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No one expected defense to collapse
By JOE POSNANSKI
The Kansas City Star
PITTSBURGH | The Chiefs players look punch-drunk. Tony Gonzalez wears a full uniform and stares at his locker. Ty Law does a Miles Davis-type television interview — he talks but won’t face the camera. Larry Johnson talks about how he got his hand stuck in another player’s hair. And Tamba Hali tells reporters that while he cannot speak for his teammates, he will speak for himself.
“I played lousy,” he says.
All of them look as if they have just been hit in the face by very large frying pans. In a way, they have. The Chiefs have just lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers 45-7, the worst loss for the Chiefs since they sent a comedy troupe of scabs to Miami to play during that cursed strike season of 1987. The week before, the Chiefs’ replacements were caught in an earthquake in California and lost a game to the Los Angeles Raider-scabs. The game in Miami turned out worse. Starting quarterback Matt Stevens got hurt, backup Alex Espinoza promptly threw two interceptions, and the Chiefs lost 42-0.
This loss to Pittsburgh on Sunday was the worst since. In other words, it was the most lopsided loss of Carl Peterson’s 18-season tour of duty as Chiefs chairman.
And after this dud, the Chiefs stand stunned and ask each other that question made famous by Fred Willard in the movie “A Mighty Wind:” “Whah happened?”
It isn’t just embarrassment that has Chiefs players looking shocked and awed. No, here’s the thing: The Chiefs never saw this coming. None of us did, really. Sure, it was predictable that the Chiefs would come to Pittsburgh and lose, maybe even lose decisively. The Steelers are defending Super Bowl champs. They came into this game 1-3 and desperate. Most people figured Pittsburgh would play ferociously. And the Steelers did not disappoint anyone. They were scary on Sunday.
Still, I don’t think anybody expected the Chiefs’ defense to utterly disintegrate like this. It played, quite possibly, the worst half of defensive football in the long history of this franchise, a history that includes Greg Robinson. The Chiefs gave up 372 yards in the first half. They gave up 31 points. They gave up 11 plays of 10 yards or more. They did stop the Steelers once on third down. Once.
The Chiefs allowed 154 rushing yards in that remarkable first half. And that was the good news. Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who had been horrendous this season, completed 13 of 15 passes for 224 yards and two touchdowns in the first half. That gave him a nearly perfect 153.8 quarterback rating. He could have been even better. One of his missed passes came when he underthrew a wide-open Nate Washington on a deep ball. That was also the Chiefs’ only third-down stop.
They could not have done much worse had they played blindfolded. That was a stunner. The Chiefs really seemed to be building an identity on defense. They had come into this week fourth in the NFL in total defense, and the players seemed to feel something good was happening here, something promising. Coach Herm Edwards was turning the Chiefs into what he wanted — a physical, dominating, in-your-face, won’t-back-down, fight-you-to-the-end kind of team. Sure, they knew it would be tough to win in Pittsburgh. But they also knew they would not blink against the toughest gunfighter in the NFL.
Instead, they came to Pittsburgh for the duel, and their pants fell down.
“It’s just one game,” Chiefs defensive end Jared Allen says, and this is a prominent theme of the postgame locker room.
“The good thing is it’s only one game,” Law says.
“One game,” Hali says.
“It’s one game, and now we will find what kind of character this team has,” cornerback Patrick Surtain says.
Well, it is just one game. But it’s a hard game to forget. Locker rooms have a unique feel after every game. Sometimes, after terrible last-minute losses, locker rooms are as quiet as funeral homes. Sometimes, after wild victories, they are like Times Square for Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve. And I’ve seen everthing in between. Still, this is something different. The Chiefs look confused.
“I need to look at the film,” Allen says.
“I’m not exactly sure what happened,” Law says.
“I don’t know,” Hali says.
Yes, confused. Also, their backsides hurt.
“They kicked our butts,” Allen said.
“A butt whoopin’,” Law said.
“We had a bad game,” safety Sammy Knight said.
So what now? Well, the Chiefs have to regroup for perhaps the best team in the NFL, Marty Schottenheimer’s San Diego Chargers. They have to figure out if this was just an aberration or a sign that they are not ready to play with the big boys. Nobody has any answers on Sunday evening. Players grunt and shrug. Johnson relives his hair tackle on Troy Polamalu — the Chiefs’ best tackle Sunday. It was one of their only tackles. Peterson goes over to Steelers coach Bill Cowher and says, “Oh, thanks for playing like Super Bowl champs now. You couldn’t wait one more week?”
And Chiefs receivers coach Charlie Joiner grabs a bottle of water for the road. Joiner once held the record for most receptions. He was known for his remarkable hands. On his way out the door, the bottle of water slips out of his hand and spills.
