered with talented athletes who never become star quarterbacks. But I think to conclude that the Chiefs don’t trust Matt Cassel is to take the wrong message from what Weis is trying to accomplish. “The first thing I wanted to do was help fix the quarterback.”

Quick Thoughts on the Colts Game
Don’t want to spend much time rehashing the game against the Colts. Romeo Crennel’s defense was outstanding. Holding Manning and the Colts to 19 points at their stadium is an accomplishment. The defense gave the Chiefs a chance. The offense did not, putting only 9 points on the board. The Chiefs struggled to convert on third downs in particular. But nobody really expected the Chiefs to win this game. The Colts are more talented than the Chiefs.  Though the Chiefs appear to be closing that gap.

Chiefs Face Texans
After the first couple weeks of the season, I thought for sure this would be a loss for the Chiefs. But now I’m not so sure. The Texans have lost two of their last three games (by 14 points to the Cowboys, and 24 points to the Giants). The Cowboys and Giants combined have four wins, meaning that two of those wins have come against Houston. Both of the Texans’ losses are at home, so they don’t appear to have much of a home field advantage.

The Texans’ defense has been abysmal. They’re ranked 31st in the league, and have given up more than 400 yards per game. They’re ranked dead last against the pass as they’re giving up almost 330 yards per game through the air. The big question is whether or not the Chiefs can take advantage of Houston’s defense.

On the other side of the ball, Houston’s offense has been playing well. They have the fifth ranked rushing offense (Arian Foster is leading the league with 564 yards though he’s played one more game than Adrian Peterson), and Matt Schaub throws the ball effectively. But he’s also been picked off 5 times, and has already taken 14 sacks this season. It appears that the Texans’ line has had a difficult time protecting their quarterback.

The Chiefs’ defense will enter this game with a lot of confidence. If they can create some turnovers, they’ll have an opportunity to win it at the end. But this time, Dwayne Bowe will need to catch the ball.

Prediction: Chiefs 16, Texans 13

The Chiefs find themselves as the last unbeaten team in the league at 3-0, and travel to Indianapolis on Sunday to face the Colts, who are surprisingly at 2-2. The Colts are heavily favored to win.

How the Chiefs Could Win
The Chiefs are doing two things very well this year — running the football, and stopping the run. The Chiefs are third in the league in rushing, averaging 160.7 yards per game. And the Chiefs are ranked fifth in the league at stopping the run, only giving up 75 yards per game. This would seem to be a great matchup for the Chiefs, because the Colts are 29th in the league at running the ball, and 29th in the league at stopping the run. The Chiefs must dominate time of possession in this game, and limit the number of times that the Colts have the ball in order to win. Matt Cassel needs to hit enough passes to keep the Colts from loading up their defensive front, but expect to see a ton of Thomas Jones and Jamaal Charles running the ball.

How the Chiefs Could Lose
Two words: Peyton Manning. It’s no secret, the Colts like to throw the ball. And Peyton is having an incredible start to the season. Take a look at these numbers: 69.8% completion rate for 1365 yards, 11 TDs and only 1 INT. His quarterback rating is 112.2. If Manning could average these numbers over the entire season, it would be the greatest single season in the history of the NFL.

Now that’s not likely to happen. Manning will throw some INTs this season. He’ll play against some defenses that will do a better job of containing their passing game. The question will be if the Chiefs with their VERY young secondary can cover Reggie Wayne, Austin Collie and Dallas Clark. The Chiefs defensively have focused on stopping the run all year by putting safety Eric Berry up near the line of scrimmage. This won’t work on Sunday. Berry and the rest of the defensive backs will be in pass coverage all day, and will not be able to help in run support.

Prediction
If the Chiefs could pull this off, it would send shockwaves through the NFL. Defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel has coached against Manning and the Colts many times. And the Chiefs have had two weeks to prepare for this game. It would be a coming out party for the Chiefs.

The Colts are the most consistent team in the NFL. They win, especially at home. And they’re coming off a last second loss to the Jaguars. It’s difficult to imagine the Colts losing two in a row, but this Colts team does not appear to be as dominant as they’ve been in the past.

Prediction: Colts 27, Chiefs 20

The Royals are just hours away from wrapping up the 2010 season. With a record of 67-94, I guess my prediction of 73-89 was too optimistic. Did the Royals accomplish anything this season?

Ned Yost: The Trey Hillman experiment came to a screeching halt this season. Thank you Dayton. Hillman may be a great guy, but he was clearly in over his head. The losses were not his fault. At least most of them. But it was impossible to look at Hillman and believe that he’d ever be a great manager in the big leagues. I’ve been really impressed with Yost. He’s upbeat. He’s good with young players. He knows baseball, and has a philosophy that can actually win games. How do we know? Because he’s already helped turn around one franchise. This was the best decision made by the franchise this season. Other than his love affair with Jason Kendall hitting second in the lineup, Yost has done all he can with the hand he’s been dealt.

Trades: The Royals went out and signed players this last off-season (such as Podsednik and Ankiel), and were able to convert them into trades to help stock their minor league system. I was skeptical of these signings, but they proved to be smart moves. They didn’t block any minor leaguers ready to play at the big league level, and the Royals received value in return. Good move Dayton.

Player Development: This may be the most disappointing aspect of the 2010 season — did we learn anything about these players that we didn’t already know?

PITCHING

Joakim Soria: The best player on the team, and the best closer in baseball. He’s been phenomenally consistent.

Zack Greinke: I’m a Zack fan, but I think there’s a good chance that we’ll look back on Zack’s career and realize that 2009 was his best year. The clock is ticking in Kansas City. Zack will not be here forever, and the Royals have to decide what to do with him. And I think they have to trade him sooner rather than later. The risk is that Greinke will never again be as dominate as he was in 2009, and the farther you get away from 2009, the less value he will have in a trade. I think the Royals should look to trade him during the off-season, but if they don’t get the right package, then wait till the trade deadline next summer. If Zack is still on the team this time next year, that will be unfortunate for the Royals.

Starting Rotation: Gil Meche is in the bullpen. Zack needs to be traded. Brian Bannister will be gone. Kyle Davies continues to struggle. Luke Hochevar is the only one from this group who still might be in the rotation come 2012. That’s bad news.

Bruce Chen was a very nice surprise. The Royals will likely try to resign him to a two or three year contract. The team has tried a few other guys this year with little success. The Royals have pitchers in the minors that they’re very high on, but not sure that any of them will be any help in 2011. The Royals are hopeful that these guys will start pitching at the big league level in 2012 or 2013. Looks bleak for 2011.

Bullpen: The Royals have some nice arms in the pen with Soria, Tejeda, Wood, Texeria and Meche. In the short term, the Royals appear good here. And there is no such thing as a long term view when building a bullpen, other than locking up your closer. And the Royals need to keep Soria as long as possible. Nothing is more demoralizing than blowing a game in the ninth. And nobody has been better than Soria at closing the door. If the Royals are going to spend money on any current players, spend it on Soria.

POSITION PLAYERS

What I Like: I like David DeJesus in the outfield, though it’s uncertain how long he’ll be with the club. And I like Mike Aviles at second base. Am having a hard time liking anything else on this team.

What We Hope: The Royals are still hoping that Alex Gordon can learn to hit in the majors. He’s converting well to left field. He’s a good athlete. He takes a few walks. But doesn’t look like he’ll ever hit for average or much power.

The Royals are hoping that Billy Butler can avoid the double play, and hit with more power. Butler is slow, and hits ground balls. His power numbers will probably improve a little, and he hits for average. He’s a below average first baseman. Not sure that he’s a good long term fit on a team like the Royals.

What We’ve Got: Other than that, we’ve got players who are just holding spots.

At first base we’ve got Butler and Kia Ka’aihue until Eric Hosmer is ready. One of these guys ends up at DH. The other will have to go. Personally, I’d trade Butler if you could get anything good for him, and move Betemit to first.

At short we’ve got Betancourt until Christian Colon is ready for the big leagues, which is at least a couple years from now. Betancourt has been decent this year, but that’s all he’ll ever be.

Wilson Betemit has been a nice surprise at third. He’s hit with consistency, and hit with some power. He’s a bit of a liability at third. But out of all the Royals prospects, the one who appears closest to being ready for the bigs is Mike Moustakas, who could begin the season with the Royals next year. Where does that put Betemit? Not sure. His best defensive position is probably at first, but we’ve got a logjam there already. The Royals may attempt to make a utility guy out of Betemit to keep his bat in the lineup. But most utility guys are a plus defensively. That’s not Betemit. The other option is to try to make a right fielder out of him.

