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Chiefs missing big plays so far in 2006
Kansas City has scored just 16 points in an 0-2 beginning
By Tully Corcoran
The Capital-Journal
It is the big play that is missing.
Grammatical correction: It is the big plays that are missing.
Through two lackluster losses, the Chiefs have dinked and dunked. They've kept everything in front of them.
But they haven't gone big on offense or defense or special teams.
Perhaps Kansas City (0-2) just needs Trent Green to return. Maybe Dante Hall can shake a touchdown out of his pocket. Maybe one of those big runs Larry Johnson said he has felt a coming will materialize.
Perhaps the locker room music could use a dose of Notorious B.I.G. in its rotation. Then again, the late rapper also went by Biggie Smalls, a name only slightly more oxymoronic than "Chiefs vertical passing game."
"We have to be a little bit more aggressive and I think we can do that offensively -- as far as getting some big plays down the field," Chiefs coach Herm Edwards said.
If you have one hand, you can count the Chiefs' big offensive plays: Johnson had a 24-yard run against Denver and a 25-yard reception against the Bengals. Damon Huard has completed passes of 37 and 25 yards (Johnson's) and Tony Gonzalez has a 21-yard grab.
It has equated to 16 total points and the NFL's No. 27 offense.
"We've got to open it up a little bit more," Edwards said. "We've got to score some more points. You can't average eight points a game and win a whole lot of games in this league."
The Chiefs have had to adjust to Huard, and part of the adjustment was to keep the offense grounded in his first start since 2000. With a game and the bye week passed, Edwards is comfortable handing Huard a larger role.
But even that, guard Brian Waters said, isn't the cure.
"We can't expect him to be Trent Green because he isn't," Waters said. "We need to play better on offense."
Though the Chiefs are No. 7 in total defense and 10th in points allowed, they have just two takeaways and have benefited from sloppy field conditions in Week 1 and fabulous punting in Week 2.
Kansas City is allowing 16 points per game.
"If you can do that for a season you're going to be in the top five in points allowed in the league," Edwards said. "We've got to continue to hold the points down."
But even on defense, the momentum-shifters have been minimal. Jared Allen had a sack and forced fumble against Cincinnati. Greg Wesley had a pick against Denver. That's it.
"The sacks will come," Edwards said. "I just think what happens to us a little bit is they know we're going to bring pressure so they get the ball out of their hands.
"We have to get a little bit better pressure in the middle, push the quarterback back. A lot of times you can have really good ends but if you don't have pressure in the middle and force the quarterback - and you don't want him to step up in the pocket -- bad things can happen."
For now, as the Chiefs adjust to a new roster with new strengths and a new quarterback, Waters wistfully imagines a day in which the offense won't need to do much.
"It'd be kinda nice to have a defense to hold to a certain number of points to keep us in the game," he said. "But we can't get spoiled."
http://cjonline.com/stories/092706/chi_nopoints.shtml
Kansas City has scored just 16 points in an 0-2 beginning
By Tully Corcoran
The Capital-Journal
It is the big play that is missing.
Grammatical correction: It is the big plays that are missing.
Through two lackluster losses, the Chiefs have dinked and dunked. They've kept everything in front of them.
But they haven't gone big on offense or defense or special teams.
Perhaps Kansas City (0-2) just needs Trent Green to return. Maybe Dante Hall can shake a touchdown out of his pocket. Maybe one of those big runs Larry Johnson said he has felt a coming will materialize.
Perhaps the locker room music could use a dose of Notorious B.I.G. in its rotation. Then again, the late rapper also went by Biggie Smalls, a name only slightly more oxymoronic than "Chiefs vertical passing game."
"We have to be a little bit more aggressive and I think we can do that offensively -- as far as getting some big plays down the field," Chiefs coach Herm Edwards said.
If you have one hand, you can count the Chiefs' big offensive plays: Johnson had a 24-yard run against Denver and a 25-yard reception against the Bengals. Damon Huard has completed passes of 37 and 25 yards (Johnson's) and Tony Gonzalez has a 21-yard grab.
It has equated to 16 total points and the NFL's No. 27 offense.
"We've got to open it up a little bit more," Edwards said. "We've got to score some more points. You can't average eight points a game and win a whole lot of games in this league."
The Chiefs have had to adjust to Huard, and part of the adjustment was to keep the offense grounded in his first start since 2000. With a game and the bye week passed, Edwards is comfortable handing Huard a larger role.
But even that, guard Brian Waters said, isn't the cure.
"We can't expect him to be Trent Green because he isn't," Waters said. "We need to play better on offense."
Though the Chiefs are No. 7 in total defense and 10th in points allowed, they have just two takeaways and have benefited from sloppy field conditions in Week 1 and fabulous punting in Week 2.
Kansas City is allowing 16 points per game.
"If you can do that for a season you're going to be in the top five in points allowed in the league," Edwards said. "We've got to continue to hold the points down."
But even on defense, the momentum-shifters have been minimal. Jared Allen had a sack and forced fumble against Cincinnati. Greg Wesley had a pick against Denver. That's it.
"The sacks will come," Edwards said. "I just think what happens to us a little bit is they know we're going to bring pressure so they get the ball out of their hands.
"We have to get a little bit better pressure in the middle, push the quarterback back. A lot of times you can have really good ends but if you don't have pressure in the middle and force the quarterback - and you don't want him to step up in the pocket -- bad things can happen."
For now, as the Chiefs adjust to a new roster with new strengths and a new quarterback, Waters wistfully imagines a day in which the offense won't need to do much.
"It'd be kinda nice to have a defense to hold to a certain number of points to keep us in the game," he said. "But we can't get spoiled."
http://cjonline.com/stories/092706/chi_nopoints.shtml