Chiefs hope the more things change ...
By Tully Corcoran
The Capital-Journal
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- New stadium, new quarterback.
Same old Cardinals.
As the Chiefs prepared for their fourth game, a 3:15 p.m. kickoff at the new University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., against the Arizona Cardinals (1-3), none seemed to expect anything radically different from a franchise that hasn't had a winning season since 1998 (9-7) and has gone 36-76 since then.
Least concerned may be Chiefs running back Larry Johnson.
"I feel it's pretty much the same team we played in the (2005) preseason," Johnson said.
That the Cardinals beat Kansas City in that preseason game is of little concern. Arizona finished 5-11 last season, thereby earning the 11th pick in the draft, which it used to select USC quarterback Matt Leinart, a man known almost as much for schmoozing Paris Hilton and growing facial stubble with Nick Lachey as he is for his Heisman Trophy.
Leinart will make his first start today against the NFL's No. 3 defense.
"It'll be a challenge for him," Chiefs linebacker Kawika Mitchell said. "I'm sure they'll have a good game plan for him."
Generally that means a playbook weighted heavily with rushing plays. And on the surface, handing to Cardinals running back Edgerrin James sounds ideal. But with its suspect offensive line, Arizona is the No. 30 running team in the NFL, averaging just 70 yards per game. James, who rushed for more than 1,500 yards in four of his seven seasons with the Indianapolis Colts, has just 272 rushing yards in four games this season and is averaging 3.1 yards per carry.
"He hasn't got rolling yet," Mitchell said. "But you have to be careful with him."
With the Cardinals searching, the Chiefs seem to have figured themselves out over the last three weeks. They could do no wrong last week against the 49ers and with a win today, could jump right back into contention for the AFC West, as the two teams ahead of them in the standings -- San Diego (2-1) and Denver (2-1) -- host Pittsburgh (1-2) and Baltimore (4-0), respectively.
"They've gained a little confidence, but I don't they're over-confident," Chiefs coach Herm Edwards said. "I don't feel that. I just think they know what it took to win a game; now we've got to go and try to win one on the road and that's a different animal. It's still early in the season, but it's an important game."
The key phrase there is "on the road," which is at once an obsession of Edwards' and a weakness of the Chiefs under his predecessor Dick Vermeil, who won just 38 percent of his road games with the Chiefs.
"We've got to be in the game," Edwards said. "Early. We can't be out of the game early and then all of a sudden the crowd's into it and you're fighting 11 players and the crowd and it becomes noisy on offense. The only way you combat it is defensively we've got play really, really well early in the game."
Talk of a 2,000-yard season for Chiefs running back Larry Johnson has all but disappeared, the focus, even for Johnson himself, shifting to game-by-game performances
Just about the only criticism available for use against the Chiefs in their 41-0 win over San Francisco last week was that with the game long decided, Johnson was still in the game.
Coach Herm Edwards later explained that Johnson wanted a 100-yard rushing day, a figure of which Johnson is clearly conscious.
"If you break it down, that's 25 yards a quarter," said Johnson, who ran for 101 yards last week. "Every running back should be able to run for 100 yards."
Johnson is ninth in the NFL in rushing with 295 yards, though most of the league has played four games to Johnson's three.
His current pace would yield a 1,573-yard, 11-touchdown season, assuming he plays all 16 games.
Johnson set a franchise record with 1,750 rushing yards and 20 TDs while starting just nine games last season.
D impresses Johnson
The Chiefs' offense was just hoping the defense could be respectable, running back Larry Johnson said, somewhere around No. 20 in the league.So when coach Herm Edwards told the team the Chiefs D was No. 3 in total defense and No. 2 against the pass, LJ was impressed.
"Herm came out with the rankings and they were ranked No. 3," Johnson said. "That's crazy."
But stadium doesn't
Call Larry Johnson less than excited.
Some are calling the Cardinals' new Univeristy of Phoenix Stadium the best football venue in the NFL. Johnson couldn't care less.
"I've seen it on Madden," he said. "A stadium's a stadium."
Quarterback storylines
The quarterback situation for today's game will be a particularly bizarre one. The Cardinals have a two-time MVP quarterback and a rookie quarterback who won two national titles and a Heisman. The Chiefs have a two-time Pro Bowl selection who is also a guy for whom the two-time MVP took over, and a journeyman quarterback who has eight starts in 10 seasons. So which guy is the NFL's No. 2-rated passer? Kansas City's Damon Huard, the journeyman, who enters today's game with a 106.9 rating, trailing only Houston's David Carr.
Shields will tie Lowery
Guard Will Shields will play his 212th consecutive game today, tying former Chiefs kicker Nick Lowery for the franchise record.
The 11-time Pro Bowler has played for four different head coaches and blocked for eight different quarterbacks since joining the Chiefs in 1993. He holds the Chiefs record for games started as well, with 210 and counting.
Injury update
Four Chiefs are out this week and three others made the injury report.Running back Michael Bennett, quarterback Trent Green, cornerback Benny Sapp and offensive tackle Kyle Turley are all out. Receiver Dante Hall is probable with a back injury and tackle Will Svitek and lineback Rich Scanlon are both questionable.
