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  • September 04, 2008 01:05 PM ET

The NMI "Elite 8" Tournament The Worst Offensive Line In The NFL Is?

[The] Coach (103-18-5) vs The Ram (149-17-4)
10
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15
Votes
10
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15
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The Kansas City Chiefs

Since Willie Roaf and Will Shields retired in 2005, the Chiefs have been horrendous up front. Last year they allowed 55 sacks and contributed to the demise of their own franchise player, Larry Johnson.

Two years ago, they effectively ended the career of their QB Trent Green by allowing Cincinnati defensive end Robert Geathers to nearly decapitate him when he was forced to scramble out of the ever collapsing Chief's pass pocket!

There are NCAA fronlines that could afford better protection that these bums!


The worst line RIGHT NOW belongs to the Chicago Bears.

Last year the Chiefs allowed 55 sacks, Bears-43.

Running game? The Bears were historically bad, rushing for an NFL worst 3.1 yards per carry. KC was nearly as bad with 3.3.

So, LAST YEAR it was a push, maybe KC was a little worse.

But what has happened in the offseason?

Here's what KC did:

They drafted a HEALTHY rookie in Branden Albert to play LT next to All-Pro Brian Waters. That allows Damion McIntosh to move over to RT be a moster run-blocker. They also get C Rudy Niswanger back from injury.

Here's what Chicago did:

LG Ruben Brown was released. His job is up for grabs between Josh Beekman and Terrence Metcalf. Both are backups, both are terrible.

RT Fred Miller was released. His position was supposed to be taken by LT John Tait , and LT was to be played by "stud" first round pick Chris Williams.

Oops.

Williams has a herniated disc in his back that caused him to be taken off several draft boards. Williams is undergoing surgery and will not play until November...if he plays at all. Their line is now in chaos. They have no LT, no depth, and last years backups are starting.


A few more Chief tidbits to digest.
- The Chiefs actually led the league in one offensive category last year. They were the proud owners of the most plays that netted NEGATIVE yardage. A full 125 times the snapped the ball and went backwards!
- They were 30th in points scored
- They were 31st in total points
- THEY WERE DEAD LAST in rushing yards with a paltry 78 ypg.

The Offensive Line
LT - Brandon Albert (ROOKIE) was a Guard in college and must now learn to play tackle. LT is considered the most critical OL position and KC has a Rookie playing out of position there.
LG - Brian Waters was a disappointment last year. Will he rebound? Who knows?
C - Rudy Niswanger is an Undrafted player that was a 3rd string guard most of his career and now he is supposed to anchor te O line?
RG - Adrian Jones is tackle being moved to Guard and has no depth behind him.
RT - Damion McIntosh was moved to RT after spending his entire career as a LT. He was replaced by a rookie that played GUARD in college?!?

There are question marks at every position, players playing out of natural position, the best player is a rookie and you expect the acknowledged worst O line of 2007 to improve?


Brendan Albert is a run blocking specialist. He's huge and when he gets his hands on people he pushes them back. Whether it's at G or T the run-blocking is similar. Waters, Albert, and McIntosh are all excellent run blockers.

True, Rookie LT's struggle. But is that better than no LT??? Albert will play! Williams will be serving Gatorade! The Chiefs easily improved LT, the Bears got worse!

Bears:

LT right now is John "swinging gate" St. Clair. Who has blown every opportunity he's ever had at starting. He allows sacks at an unholy rate. That's why he was on the bench last year.

Starting LG is career backup Metcalf who just had knee surgery August 5th and hasn't played since.

That's the worst left side of a line in the NFL by far. Orton will be lucky if he's not killed from his blind side.

C is Olin Kreutz, the lone bright spot.

RG is Roberto Garza who has difficulty in pass protection.

RT John Tait, 33, is going downhill fast. Chicago is hoping he'll be better at RT than he was at LT.

The only other person who can play T on their entire roster is 2008 7th round pick Kirk Barton. Not only do they have the worst starters, they're incredibly thin.


How can you can state that the entire KC O-Line are excellent run blockers. There is no data to support that and plenty to support the opposite. They were last in season rushing yards and rushing yards per game last year. The top team gained over 1400 more yards on the ground than did the Chiefs.

The Chiefs were not only worse running the ball than the Bears but were also worse passing. (Bears-15th/Chiefs-20th) They led the league in sacks with 55 compared to the Bears 43. That is nearly an extra sack per game. They averaged (1) TD every 63 carries (worst) and a sack for every 10 passing attempts.

KC has three starters have never started an NFL game. The other two return from a line that was dead last in the NFL last year. How can this line be expected to improve?

In a half dozen or more sites I found that rated NFL Offensive lines, KC was last in every single instance. Nobody picked Chicago last.

I quote RotoExperts,
"Let???s get it out of the way up front: the Chiefs have the worst line in the NFL...by a large margin. These guys can???t pass block, they can???t run block, heck, they???re about as effective as the armless blockers from electric football."

Now that's Bad!


I looked up every site I could find that ranks O-lines. They all have a few things in common. The Chiefs are consensus last place, and the Bears are ranked 29th or 30th, never higher than 26th.

