Kansas City Chiefs (10-6)
The Herm Edwards era begins in Kansas City this season. He is a good coach, but Edwards might get a little too much credit for taking the Jets to the playoffs three of his five years in New York. He was 19-13 in his first two seasons after taking over the team that Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick built, but then went 20-28 in his final three years with two losing seasons. The team was 29-19 the three years before he took over in 2001, and had not had a losing season since 1996. He will benefit equally from inheriting the offense Dick Vermeil and Al Saunders assembled. However, it will be up to Edwards to improve a troubled Kansas City defense.
The offense should be fine with Larry Johnson and Trent Green leading the way even without Priest Holmes, but they might miss offensive coordinator Al Saunders (Washington). Johnson scored 17 touchdowns and averaged a ridiculous 150 rushing yards over the final nine games last season after taking over as the starter. If he kept that pace up for an entire season he would finish with over 2,400 yards and 30 touchdowns. Trent Green is no slouch, throwing for over 4,000 yards the past three seasons. The receiving corps is led by all-world TE Tony Gonzalez, but they have a questionable group of wide receivers, led by Eddie Kennison, Samie Parker, and Dante' Hall. The departure of Marc Boerigter (Green Bay) and Chris Horn (New Orleans) make an already weak unit even weaker. With QB Todd Collins following Al Saunders to Washington, the situation behind the 36-year-old Trent Green is scary with 33-year-old journeyman Damon Huard and injury-prone rookie Brodie Croyle as the only other options.
The success on offense starts up front where Kansas City has arguably the best offensive line in the league. LT Willie Roaf, RG Will Shields, and LG Brian Waters are all perennial pro-bowl selections. Age and health is a conern. Roaf (36) missed six games last year with hamstring trouble and Shields (35) seriously considered retiring due to back pain, but they talked each other into returning for at least one more year. C Casey Wiegmann (33) and RT Josh Welbourn (33) are both getting up there in years as well, but if everyone stays healthy, no line is better than this unit. Injuries forced Gonzalez to stay in and block last year, hurting his production. FB Ronnie Cruz has some big shoes to fill with FB Tony Richardson leaving for Minnesota.
The real concern for this team is the defense, a unit that ranked 25th overall and 30th against the pass last season, hardly the improvement they expected after finishing 31st overall and dead last against the pass in 2004. Gunther Cunningham is in his third season since taking over as defensive coordinator, a postion he also held from 1995-1998 before a two-year stint as the Chiefs head coach and three years as an assitant head coach in Tennessee. His units have not produced the results Derrick Thomas, Neil Smith, James Hasty, and Dale Carter did for Cunningham and the Chiefs in the late '90s, but he is hoping that changes this year. However, the addition of CB Patrick Surtain, SS Sammy Knight, and LB Kendrell Bell did not fetch the desired results last year. The Chiefs signed some less-heralded defense players this offseason, and CB Lenny Walls (Denver) figures to start. CB Ty Law (New York Jets) remains a possibility, but the biggest addition to this point is rookie DE Tamba Hali (Penn State) who should help out a pass-rush that only generated 29 sacks last season. The Chiefs also released starter CB Eric Warfield (New England), so maybe they are hoping for some addition by subtraction.
The Chiefs will have a high-powered offense, but the defense could struggle again. The tackling effort against Tiki Barber and the Giants in Week 15 essentially cost them a playoff spot in 2005. Barber benefited from repeatedly horrendous attempts at tackling (if you could call it that) and ended up with a team-record 220 yards on 29 carries. At least five Chiefs missed tackles on a 41-yard Barber touchdown run, and Sammy Knight let Amani Toomer slip away for a 31-yard score after having both arms on him.
The loss of Tony Richardson and Al Saunders, the backup quarterback situation, and the health of the offensive line are all legitimate concerns on offense, but improvement on defense should be the focus of the Chiefs. It will be necessary if Kansas City wants to make the playoffs with good Denver and San Diego teams also in the division. This aging Chiefs team needs to get it done this year because time is running out for a lot of the key players on the roster.
Key Additions: DE Tamba Hali (R), CB Lenny Walls (DEN), DT Ron Edwards (BUF), DT James Reed (NYJ)
Key Losses: OC Al Saunders (WAS), FB Tony Richardson (MIN), QB Todd Collins (WAS), WR Chris Horn (NO), WR Marc Boerigter (GB), Eric Warfield (NE), LB Shawn Barber (PHI)
0 comments:
Post a Comment