Sleeping With the Enemy: Week Five, Jaguars @ Chiefs

Welcome to another installment of Sleeping With the Enemy, where we rap with a fan of the opposing team. This week, we sat down with Bobby Rach, Jr., one of the main cats over at this here Jaguars blog. Mr. Rach has watched his team handle one half of the HoG (on the road no less) and his Jacksonville crew looks to mangle the other half this week, again away from the friendly Florida confines.

Bankmeister: Since you mentioned having defeated my colleagues' beloved Broncos, lets' start it off by talking about that game. Your squad made fools of the home team in that game by stifling their rushing attack, dominating with their own and making David Garrard look like he'd been the starter for three years. Jack del Rio always puts together tough teams, but that's an especially tough place in which to win. To what do you attribute the team's early-season success? Also, how does the fan base feel about Byron Leftwich's departure? And how does Fred Taylor continue to have gas in his tank?

Bobby Rach, Jr.: Well to be honest they did not look so good in the first two games, and I believe they got it together for Denver knowing they had a tough game ahead of them. The first game against Tennessee they only ran for 72 yards and Tennessee ran for 282 yards on a defense that was supposed to be the strength of the team. I think they were embarrassed by that and wanted to show who they were. They also wanted to do this against a good team of which Denver is no exception. Most of the fans are happy about the departure of Byron Leftwich. I am not most of the fan base but Garrard does seem to doing a more-than-adequate job as the starter. It is a long season, however, and we will see how it pans out over time. The biggest thing is to give Fred the ability to do what he does is the emergence of Maurice Jones-Drew last year. The sharing system they have means that Taylor doesn`t take the full beating game in and game out so he can stay healthy all season and be effective in game after game, along with his counterpart. I have actually interviewed Jones-Drew on several occasions and he is a solid citizen and a great football player, a combination the NFL needs right now to counteract all the bad publicity from the players with off the field problems.

How do you explain the rise of Kansas City this year in a tough AFC west considering the holdout of Johnson and the QB issues you have up there. Is Johnson playing at full speed yet? How good do you think this Dwayne Bowe will be? Will KC finally get over the top to rule the AFC west this year? To what do you attribute that success?

B: Good points. I think it might be a bit premature to say that Kansas City is experiencing a rise. As you so eloquently put, "it is a long season." The Chiefs have been in the race for the AFC West title in at least eight of the last nine years. Their problem has been that they've been the opposite of balanced; either really good on D, horrible on offense, or vice versa. Heading into last week's game against the Chargers, the Chiefs defense was ranked fourth in the league, which is indeed a rise, but they were second to, if not dead, last a mere five years ago. This improvement is attributable to a defensive-minded head coach, a proven bull as defensive coordinator and good D-backs/D-line coaches. All of this, of course, is supplemented by young, talented players that go to their first and second training camps with this corps of coaches, as opposed to a handful of has-been free agents that've "learned" a mixture of systems throughout their career.

To me, Johnson's holdout was always a non-issue. yes, he may have been up to full speed sooner than now (which, by the way, I think this Sunday will prove that he is), but he's a top-tier back; missing camp saved him a bit of wear and tear. the quarterback issue was, in my opinion, also a camp issue. Herm wanted Brodie to win the job outright, but he did not, thus Damon got the nod, and has performed well.

Regarding Bowe, I was really stoked when we took him in the first round. I honestly think he has the ability to match Chad Johnson/Steve Smith-type numbers down the road. it's certainly something to be excited about now and look forward to. Regarding Kansas City's season outcome, you never know. They were picked by most to finish third and some to finish last in the division, and that certainly still could happen. I don't think the Chargers or the Broncos are anywhere near finished, regardless of all the issues they have going on, and I don't think the Raiders are quite ready to contend for the title, either. But we'll see.

I think a lot of the Chiefs' success is attributable to their struggles to form an identity. Now that they have, to a degree, they feed off of it. They've got a strong D, and a capable offense with a few key figures in it that can really produce. I've always viewed the jags (of recent years anyway) in that same light. Del Rio's teams seem to mirror their coaches personality and game-day intensity, something that works well for them, and they feed off of that. is that a fair assessment? what, besides the switch to Garrard, the D and the tandem of Jones-Drew and Taylor do you feel are the team's strengths? Weaknesses?

B.R., Jr.: I believe the strength of this team is that they view themselves as a tough physical team and want to beat up other teams so they know that they were in a game when they play against the Jags. i say this because the team, especially the defense, was embarrassed by the loss to Tennessee the first game of the season. they were also embarrassed by their play in the Atlanta game. They felt they had something to prove going into Denver. They did exactly that.

I think one of there biggest weaknesses is that they have trouble putting up a bunch of points on anyone. They sometimes let down when they get 14-21 points ahead of an opponent and let them back into games. They then lose a fair amount of those games. They need to develop a killer instinct and keep a team down once they get them down.

I think they have good athletes that can compete at most positions. That is why both their strength and their weaknesses are in the area of attitudes and perceptions. How they view themselves and their attitudes. They do lack at wide receiver and can`t seem to draft a good one. That is the only position of weakness on the team I believe.


Where do you think KC has the biggest need for improvement? What is the position that is most lacking on the team? Can Huard or Croyle lead the team to the playoffs this year? Do you think they need to find another QB or do they have what they need at the position?

B: KC's biggest area for improvement is on the o-line, specifically the right side. We lost Wille Roaf and Will Shields to retirement in consecutive years; I don't know how you can replace guys like that. Damion Macintosh, if he can stay healthy, is a stellar left tackle, but he's very ginger. John Welbourn and Kyle Turley on the right have proved to be terrible. To me, that's the key for the Chiefs right now: they need more protection in the passing game and more lanes opened up for them in the running.

And as I said, I feel that their quarterback situation is as good as it's going to get. Damon Huard is awesome for what this offense is trying to do. If he doesn't cut the mustard, Croyle will be great too, as long as he has protection.

B.R., Jr.: I am hoping the team that played Denver is the one that shows up this week. the Jaguars are 1-3 in games following the bye week and I am hoping that this week the trend changes. Good luck and here’s to a good game and no injuries on either side.

Bankmeister: Jacksonville 17, Chiefs 14
Bobby Rach, Jr: Jacksonville 21, Chiefs 17