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/football/nfl/kansas_city_chiefs/15769103.htm
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By JOE POSNANSKI
The Kansas City Star
PITTSBURGH | The Chiefs players look punch-drunk. Tony Gonzalez wears a full uniform and stares at his locker. Ty Law does a Miles Davis-type television interview — he talks but won’t face the camera. Larry Johnson talks about how he got his hand stuck in another player’s hair. And Tamba Hali tells reporters that while he cannot speak for his teammates, he will speak for himself.
“I played lousy,” he says.
All of them look as if they have just been hit in the face by very large frying pans. In a way, they have. The Chiefs have just lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers 45-7, the worst loss for the Chiefs since they sent a comedy troupe of scabs to Miami to play during that cursed strike season of 1987. The week before, the Chiefs’ replacements were caught in an earthquake in California and lost a game to the Los Angeles Raider-scabs. The game in Miami turned out worse. Starting quarterback Matt Stevens got hurt, backup Alex Espinoza promptly threw two interceptions, and the Chiefs lost 42-0.
This loss to Pittsburgh on Sunday was the worst since. In other words, it was the most lopsided loss of Carl Peterson’s 18-season tour of duty as Chiefs chairman.
And after this dud, the Chiefs stand stunned and ask each other that question made famous by Fred Willard in the movie “A Mighty Wind:” “Whah happened?”
It isn’t just embarrassment that has Chiefs players looking shocked and awed. No, here’s the thing: The Chiefs never saw this coming. None of us did, really. Sure, it was predictable that the Chiefs would come to Pittsburgh and lose, maybe even lose decisively. The Steelers are defending Super Bowl champs. They came into this game 1-3 and desperate. Most people figured Pittsburgh would play ferociously. And the Steelers did not disappoint anyone. They were scary on Sunday.
Still, I don’t think anybody expected the Chiefs’ defense to utterly disintegrate like this. It played, quite possibly, the worst half of defensive football in the long history of this franchise, a history that includes Greg Robinson. The Chiefs gave up 372 yards in the first half. They gave up 31 points. They gave up 11 plays of 10 yards or more. They did stop the Steelers once on third down. Once.
The Chiefs allowed 154 rushing yards in that remarkable first half. And that was the good news. Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who had been horrendous this season, completed 13 of 15 passes for 224 yards and two touchdowns in the first half. That gave him a nearly perfect 153.8 quarterback rating. He could have been even better. One of his missed passes came when he underthrew a wide-open Nate Washington on a deep ball. That was also the Chiefs’ only third-down stop.
They could not have done much worse had they played blindfolded. That was a stunner. The Chiefs really seemed to be building an identity on defense. They had come into this week fourth in the NFL in total defense, and the players seemed to feel something good was happening here, something promising. Coach Herm Edwards was turning the Chiefs into what he wanted — a physical, dominating, in-your-face, won’t-back-down, fight-you-to-the-end kind of team. Sure, they knew it would be tough to win in Pittsburgh. But they also knew they would not blink against the toughest gunfighter in the NFL.
Instead, they came to Pittsburgh for the duel, and their pants fell down.
“It’s just one game,” Chiefs defensive end Jared Allen says, and this is a prominent theme of the postgame locker room.
“The good thing is it’s only one game,” Law says.
“One game,” Hali says.
“It’s one game, and now we will find what kind of character this team has,” cornerback Patrick Surtain says.
Well, it is just one game. But it’s a hard game to forget. Locker rooms have a unique feel after every game. Sometimes, after terrible last-minute losses, locker rooms are as quiet as funeral homes. Sometimes, after wild victories, they are like Times Square for Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve. And I’ve seen everthing in between. Still, this is something different. The Chiefs look confused.
“I need to look at the film,” Allen says.
“I’m not exactly sure what happened,” Law says.
“I don’t know,” Hali says.
Yes, confused. Also, their backsides hurt.
“They kicked our butts,” Allen said.
“A butt whoopin’,” Law said.
“We had a bad game,” safety Sammy Knight said.
So what now? Well, the Chiefs have to regroup for perhaps the best team in the NFL, Marty Schottenheimer’s San Diego Chargers. They have to figure out if this was just an aberration or a sign that they are not ready to play with the big boys. Nobody has any answers on Sunday evening. Players grunt and shrug. Johnson relives his hair tackle on Troy Polamalu — the Chiefs’ best tackle Sunday. It was one of their only tackles. Peterson goes over to Steelers coach Bill Cowher and says, “Oh, thanks for playing like Super Bowl champs now. You couldn’t wait one more week?”
And Chiefs receivers coach Charlie Joiner grabs a bottle of water for the road. Joiner once held the record for most receptions. He was known for his remarkable hands. On his way out the door, the bottle of water slips out of his hand and spills.
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/football/nfl/kansas_city_chiefs/15769103.htm
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