IRVING, Texas - Some quick thoughts from the film room on the Kansas City Chiefs:
- Jamaal Charles has a quad injury and missed practice on Wednesday because of it. There is no doubt in my mind that he will be on the field Sunday afternoon when these two teams meet. Charles is such an interesting player because of his ability to line up anywhere on the field and make something happen. This past week against the Jaguars, he lined up at wide receiver and took in a slant for a nice gain. He looks extremely comfortable when they use him in this zone scheme but also when they run him on misdirection plays. He can press hard front side, then cut the ball back with some violence. There is a quick pace to his game.
What this Cowboys defense cannot allow him to do is get in space quickly. He is not the most powerful of runners but more about trying to make you miss him in the open field which he does very well. The way that the Cowboys can counter Charles, is with the play of Sean Lee and Bruce Carter by reading the scheme and attacking the gaps to catch him before he gets started. This will be a huge responsibility.
- Over the years, Dwayne Bowe has been the "go-to" receiver for the Chiefs but in the opening game against the Jaguars, Alex Smith did a nice job of spreading the ball around to other members of the offense.
Receivers Donnie Avery and Dexter McCluster combined for five grabs but what was surprising when breaking down the tape, was that fullback Anthony Sherman had four catches which tied Bowe for the team lead that day. Sherman is a square built player that shows nice ability to move and adjust to present himself as an easy target to work with. His hands appeared soft and he did not appear like he was fighting the ball when it came in his direction.
- Rookie offensive tackle, Eric Fisher is playing on the right side, while Brandon Albert plays on the left for what appears to be one more season. Fisher was my highest ranked player on our The Draft Show Top 25 and it was the first opportunity that I had a chance to see him all summer. His movement is outstanding and he can put himself in position to make blocks but he appears to struggle is sitting down on a rusher that plays with power against him.
There were several times in the Jacksonville game where he was too upright and tall thus allowing the rusher to get inside on him. It will be very interesting to see how he might handle Anthony Spencer in this game or even DeMarcus Ware who is combination of speed and power. Keep an eye on this spot to see if Monte Kiffin tries to put him in some bad spots protection wise.
- If I am Bill Callahan and this offensive staff, I consider trying to attack cornerback Sean Smith and stay away from Brandon Flowers. Smith was a converted receiver in college that really didn't show enough ball skills to keep him there and was moved to corner. He is extremely tall for a corner at 6-3 and can be a little leggy at times with his movements. He doesn't have the cover skills that Flowers shows and will tend to play cautious.
Flowers doesn't give an inch while in coverage but I cannot say the same for Smith. There are times where you see Smith peeking in the backfield at the quarterback and he will lose the ball. I believe you can run inside on him with slants because he doesn't react as well as Flowers does. [embedded_ad]
- This Chiefs 3-4 scheme under Bob Sutton is very similar to what we see from Rex Ryan and the Jets. There is a ton of movement with the line and linebackers but where the pressure point of this defense appears to be is in the secondary and how they blitz. In the Jacksonville game, it was none stop maybe for two reasons, they had a lead and quarterback Blaine Gabbert is just not very good.
I am not sure how much pressure Sutton will try and bring on this Cowboys offense but Tony Romo and company need to be ready for slot, corner, and safety blitzes at any down and distance. The thought by Sutton and it is in line with what the Rex Ryan feels, is that they can get to your quarterback before you get the ball out. Sutton might back off due to the fact that Tony Romo is a veteran quarterback but if not, the assignments and pickups need to be spot on.
