All-In: Cassel's Last Hand

Can this be it?! The year we make it past the first round and deep into the play-offs?! Even - should I say - Super Bowl run???

Chiefs' fans, the pieces are there and in place. But there is one piece that is raising more than enough questions this off-season; Is Cassel ready?

I don't believe he has a choice. The Chiefs signed Brady Quinn as a backup and still have Ricky Stanzi is waiting in the wings. Not to mention hosting Peyton Manning this off season which definitely had some Chiefs' fans saying "Matt who?" All signs are pointing to Cassel as the starter but those actions had to rub Cassel the wrong way and showed that Crennel won't hesitate to pull him if he begins to struggle.

Now with that said; Cassel isn't a slouch ( most people beg to differ). In 2010, his last healthy year as a Chief, Cassel threw for 3116 yards and 27 touchdowns. He has shown that he could excel when under center and coming off of an season ending injury in addition to his critics should motivate him to work harder than he ever has...but will that translate to a playoff win?

Let's hope the elements around him can get us there. Not saying that is incapable of doing so himself but the Crennel's game plan won't call for it. What most people fail to realize is that the Chiefs are one of the last organizations that play old school football; run first and play good defense. Last year the Chiefs finished 15th in rushing (without Jamaal Charles) and the defense ranked 12th. Adding Poe should instantaneously push us into the top 10. The backfield resembles a Kentucky Derby line-up and hopefully with the re-signing of D.Bowe; the options are limitless.

Maybe Cassel has to play the Trent Dilfer, Brad Johnson role on this team but if winning a Super Bowl his ultimate goal; he should be jumping at the opportunity.

Locked and Loaded

It was a dark dreary day on turf in mid September that we watched our All-Pro running back Jamaal Charles go down out of bounds with a torn ACL. The pain; The hurt; The uncertainty we all shared as he was carted off with "that look". The question of if he could return for Week 1 or if he could simply recover from this injury was 80 percent answered two weeks ago. Via the Chiefs organization; Jamaal had this to say:

"I'm hungry. I want it this year. I've got the passion for it. I can be patient. I just can't wait to play football, I can't wait to bring stuff back to this community and show how much we can win. And I feel like this is a year for us, that we can go all the way because I can feel it. And me, I feel I can bring a lot to the team this year being bigger and stronger, and I don't know, maybe even faster. I can wait awhile. In my mind, I want to get back out there because I want to see where I'm at, but I feel like I'm already there, so I can just wait. Just like when I had my shoulder surgery, I waited the whole training camp to go back. I didn't do anything really during OTAs or minicamp."

Make ya feel good don't it?!

When asked about how he felt watching the games on the bench from the sideline after his injury; He replied:

"It was sick. It made me stronger. It made me the person that I am today, I can't wait and I know how to take care of my body, how to eat right and do the right things and it's made me not want to wait to touch that field again. When I touch that field going out there, you're going to feel my pain; you're going to go through what I went through. That right there is going to be there for the rest of my career because I don't want to be out a whole year ever again. That point, at my stage, I'm 25 years old, I'm at the point in my life that I've got to win games, I want to go to the playoffs, I wonder why we can't go to the Super Bowl. That had me thinking a lot and made me a better player."

Over-excited would be an understatement! I can't wait to see Charles back to 100%. With all the pieces coming back and the additions from the draft; I'm thinking about what design will Nike come up with this year for the division champs shirts.