Thigpen’s performance a pleasant surprise, but it won’t continue

By Kyle Anderson  |   Wednesday, October 29, 2008  |  Comments( 7 )

Kansas City Chiefs
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In only his second career NFL start, second-year Kansas City Chiefs">Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Tyler Thigpen completed 25 of 36 passes for 280 yards and two touchdowns in a 28-24 loss to the Jets last weekend. Despite Thigpen’s solid performance, the Chiefs' loss was their third consecutive, not to mention their 15th in their past 16 contests.

Commentary: Thigpen turned in the most surprising quarterback performance of Week 8. Don’t expect it to happen again, though.

Thigpen operated primarily from the shotgun throughout the game, and used his mobility to compensate for the Chiefs’ below-average offensive line. In a sense, the Chiefs put Thigpen in a modified spread that was similar to his collegiate offense from Coastal Carolina.

However, when the game was on the line, offensive coordinator Chan Gailey reverted from the wide-open attack to a more conservative (more Herm Edwards-like) version. With about five minutes remaining, the Chiefs ran the ball three times for a total of 9 yards.

The inability of the Chiefs to gain a single first down left New York Jets">Jets quarterback Brett Favre plenty of time to engineer the 41st fourth-quarter comeback of his career.

The Chiefs will not find out anything about Thigpen unless he is allowed to really play when the game is on the line.

Thigpen faces a tough task this week, leading the Chiefs' offense against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers">Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Despite losing to the Dallas Cowboys">Dallas Cowboys last week, the Buccaneers surrendered 192 yards in total offense. That was the second straight time the Bucs defense held their opponent under 200 yards in total offense.

After again flirting with recently unretired quarterback Daunte Culpepper, the Chiefs appear set to find out what they have with Thigpen. If he falters, recently signed quarterback Quinn Gray will get an opportunity.

Fan Pulse: Chiefs fans are encouraged (and cautiously optimistic) by Thigpen’s performance, but believe the team would have a much more legitimate chance to win on a weekly basis with Culpepper.

Fantasy Football Impact: Running back Larry Johnson will remain inactive this week, and most likely indefinitely, until his legal issues are resolved. Until the Chiefs (and Thigpen) put together back-to-back successful offensive performances, avoid using any of their receivers. The Bucs' defense is a solid play this week.

Injury Watch: The Chiefs escaped New York without any major injuries, good news for a team that put its top two quarterbacks on injured reserve the previous week. Running back Jamaal Charles has been limited in practice all week with an ankle injury.

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About Kyle Anderson

Kyle Anderson is an avid sports fan of both professional and college football, as well as MLB. He is a high school history teacher and an adjunct history professor in suburban Kansas City. He earned a B.S.E. in Social Studies and Journalism as well as a M.A. in History from the University of ...
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CommentsComments: 7  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
KcCowboy		12:00 PM
10/30/2008
They are competing with the Lions and the Bengals for the 1st overall pick!! Well Thigpens preformance was suprising, i was ...
No.2
jacotaco3		12:23 PM
10/30/2008
Yea forget culpepper anyway work with thigpen you arent going to win or make the playoffs anyway so whats the difference work ...
No.3
KcCowboy		01:01 PM
10/30/2008
Well culpepper could provide that "bridge" between the player the Chiefs BETTER draft and the current regime. There are rare ...
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