A Bad Case Of The Drops

By Seth Herrold
Well, it finally happened; the Chiefs lost. It was bound to happen sooner or later and the fact that it turned out to be sooner rather than later doesn’t really surprise me. Or anyone else for that matter. I’m not going to sit here and dwell on the loss. I believe the Colts are a good team and the way the Chiefs’ defense played was great. The offense needs a shot in the arm but, overall, the Chiefs are a good football team and that was evident last Sunday in Indianapolis.

What does bother me was one certain play. You probably know what I’m talking about, Dwayne Bowe’s drop in the end zone. In a game where touchdowns were sparse to begin with (there was only one all game), the Chiefs missed a big opportunity when Bowe let one slip through his hands. Bowe has gained a reputation as a pass dropper since he entered the league and there are those who, after his most recent blunder, are ready to ship him off or give up on him.
Todd Haley, the Chiefs’ head coach, is not one of those people and neither am I. I like to think of myself as a loyalist and when it comes to the teams I am a fan of, I have guys I like and guys I don’t. Dwayne Bowe is a guy I like. Two years ago when i went to my first, and only, Chiefs game, Kansas City was hosting the New Orleans Saints. Bowe had a fantastic one-handed grab in the end zone for a touchdown and as the crowd roared, I ran up to the nearest Chiefs apparel stand and threw down a hefty chunk of change for a red number 82 jersey. I’m not impressionable at all, am I?
I was a Chiefs fan before I ever went to that game and I liked Bowe, but at that moment – when he made that acrobatic grab – Bowe became my favorite Chief. Bowe had one huge drop before that day. It was against New England in the game when Patriots quarterback Tom Brady blew out his knee. It was a costly drop that allowed the Patriots to take a game that the Chiefs really should have won. Since the time Bowe became my favorite Chief, there have been many more drops and I have been there to defend him on every one, including that miscue on an onside kick against San Diego last year.
This last one is really testing me, though. The Chiefs are still 3-1 and they were going to lose one eventually. And even if Bowe had hauled it in, the Chiefs still might have lost. In that type of game, where Kansas City really had a chance to establish themselves as one of the premier teams in the AFC (which seems to be the better conference this year), they didn’t. Bowe’s drop was huge. After the game the guys on the 810 postgame show had a list of the biggest drops of Bowe’s career. There is no reason an NFL receiver should have a list of worst drops.
If Bowe had only dropped the ball Sunday, the one against the Chargers and the one against New England in his career, he wouldn’t be defined as a pass dropper. All those other drops in between, however, are what makes those other ones look so big.
I am by no means giving up on Bowe here. He has worlds of talent and is a big, physical player. He just needs to hang onto the ball when it hits his hands. Like every NFL receiver, he wears the receiving gloves and even I own a pair of those things. Let me tell you – when a ball hits your hands and you are wearing those, it’s hard not to catch it. I know in the NFL you have world-class cornerbacks covering you and, if they get a hand in there and knock it out, I understand. That’s not the case on Bowe’s drops, though.
This Sunday, the Chiefs look to get back in the win column against a Houston Texan squad that hasn’t been very good against opponents’ passing games. Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel has a chance to put up some big numbers and so does Bowe. I will be wearing my Bowe jersey once again, hoping for some redemption. The best way to make people forget about a bad drop is to bounce back the next week. If Bowe can pull in a couple of eye-popping catches that sold so many jerseys in Arrowhead Stadium over the years, it won’t be the drops people think about when they hear the name Dwayne Bowe.