DeJesus is the team’s only legitimate starting outfielder, and he might get traded. The Royals appear determined to give Gordon every opportunity to become an effective player. We’ll see. I’m not optimistic. We’ve got a bunch of role players with Blanco, Miller, Dyson and Maier. Not optimistic that any of them will do more than be a fourth outfielder, though I’ve been somewhat impressed with Dyson. Like his speed on the bases, and his coverage in the outfield. The Royals have catcher Wil Myers in the minors who may end up in right field. His bat is advanced, and the Royals have been attempting to make a catcher out of him.

Which brings us to catcher. Brayan Pena has been OK filling in for the injured Jason Kendall. I don’t see a long term solution anywhere close in the minors. Looks like we’ll have more of Kendall and Pena next year.

Yost has been doing a good job of getting guys at bats. But what about Josh Fields? He’s a guy that I find somewhat interesting, but doesn’t appear to be able to find any playing time. He’s hitting over .300 in very limited at bats. Has a little power. He’s probably a better third baseman than Betemit. And probably a decent outfielder.

OFF-SEASON

It will be interesting to see what the Royals do this off-season. With Guillen gone, the team will have a little money to spend. The Royals are doing a fine job of drafting and developing talent in their minor league system, but most of these guys appear at least a couple years away from Kansas City. Will the Royals grab a couple veterans like Podsednik and Ankiel to fill some holes? Or will they be content to give these young guys playing time to see if any of them can develop at the big league level?

What I Would Do: I don’t see the Royals being truly competitive until 2013 at the earliest no matter what they do. This current crop of players (Butler, Gordon, Greinke, Davies, Hochevar) are not likely to be the foundation for the future of the team as the Royals had hoped. I would trade Greinke, Butler and DeJesus while they still have value, and stockpile as many prospects as you can. Sign a couple of stopgap veterans — you need some experience to help the youngsters along. And play the kids.

Week three in the NFL, and our Chiefs are attempting to go 3-0. Who would have thought that?

Today the Chiefs face the 49ers, my pick to win the NFC West. The 49ers find themselves 0-2 after getting blown out by the Seahawks in week one, and losing a close game on Monday Night Football to the Saints in week two. I watched the 49ers play against the Saints. They’re a good team. Probably farther along in their development than the Chiefs. A win today for the 49ers and they’re still in decent shape in their division.

The 49ers have some interesting ties to the Chiefs. Their offensive coordinator is Jimmy Raye, who was the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator under Marty Schottenheimer and Gunther Cunningham from 1998-2000. Their defensive coordinator is Greg Manusky, who played linebacker for the Chiefs and was a star on special teams. Joining them is Kurt Schottenheimer as special teams coordinator, Marty’s brother who also coached for the Chiefs under both Marty and Gunther, and Mike Solari, a fine offensive line coach for the Chiefs for many years who struggled as offensive coordinator under Herm. Whew. People talk about Kansas City becoming the Patriots of the Midwest. It appears that head coach Mike Singletary has taken the coaching staff from the Chiefs in the ’90s and reassembled them on the west coast.

Manusky has the 49ers defense playing pretty well. They make plays, but appear vulnerable against the pass. The Chiefs have not shown enough in the passing game this year to look like they can take advantage of these deficiencies. You would expect that the Chiefs will give the 49ers a heavy dose of Thomas Jones and Jamaal Charles. Matt Cassel looked like he was getting some rhythm in the passing game in the second half against Cleveland last week. I expect the Chiefs to work hard on their passing game today. Don’t be surprised if Cassel has a good day throwing the ball.

On offense, the 49ers have a good running back in Frank Gore, and an excellent tight end in Vernon Davis. The Chiefs are selling out against the run this year, which has left some big plays open against their secondary. Expect more of rookie safety Eric Berry up in the box in run support. The Chiefs have been gambling a lot to stop the run, and overall it’s working for them. They’ve given up a few big plays in the passing game, but not enough to kill them.

While this is a big game for the 49ers who need a win badly to get their season turned around, the Chiefs will be equally motivated today. They’re at home, and really want to develop a home field advantage again. They have a bye next week, and would love to start the season 3-0. After the bye the Chiefs are faced with two tough rough games against the Colts and the Texans — neither of which they’re likely to win.

The 49ers are faced with a tough task today. They’re 0-2, and on the road following a short week and a loss on Monday Night Football. I picked against the Chiefs last week because they were on the road after a short week. So I’m picking against the 49ers for the same reason. We’ll see today if Arrowhead Magic has returned to Kansas City. If the Chiefs give the fans anything to cheer about, the house should be a rockin’!

Prediction: Chiefs 20, 49ers 17