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Chiefs in thick of division race
Injuries are a concern, and of four hurt on Sunday, only Hali is likely to play at Miami.
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star
The AFC West is, at midseason, a rarity among NFL divisions. It actually has an interesting race.
It involves three teams, and the Chiefs are one of them after Sunday’s 31-17 win in St. Louis. At 5-3, the Chiefs are a game behind co-leaders Denver and San Diego.
In no other division are three teams bunched within a game at the top. In five of the seven other divisions, the leader is ahead by two games or more.
But soon the AFC West might start to look like the others. At least one game between division teams will be played in each of the next three weeks, so there could be some separation coming by the end of the month.
The Chiefs suddenly have some injury issues. Four starters left the Rams game early and never returned. Only one, defensive end Tamba Hali, is likely to return this Sunday against the Dolphins in Miami.
Guard Brian Waters has damage to his medial-collateral ligament in his right knee and won’t play against the Dolphins, but the news wasn’t all bad for the Chiefs. Coach Herm Edwards said the Chiefs won’t place Waters on the injured-reserve list because they expect him back before the season has finished.
Linebacker Derrick Johnson (ankle) and safety Greg Wesley (shoulder) will probably be listed as questionable when the Chiefs issue an official injury report Wednesday.
Otherwise, the Chiefs suddenly have the look of a team in the race for the long term. They have won five of their last six games, finally established an offensive identity and have a defense that is creating turnovers.
The Broncos and Chargers likewise are showing no signs of going away. Each, like the Chiefs, plays a road game this weekend. Denver is at Oakland while San Diego is at Cincinnati.
The Chiefs have played only two AFC West games and none yet against the Raiders, so they can feel a disconnect from their division rivals.
It wasn’t that way in the old five-team AFC West. A division game was always right around the corner, and Edwards preferred it that way.
“There were only three divisions then, and there was room for three wild-card teams,” Edwards said. “Now, there are four divisions and two wild-card teams, so you almost have to win your division to get into the playoffs. It’s made the division games more important than they used to be. It’s very important to win those games.”
The Chiefs haven’t seen the Broncos in almost two months and won’t get the Chargers again until a week before Christmas. They spend no in-season time studying their division rivals unless one of them is that week’s opponent.
“We don’t spend any time looking at them,” Edwards said. “But those are always the first scores you look for when your game is over.”
Edwards spent considerable time studying all three teams when he joined the Chiefs in January. It didn’t take him long to find a common theme.
“Those teams are strong defensively,” Edwards said. “We know that because we played Denver and San Diego, and Oakland plays good defense, too. That’s one of the things I knew we had to do if we were going to compete is to play good defense.”
Through a half-season, the Chiefs are hardly dominant defensively but are improved in many areas. They are ranked in the middle of the pack in most key statistical categories except turnovers.
Only three teams have generated more.
“We’ve played pretty well (defensively),” Edwards said. “We’ve done some good things. What I’d like to see us do is become more consistent. We’ve had some games obviously where we’ve given up some good plays, but we’ve played against some pretty good offenses, too, and that has a lot to do with it.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wild, wild West
It’s a three-team race in the AFC West, and the next three games for each of them could shape the chase.
Team Rec. Next three games
Broncos 6-2 At Oakland, San Diego, at KC
Chargers 6-2 At Cincinnati, at Denver, Oakland
Chiefs 5-3 At Miami, Oakland, Denver
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/15946334.htm
Injuries are a concern, and of four hurt on Sunday, only Hali is likely to play at Miami.
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star
The AFC West is, at midseason, a rarity among NFL divisions. It actually has an interesting race.
It involves three teams, and the Chiefs are one of them after Sunday’s 31-17 win in St. Louis. At 5-3, the Chiefs are a game behind co-leaders Denver and San Diego.
In no other division are three teams bunched within a game at the top. In five of the seven other divisions, the leader is ahead by two games or more.
But soon the AFC West might start to look like the others. At least one game between division teams will be played in each of the next three weeks, so there could be some separation coming by the end of the month.
The Chiefs suddenly have some injury issues. Four starters left the Rams game early and never returned. Only one, defensive end Tamba Hali, is likely to return this Sunday against the Dolphins in Miami.
Guard Brian Waters has damage to his medial-collateral ligament in his right knee and won’t play against the Dolphins, but the news wasn’t all bad for the Chiefs. Coach Herm Edwards said the Chiefs won’t place Waters on the injured-reserve list because they expect him back before the season has finished.
Linebacker Derrick Johnson (ankle) and safety Greg Wesley (shoulder) will probably be listed as questionable when the Chiefs issue an official injury report Wednesday.
Otherwise, the Chiefs suddenly have the look of a team in the race for the long term. They have won five of their last six games, finally established an offensive identity and have a defense that is creating turnovers.
The Broncos and Chargers likewise are showing no signs of going away. Each, like the Chiefs, plays a road game this weekend. Denver is at Oakland while San Diego is at Cincinnati.
The Chiefs have played only two AFC West games and none yet against the Raiders, so they can feel a disconnect from their division rivals.
It wasn’t that way in the old five-team AFC West. A division game was always right around the corner, and Edwards preferred it that way.
“There were only three divisions then, and there was room for three wild-card teams,” Edwards said. “Now, there are four divisions and two wild-card teams, so you almost have to win your division to get into the playoffs. It’s made the division games more important than they used to be. It’s very important to win those games.”
The Chiefs haven’t seen the Broncos in almost two months and won’t get the Chargers again until a week before Christmas. They spend no in-season time studying their division rivals unless one of them is that week’s opponent.
“We don’t spend any time looking at them,” Edwards said. “But those are always the first scores you look for when your game is over.”
Edwards spent considerable time studying all three teams when he joined the Chiefs in January. It didn’t take him long to find a common theme.
“Those teams are strong defensively,” Edwards said. “We know that because we played Denver and San Diego, and Oakland plays good defense, too. That’s one of the things I knew we had to do if we were going to compete is to play good defense.”
Through a half-season, the Chiefs are hardly dominant defensively but are improved in many areas. They are ranked in the middle of the pack in most key statistical categories except turnovers.
Only three teams have generated more.
“We’ve played pretty well (defensively),” Edwards said. “We’ve done some good things. What I’d like to see us do is become more consistent. We’ve had some games obviously where we’ve given up some good plays, but we’ve played against some pretty good offenses, too, and that has a lot to do with it.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wild, wild West
It’s a three-team race in the AFC West, and the next three games for each of them could shape the chase.
Team Rec. Next three games
Broncos 6-2 At Oakland, San Diego, at KC
Chargers 6-2 At Cincinnati, at Denver, Oakland
Chiefs 5-3 At Miami, Oakland, Denver
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/15946334.htm