tk13
12-05-2005, 01:15 AM
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/13329140.htm
Johnson becomes a KC star
JOE POSNANSKI
Every fiber of Larry Johnson’s being wanted to cut back and hit somebody. It was cold. It was dark. He could hardly feel his feet. People can talk all they want about being patient, setting up blocks, all that jazz, but when you’re 6 feet 1, 230 pounds and can move like a Ford Excursion, it’s hard to wait. You want to plow over somebody.
Still, Larry Johnson waited. And waited. His blockers arrived. He waited still.
Then, he saw the opening. He sprinted to the light. He scored the winning touchdown.
“I was being patient,” he would say to Chiefs radio afterward, “and really frightening myself.”
Larry Johnson became a star on Sunday. Oh, there were those who had already granted him stardom after he ran for 110 yards in only nine carries against the New York Jets, after he gained 211 yards against Houston, after he passed the 1,000-yard mark on only his 199th carry of the season. Johnson has put up all kinds of big numbers.
But stardom — the kind of stardom Larry Johnson longs for — is about more than big numbers. And Sunday was different. The Chiefs’ season was on the line again, this time against the Denver Broncos and the best rush defense in the NFL. The Broncos led by three early in the fourth quarter. We would not need to play Sudoku with playoff combinations had the Chiefs lost. Everybody in Arrowhead understood. A Chiefs loss would have meant something close to playoff death.
The Chiefs turned their fate over to Larry Johnson. And Johnson blasted through the Denver defense like an arctic cold front. He slammed through linebackers, pulled away from defensive linemen, ran like a man chasing demons.
He willed the Chiefs to a 31-27 victory and an 8-4 record and a place in the playoff chase. It was quite a day for the guy.
“Larry’s big. He’s strong,” guard Brian Waters would say. “This is what the man is built for.”
That remarkable fourth quarter is worth reliving. Johnson went into the quarter with 50 tough yards. The Broncos had slammed him around. Most teams give up the run after getting slammed around by that Broncos defense.
But the Chiefs were just getting started running. Johnson sprinted outside for 8 yards. He ran up the middle for 2 and a first down. After a Trent Green completion, Johnson broke outside, waited for left tackle Willie Roaf to block (patience, Larry, patience), ran smack into Roaf, cut back and sprinted for 30 yards. It was a crushing play. The Broncos had not given up a long run in more than a month.
Three plays later, Johnson waited and waited and scored on that 4-yard touchdown.
“I was saying, ‘Stay out there, stay out there, and don’t turn it back in there,’ ” Johnson would say. “There was a time I would have turned inside and gotten tackled.”
The touchdown was big. What followed was just as big. The Chiefs got the ball back with 8:52 left. And they gave the ball to Johnson. He ran for 3, he ran for 2, he ran for 7, he ran for 2, he ran for 7 more. He just kept coming, time after time, tearing into the Denver defense. Defenders wilted. The Chiefs ran 5 minutes off the clock.
“You got a big back, you feed him enough,” Denver cornerback Champ Bailey says, “and people get tired of hitting him.”
Denver did get the ball back, of course. They had the crazy fourth-and-1 play, gave the ball to their big running back Mike Anderson. He got turned sideways by the Chiefs defense. People will talk about that play for a while, but it seemed pretty obvious:
1. The Chiefs’ defense stopped Anderson short of the first down.
2. The officials spotted it badly and gave Denver the first down.
3. The officials overruled the bad spot and gave the ball to the Chiefs.
Sure, Denver fans probably saw it differently. Oh, well. The Chiefs got the ball back, and then it was more Larry Johnson, 2 yards, then 16, then 6. In all, Johnson rushed 14 times in that fourth quarter for 90 yards. Amazing. That means in one extreme quarter, with the game close and the season at stake and the Broncos stacking everyone to stop him, Johnson ran for more yards than LaDainian Tomlinson, Tiki Barber, LaMont Jordan and, yes, Priest Holmes gained in entire games against the Broncos. After the game, everyone was in awe.
“He showed how tough he is,” Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez said. “Guy’s a stud.”
“He stepped up into another level,” Chiefs fullback Tony Richardson said. “You do that to a great Denver defense, you move up into a different class.”
“He really set up his blockers,” Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil said.
“What impresses me most is the way he understands protections now and the way he blocks,” Green said. “Obviously, I’m the guy he’s protecting, so that should be what impresses me. Still, I know people love to see a guy run the ball. But to be a great back in this league, you have to do more than that. You have to run after the catch. You have to pick up your protections. Larry’s doing that now.”
“What can you say?” Waters said. “He’s a man.”
He’s the man now. After the game, Johnson sat alone on the bench for a moment while his teammates celebrated. His jersey, once bright red, was the color of mud. He got a drink. He ran inside and sat on the training table and tried to get back the feeling in his feet and fingertips. He came out to the locker room, played some music on his iPod, signed a few autographs and posed for a few photographs. He did not want to talk to reporters. He had said it all on the field.
“Everybody, including the media, expects me to fold,” he said.
I don’t know who those media people were who expected Johnson to fold. But maybe to run like that in the fourth quarter, in that kind of cold, against that kind of defense, you need people to prove wrong. Johnson is good running angry.
Hey, whatever it takes. Still, Larry Johnson did more than run angry Sunday afternoon. In this game, when it came down to it, he ran patient. He really did wait for his blockers, really did stretch plays until something opened up. It was a breakthrough. When you’re that big, that strong, that fast, and also patient — well, Johnson said he frightened himself.
