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Dean: Chiefs defense believes it can be the NFL's best unit
By Rick Dean
The Capital-Journal
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- This was a pep rally, pure and simple, and you never want to put much credence on anything said at a pep rally.
Keeping that in mind, consider the following exhortations Chiefs linebacker Kawika Mitchell offered up to an estimated 14,000 fans following Saturday's open-to-the public mini-camp workout at Arrowhead Stadium.
"We have the best defensive lineman in the league," Mitchell announced when it was his turn to address the true believers who shouted back their approval.
"We have the best linebackers in the league," Mitchell continued as the crowd roared again, not wanting to stop a guy on a roll.
"We have the best defensive backs in the league, and we need to start believing that," Mitchell concluded as the crowd erupted, caught up in the rapture.
Not everyone, of course, was so moved. "You also had the NFL's third-from-worst pass defense in 2005 -- two spots better than your dead-last ranking in '04,' " I heard a voice mutter, realizing only later that it was my own.
Asked some 24 hours later about his facts-not-in-evidence pronouncements, an unabashed Mitchell wasn't backing down.
"I feel comfortable enough to say I feel that way, and I never talk about something unless I believe it 100 percent," said the soft-spoken middle linebacker. "The only way to change people's mind is for us to believe it too.
"We really need a different attitude. We have to believe we're not step-brothers on this team. That can happen sometimes when you have a great offense."
Self-improvement specialists tell us that changing the mindset of a downtrodden group, such as the Kansas City defense has been in the past four years, is a first step toward self respect. We wait eagerly the day when the Royals began talking like Mitchell.
Making his new defenders believe in their impending turnaround is the first step in coach Herm Edwards' bid to rebuild the Kansas City defense. Making Mitchell one of his first believers is a key step in the process.
The middle linebacker, you see, plays a key role in the Cover Two defense Edwards and Gunther Cunningham will use heavily.
With two safeties patroling deep halves of the field, the middle linebacker often is required to make 20 to 25-yard drops into the deep middle areas in front of the safeties. Edwards thinks he has players capable of doing that in his current linebacking corps.
"I think we have good, athletic linebackers here -- big guys who can run. That's the first thing that drew my attention when I got here," Edwards said. "We're not asking them to do anything they can't do, just things they're not used to doing."
One staple of Cover Two for defensive backs and linebackers alike is a hands-on approach that disrupts a receiver's planned route early in the play. Another is keeping all the action in front of the defense so that everyone can see and react to a play.
"If you can get your hands on the receivers, that slows them down and gives a rusher another step to the quarterback," Edwards said. "And if the quarterback has to pump the ball, you've got a better chance of knocking him down."
Coupled with any kind of a pass rush, a defense playing Cover Two with all components contributing stands a better chance of eliminating the big-play vertical routes and holding short routes to only short gains.
Of course, the last time the Chiefs had all three defensive components working at once was -- what, 1997?
Ah, but there's that negative thinking again, the skepticism that has no place in the mindset of this new Chiefs defense.
"We improved last year, though you couldn't always see that in the numbers," said a defiant Mitchell. "We believe in what we have, and we don't care what anybody else thinks."
http://cjonline.com/stories/052306/chi_dean.shtml
They've been drinking my kool-aid!!!
By Rick Dean
The Capital-Journal
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- This was a pep rally, pure and simple, and you never want to put much credence on anything said at a pep rally.
Keeping that in mind, consider the following exhortations Chiefs linebacker Kawika Mitchell offered up to an estimated 14,000 fans following Saturday's open-to-the public mini-camp workout at Arrowhead Stadium.
"We have the best defensive lineman in the league," Mitchell announced when it was his turn to address the true believers who shouted back their approval.
"We have the best linebackers in the league," Mitchell continued as the crowd roared again, not wanting to stop a guy on a roll.
"We have the best defensive backs in the league, and we need to start believing that," Mitchell concluded as the crowd erupted, caught up in the rapture.
Not everyone, of course, was so moved. "You also had the NFL's third-from-worst pass defense in 2005 -- two spots better than your dead-last ranking in '04,' " I heard a voice mutter, realizing only later that it was my own.
Asked some 24 hours later about his facts-not-in-evidence pronouncements, an unabashed Mitchell wasn't backing down.
"I feel comfortable enough to say I feel that way, and I never talk about something unless I believe it 100 percent," said the soft-spoken middle linebacker. "The only way to change people's mind is for us to believe it too.
"We really need a different attitude. We have to believe we're not step-brothers on this team. That can happen sometimes when you have a great offense."
Self-improvement specialists tell us that changing the mindset of a downtrodden group, such as the Kansas City defense has been in the past four years, is a first step toward self respect. We wait eagerly the day when the Royals began talking like Mitchell.
Making his new defenders believe in their impending turnaround is the first step in coach Herm Edwards' bid to rebuild the Kansas City defense. Making Mitchell one of his first believers is a key step in the process.
The middle linebacker, you see, plays a key role in the Cover Two defense Edwards and Gunther Cunningham will use heavily.
With two safeties patroling deep halves of the field, the middle linebacker often is required to make 20 to 25-yard drops into the deep middle areas in front of the safeties. Edwards thinks he has players capable of doing that in his current linebacking corps.
"I think we have good, athletic linebackers here -- big guys who can run. That's the first thing that drew my attention when I got here," Edwards said. "We're not asking them to do anything they can't do, just things they're not used to doing."
One staple of Cover Two for defensive backs and linebackers alike is a hands-on approach that disrupts a receiver's planned route early in the play. Another is keeping all the action in front of the defense so that everyone can see and react to a play.
"If you can get your hands on the receivers, that slows them down and gives a rusher another step to the quarterback," Edwards said. "And if the quarterback has to pump the ball, you've got a better chance of knocking him down."
Coupled with any kind of a pass rush, a defense playing Cover Two with all components contributing stands a better chance of eliminating the big-play vertical routes and holding short routes to only short gains.
Of course, the last time the Chiefs had all three defensive components working at once was -- what, 1997?
Ah, but there's that negative thinking again, the skepticism that has no place in the mindset of this new Chiefs defense.
"We improved last year, though you couldn't always see that in the numbers," said a defiant Mitchell. "We believe in what we have, and we don't care what anybody else thinks."
http://cjonline.com/stories/052306/chi_dean.shtml
They've been drinking my kool-aid!!!