NFL to Denver: Still Just Human

It was suggested early last week by me, that, being that the Kansas City Chiefs employed two of the best players in the NFL- maybe they should try getting them the ball. I suggested maybe just passing the ball to Tony Gonzalez and Dewayne Bowe all the time, spell that by handing the ball off to Larry Johnson- couldn't be a worse outcome right? 

Well, slap my ass and call me Herm Edwards.

The problem? The Denver Broncos defense was complacent in their misery, they may have actually gained overall ground in the NFL against the Chiefs; being that the Chiefs only scored 33 points. The Broncos secondary gave up only 160 yards to the Chiefs and only 207 yards to their ground game. By all looks of it, Denver showed vast improvement on defense. As good as the Broncos defense is at being bad, it was ultimately the Broncos offense that lost the game. 

Denver fans were ready to crown Brandon Marshall the messiah and Eddie Royal his second coming. Then they both fumbled, Royal on the Broncos opening drive, deep in Denver territory. Marshall's was even worse though... 

The Messiah's drop cost the Broncos their drive, their forward momentum and their confidence. Quarterback Jay Cutler went on to throw two times as many interceptions to the Chiefs than he has all season, if that wasn't enough, his sack total was doubled as well. 

However, despite it all, Cutler threw for 361 yards, Royal had his second 100-yard game, Selvin Young kept chipping away at his 2,000 yard prediction with 49 yards (only 1,821 to go). So what gives? Brandon Stokley even came out a bit this game, he was worth 80 yards. So improved defense- check. Offensive production- check. Better special teams- check. What's so different this game?

It has become my mantra lately, defense wins championships, but not games- hell, the Philadelphia Eagles just proved it, losing to the Chicago Bears. Offense wins games.

Breaking down my focuses:

• Focus one: Contain Tony Gonzalez.
  
  Throughout all of my scouting on the Chiefs, last week I in advisably said that the Chiefs should just feed Gonzo the ball. Let Johnson and Bowe spell him and just see what happens. The Chiefs did find Gonzalez for a touchdown, but for the most part Boss Bailey kept the man in check. 
  
  
• Focus two: Stop Larry Johnson.
  
  The man went buck wild on that 65-yard run, he shouldn't have, but it happened and he did. He finished with 198 yards. He probably wouldn't have, except Kansas City was leading the whole game, did you expect them to pass? The man has made a career out of teeing off against the Broncos. 
  
  
• Focus three: Cover Dewayne Bowe.
  
  For the life of me I do not know why Bowe caught wild on Denver, but then again, I really do and that brings me to my fourth focus. That was... 
  
  
• Focus four: Incorporate rookie cornerback Jack Williams in as the nickel back. 
  
  Fed up with Karl Paymah getting ran over? Me too, I was the first calling for Jack "Mother F***ing" Williams two weeks ago, he tore it up in preseason and in training camp. However, Jack "Mother F***ing" Williams became Jack "Mother F***er" Williams today. However, what the hell was he doing covering Bowe in the first place? Who the hell was Champ Bailey covering on that play? It got to the point where literally every time Bowe caught a pass, Williams was covering him. What is up with that? Did the Chiefs have two other receivers that I wasn't aware of that warranted Bailey and Dre Bly's attention? 

Let me sum this whole thing up by saying that, I'd rather Denver get humbled in September by the Chiefs then get blown up by the Carolina Panthers in the midst of a playoff hunt. So with that out of the way, I've got plenty of Tampa Bay Buccaneers scouting information to report to you. So keep plugged in, because I'm back. 

Larry Johnson photo courtesy of Reuters.

Brandon Marshall courtesy of A.P./Charles Riedel

Report: Horn likes San Diego & Denver

UPDATE: Joe Horn's agent has contacted every team.

The Atlanta Falcons have finally caved to wide receiver Joe Horn's demand to be traded

ESPN.com's Bill Williamson is reporting:

[Joe Horn's] agent, Ralph Vitolo, said he plans to talk to both teams.

"If they are interested in us, we'd be interested in them," Vitolo said of the Chargers and the Broncos.

Not sure if everyone knows the Joe Horn story, it's only a little reminiscent of a recent of a recently retired Bronco receiver. Horn had signed a letter of intent to play college football at the University of South Carolina, however, do to a bad GPA and low SAT score he was not able to attend the school. Horn went to junior college at Itawamba Community College in Fulton, MS. In his two years at Intawamba, he had 54 catches for 878 yards and seven touchdowns.

He returned home to Fayetteville, NC after having little success in college, to work with his mother at a Bojangles restaurant. While there he was down to his last six dollars when he decided to buy a Jerry Rice workout tape for $3,95 at a local Blockbuster (from Wikipedia):

He then proceeded to work out in Fayetteville and made a highlight film with some colorful music which he sent to various teams. Memphis Mad Dogs coach Pepper Rodgers got this tape and offerend Horn a contract. He was signed by the Memphis Mad Dogs of the Canadian Football League for the 1995 season, where he led his team in receptions (71) and receiving yards (1414).

Why would Horn not be interested in the Raiders or the Chiefs? Well, Horn began his career with the Kansas City Chiefs, who drafted him out of the CFL in 1996. When he left the Chiefs in 2000 for the New Orleans Saints he blew up, catching 94 passes for 1,354 yards and 8 touchdowns.

Horn has had four years in his career in which he's received over 1,000 yards. He has 603 career receptions, 8,733 yards and 58 touchdowns in 12 years in the NFL.