But that's not all they have in common...

Every single site has Chris Williams providing a large upgrade for the Bears by starting at LT...whoops. No LT is PLENTY to drop them to last.

Want a reason KC will improve? Coaching.

In 2 years as Kansas City OC, Mike Solari turned the best rushing attack in the NFL into the worst. Now Chan Gailey is the Coordinator. In his two previous stints as NFL OC's he turned Pittsburgh into the number 1 rushing team in the league, and Miami into the number 2 rushing attack...both in under 2 years.

Chicago? They have the same OC and O-line coach (Ron Turner and Harry Hiestand) as when they ran their way to the Super Bowl. What's changed? Talent.

KC has addressed their line issues by drafting a LT and hiring a coordinator that knows how to craft a running game. All the Bears accomplished is blowing a First round pick, letting 2 starters walk, and replacing them with guys from their horrible bench, which is now even more thin.

Comments (47) Add A Comment

September 4, 2008  02:18 PM ET
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nice call on da bears ram... i will wait to vote til coach counters...

September 4, 2008  02:19 PM ET
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i love the offseason angle

September 4, 2008  02:31 PM ET
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Great opening salvos on both sides.

September 4, 2008  03:12 PM ET
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Without a doubt Steelers. Had a position battle at center (TERRIBLE sign). Allowed 47 sacks to Big Ben last year... lost the anchor of the line in Faneca.

September 4, 2008  03:17 PM ET
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Sorry guys, didn't need to vote. Went to hit "back", and it clicked right over the vote. I'll come back when its over to make a final vote.

September 4, 2008  03:21 PM ET
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Running game? The Bears were historically bad, rushing for an NFL worst 3.1 yards per carry. KC was nearly as bad with 3.3.

- KC also had a great RB I'm not sure if he was injured or anything but still My vote goes to the Cheifs- of the two I believe they have a worst pass blocking and run blocking O-Line.

September 4, 2008  03:22 PM ET
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Without a doubt Steelers. Had a position battle at center (TERRIBLE sign). Allowed 47 sacks to Big Ben last year... lost the anchor of the line in Faneca.

EFB- K-ROD 53 | 09/04/08, 03:12 PM

Without a doubt? Really? The Steelers were one of the best rushing teams in the NFL last year. How do you figure they are now worse than either of these two pitiful lines?

September 4, 2008  03:35 PM ET
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Your being a Cleveland fan wouldn't have anything to do with your opinion, now would it EFB?

September 4, 2008  03:38 PM ET
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I think the NFL should do away with O-lines and just have the d-line count to 5-mississippi before rushing.

September 4, 2008  03:46 PM ET
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That seems to be the plan of both of these teams heading into 2008, Porkins.

I'm not sure if they know that other teams weren't given the same memo.

September 4, 2008  03:56 PM ET
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Leaning right on this one.

September 4, 2008  04:02 PM ET
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Both of these lines suck, but at least KC went and did something about it. But what about Detroit? Or Dolphins?

September 4, 2008  04:15 PM ET
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Both of these lines suck, but at least KC went and did something about it. But what about Detroit? Or Dolphins?
RobertMenn-MerlinsMiracles.com | 09/04/08, 04:02 PM

The Dolphins drafted Jake Long, Robert. They did something.

September 4, 2008  04:17 PM ET
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Me being a Cleveland fan has a lot to do with it... BUT I did watch nearly ever Steeler game last year and when I was in Cleveland I taped the Steelers to watch them later. They do not have one of the best rushing games... Parker had what? 4.1 a pop last year? Good, but inferior to the "old washed up" Jamal Lewis. Plus, Parker broke a few big ones now and then but besides that, he was wrapped up in the back field more often than not. Plus, losing your leader, your LG... having 2 centers duking it out for the starting job at a position THAT important? I say they fall apart this year.

September 4, 2008  04:19 PM ET
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I need to get better with transition words...

September 4, 2008  04:23 PM ET
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"I think the NFL should do away with O-lines and just have the d-line count to 5-mississippi before rushing."

Sure would make it easier on all the TDers around here who don't believe OL is important when they put up their "Make an offense, no OL" TD's.

September 4, 2008  04:24 PM ET
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What exactly did KC do about it? They drafted a college Guard and moved him to Left Tackle!

September 4, 2008  04:27 PM ET
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I completely agree that the Pitt line was bad last year. Really bad. But they still weren't in the same neighborhood as these two. Pitt was slightly average in yards per carry. That alone makes them far more respectable than these two dogs.

September 4, 2008  04:40 PM ET
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I still don't see why the Bears didn't keep everyone that got them to the SUPERBOWL JUST 2 SEASONS AGO!!!
Now they've plummeted into a terrible team beyond belief

 
September 4, 2008  04:45 PM ET
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Alright ram................. if you INSIST the Stillers aint the worst but they wush the flir with no one.

Anyone, Waters is pretty good... Bears have a bad O line but at LEAST they have Olin who is one of the best NFL centers. This is tough, I am leaning right a lil bit but not enough to vote yet.

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