Kansas City Chiefs: Dwayne Bowe, Larry Johnson, and Other Thoughts

KC News: Dwayne Bowe has been suspended by the NFL for four games for substance abuse.  Just what this team needs, another setback. To say that Bowe made a mistake is putting it mildly. Why does Bowe, the strongest WR in the NFL, feel he needed anything to add strength and in doing so, feel it would make him a better WR?

Stupidity may be a good word to describe his actions. As a result of his stupidity

Suspension.

So now what? We can only speculate. One would hope that Bowe will remain a Chief for years to come. One also may notice how important he is to this team's future. It will be interesting to see how this plays out with Haley four weeks from now. My suggestion to Bowe-get used to chewing on bones and maybe chase a cat every now and then.

Todd Haley's position? The king of cliche's told the press "I refuse to comment"

In other words, he is leaving the press covering this story to fill in the lines with speculation and speculation in the hands of creative writers might fuel a fire that will be very hard to put out, as research has shown that 90% of the public believes what they read. Its human nature.

There is no love loss between these two. As I had written months ago Bowe has played well over these last few years based on athletic ability alone. He is not a student of the game or a hard practice player. But there are many players who don't knock themselves out at practice and that doesn't make them "bad guys". In addition, Bowe has always produced when it matters most.

Having said that Bowe did fuel Haley's anger when they had to use up a timeout this past weekend because Bowe lined up on the wrong side of the field on one key play in the game. Attention to detail is important to Haley. Bowe should know that by now.

Bowe was in Haley's doghouse throughout the preseason, being demoted to third string on their depth chart, he has missed a few meetings, he was even warned by Haley two days before the trading deadline that he might be dealt. This is hardly a ringing endorsement for a player who has enough talent to build around.

But lets face it, this team needs Dwayne Bowe. The loss of Tony Gonzalez made Bowe their only true passing option. Although Chambers, Wade, and Bradley have looked good lets not forget they were all unemployed before the Chiefs signed them.

The trading of Tony Gonzalez was the first shock. The cutting of three second round draft picks raised more than a few eyebrows (By the way, Tank Tyler is now in the top five in Tackles in the NFL at DT with Carolina). Then there was the release of Larry Johnson, who WAS one of the premiere RB in the game. Now this. My guess is Haley plans to put Bowe back in that doghouse regardless. What that accomplishes I'm not sure. Needless to say this is yet ANOTHER distraction hurting the focus of what Haley is trying to establish. And so it goes........

Larry Johnson is now a Cincinnati Bengal. Doesn't surprise me. They have a head coach who is used to reforming troubled players, they need another back with Cedric Benson suffering an injury, and they are a team that has beaten Pittsburgh twice and is very much in the playoff hunt. What surprises me is what they plan to do with him.

He'll be their No. 4 Running Back and special team player. They even went as far as to suggest him being their Gunner. Are you kidding me? Johnson, a back that even KC had to remove on third downs because of his weak pass blocking working his way up as a special team player? I admire the coach's level of integrity but c'mon. I'm surprised LJ said yes. Somehow i don't believe it.

If Benson goes down he's your starter. If not why even sign him in the first place? Cincinnati has too much at stake here. They are a contender and no matter what Johnson has done there is very few Bengal Fans who would tolerate keeping him on the bench, not if winning games is their objective.

Other thoughts, Jamal Charles has looked like he has a bright future in KC providing he can hold on to the football. There have been plenty of promising RB with fumbling issues that are now out of football. So far, he looks great.Too bad he is an Unrestricted Free Agent after next season. If he is the answer, would they go as far enough to Franchise him at the end of next season? If not he will have a short lived Kansas City career.

You don't have to be a genius to know what the Chiefs have to do to beat the Steelers this week. They need to protect Cassel and they need a pass rush to put pressure on Big Ben. I doubt they will do either and now without Bowe it seems next to impossible. But it isn't. Miracles happen sometimes. Facing a pissed off Steeler team who must win won't be easy, but how Kansas City plays under adversity might tell us a lot about the fortitude of this team.

Finally Kudos to Mike Brown for his two interceptions and his game saving ankle tackle of Michael Bush in leading the Chiefs over their arch rivals. He had a rough season before this game and needed a strong showing to assure the team that this was not a position of need.