He frightened NFL defenders more. And the Chiefs are suddenly a contender.
Johnson becomes a KC star
JOE POSNANSKI
Every fiber of Larry Johnson’s being wanted to cut back and hit somebody. It was cold. It was dark. He could hardly feel his feet. People can talk all they want about being patient, setting up blocks, all that jazz, but when you’re 6 feet 1, 230 pounds and can move like a Ford Excursion, it’s hard to wait. You want to plow over somebody.
Still, Larry Johnson waited. And waited. His blockers arrived. He waited still.
Then, he saw the opening. He sprinted to the light. He scored the winning touchdown.
“I was being patient,” he would say to Chiefs radio afterward, “and really frightening myself.”
Larry Johnson became a star on Sunday. Oh, there were those who had already granted him stardom after he ran for 110 yards in only nine carries against the New York Jets, after he gained 211 yards against Houston, after he passed the 1,000-yard mark on only his 199th carry of the season. Johnson has put up all kinds of big numbers.
But stardom — the kind of stardom Larry Johnson longs for — is about more than big numbers. And Sunday was different. The Chiefs’ season was on the line again, this time against the Denver Broncos and the best rush defense in the NFL. The Broncos led by three early in the fourth quarter. We would not need to play Sudoku with playoff combinations had the Chiefs lost. Everybody in Arrowhead understood. A Chiefs loss would have meant something close to playoff death.
The Chiefs turned their fate over to Larry Johnson. And Johnson blasted through the Denver defense like an arctic cold front. He slammed through linebackers, pulled away from defensive linemen, ran like a man chasing demons.
He willed the Chiefs to a 31-27 victory and an 8-4 record and a place in the playoff chase. It was quite a day for the guy.
“Larry’s big. He’s strong,” guard Brian Waters would say. “This is what the man is built for.”
That remarkable fourth quarter is worth reliving. Johnson went into the quarter with 50 tough yards. The Broncos had slammed him around. Most teams give up the run after getting slammed around by that Broncos defense.
But the Chiefs were just getting started running. Johnson sprinted outside for 8 yards. He ran up the middle for 2 and a first down. After a Trent Green completion, Johnson broke outside, waited for left tackle Willie Roaf to block (patience, Larry, patience), ran smack into Roaf, cut back and sprinted for 30 yards. It was a crushing play. The Broncos had not given up a long run in more than a month.
Three plays later, Johnson waited and waited and scored on that 4-yard touchdown.
“I was saying, ‘Stay out there, stay out there, and don’t turn it back in there,’ ” Johnson would say. “There was a time I would have turned inside and gotten tackled.”
The touchdown was big. What followed was just as big. The Chiefs got the ball back with 8:52 left. And they gave the ball to Johnson. He ran for 3, he ran for 2, he ran for 7, he ran for 2, he ran for 7 more. He just kept coming, time after time, tearing into the Denver defense. Defenders wilted. The Chiefs ran 5 minutes off the clock.
“You got a big back, you feed him enough,” Denver cornerback Champ Bailey says, “and people get tired of hitting him.”
Denver did get the ball back, of course. They had the crazy fourth-and-1 play, gave the ball to their big running back Mike Anderson. He got turned sideways by the Chiefs defense. People will talk about that play for a while, but it seemed pretty obvious:
1. The Chiefs’ defense stopped Anderson short of the first down.
2. The officials spotted it badly and gave Denver the first down.
3. The officials overruled the bad spot and gave the ball to the Chiefs.
Sure, Denver fans probably saw it differently. Oh, well. The Chiefs got the ball back, and then it was more Larry Johnson, 2 yards, then 16, then 6. In all, Johnson rushed 14 times in that fourth quarter for 90 yards. Amazing. That means in one extreme quarter, with the game close and the season at stake and the Broncos stacking everyone to stop him, Johnson ran for more yards than LaDainian Tomlinson, Tiki Barber, LaMont Jordan and, yes, Priest Holmes gained in entire games against the Broncos. After the game, everyone was in awe.
“He showed how tough he is,” Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez said. “Guy’s a stud.”
“He stepped up into another level,” Chiefs fullback Tony Richardson said. “You do that to a great Denver defense, you move up into a different class.”
“He really set up his blockers,” Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil said.
“What impresses me most is the way he understands protections now and the way he blocks,” Green said. “Obviously, I’m the guy he’s protecting, so that should be what impresses me. Still, I know people love to see a guy run the ball. But to be a great back in this league, you have to do more than that. You have to run after the catch. You have to pick up your protections. Larry’s doing that now.”
“What can you say?” Waters said. “He’s a man.”
He’s the man now. After the game, Johnson sat alone on the bench for a moment while his teammates celebrated. His jersey, once bright red, was the color of mud. He got a drink. He ran inside and sat on the training table and tried to get back the feeling in his feet and fingertips. He came out to the locker room, played some music on his iPod, signed a few autographs and posed for a few photographs. He did not want to talk to reporters. He had said it all on the field.
“Everybody, including the media, expects me to fold,” he said.
I don’t know who those media people were who expected Johnson to fold. But maybe to run like that in the fourth quarter, in that kind of cold, against that kind of defense, you need people to prove wrong. Johnson is good running angry.
Hey, whatever it takes. Still, Larry Johnson did more than run angry Sunday afternoon. In this game, when it came down to it, he ran patient. He really did wait for his blockers, really did stretch plays until something opened up. It was a breakthrough. When you’re that big, that strong, that fast, and also patient — well, Johnson said he frightened himself.
He frightened NFL defenders more. And the Chiefs are suddenly a contender.