Q&A With Chiefs Correspondent Ryan Jones

With the upcoming non-conference contest between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs, EaglesHaveLanded caught up with the Chiefs Fanball Correspondent, Ryan Jones. Check out Ryan’s blog (ChiefsChatter) to read up on all the latest from Kansas City.

Eagles Have Landed: After a tough loss last week against the Raiders, what kind of optimism do Chiefs fans have after starting 0-2?

Chiefs Chatter: There isn’t a whole lot in the way of optimism in Kansas City these days.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s not “Herm Edwardsesque” despair, but it’s hard to feel good anytime the Chiefs lose to the Raiders.  What makes it worse is that Kansas City pushed the Raiders around all day long and still came out on the short end.

Knowing the Chiefs were facing 4 NFC East teams in a row, the Oakland game was seen as the only sure fire win on the calendar until after the bye Week 8.

EHL: Is Matt Cassel capable of captaining the ship toward the Chiefs returning to the playoffs this year and beyond?

CC: I don’t know that any one knows the answer to that question yet.  But what we do know is that the playoffs aren’t in the cards for the Chiefs this year no matter who is taking the snaps.  This week the media jumped all over an alleged quarterback controversy in Kansas City (“There Is No Quarterback Controversy”), but don’t believe the hype.  Todd Haley and Scott Pioli believe that Cassel is the answer for the Chiefs at the quarterback position and will give him every chance this year and next to prove himself.

EHL: There is a great chance that Donovan McNabb does not play in Week 3, so how does that change how the coaches and fans prepare for the matchup?

CC: If anything it makes the Eagles much more unpredictable.  Everyone saw them run the wildcat last week against the Saints, but that was before Michael Vick was available to Andy Reid.  With Vick in the equation, every time he is on the field you have to be worried about him throwing the ball, something that isn’t an issue with DeSean Jackson or Brian Westbrook taking the snaps.  If McNabb starts at quarterback I figure the Eagles will run less of the wildcat and less plays that involve Vick.

Don’t get me wrong, I have all the respect in the world for Donovan McNabb.  But after seeing the Chiefs defense falling all over themselves trying to track down Baltimore’s Joe Flacco in Week 1, I am having nightmares of them trying to corral Vick.

EHL: What are your thoughts on the current Eagles team and their position in the NFC East?

CC: For all my talk about McNabb’s absence giving the team a sense of unpredictability, they need him if they want to win the division or at least haul in a wild card.  The problem I see for the Eagles is not only his injury, but also DeSean Jackson and Brian Westbrook already being hobbled.  The Giants and Cowboys showed the league this past weekend they could light up the scoreboard.  I think Philly can run with both of them if they get their offense back in one piece and can assimilate Vick into the weekly game plan.

Eagles fans very well could look back at this week as a turning point.  Face it, Andy Reid knows the Chiefs don’t present as big of a problem as the Cowboys or Giants and can afford to rest McNabb and Jackson to make sure they get healthy.  If it were a divisional game or even a matchup against a better AFC team he might feel a need to rush McNabb back, but he can take it easy this week and can give his quarterback a full three week rest with the bye.

EHL: Give me a score prediction and a player of the game for Sunday’s contest at Lincoln Financial Field.

CC: The Chiefs have made a habit the past two seasons of playing close games, so I don’t see any reason why that should change now:

Eagles 27
Chiefs 17

As for a player of the game, if Jackson were healthy I would pick him because he fits the mold of a player that I would normally target to hit for a big play against the Chiefs.  I think we can all agree the national media will be praying for a lot of Michael Vick so they have a storyline to talk about all day long — there is a reason this game will be shown to most of the country — and I think their prayers will be answered.  In a perfect world I’m sure Andy Reid would love to ease Vick back into the game but with the need for playmakers on offense being what it is for Philadelphia, I see him playing a big time role this week.

Great stuff, Ryan. Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions and enjoy the game this weekend!

You can find all of Ryan’s work at ChiefsChatter.com.

Tags: DeSean Jackson, Donovan McNabb, Kansas City Chiefs, Kevin Kolb, Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles