Posnanski: This is why Gunther came back to KC

tk13 · 11-28-2005, 02:17 AM

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansas...s/13271551.htm

Cunningham’s defense taking him back to the glory days
JOE POSNANSKI
Kansas City Star

This was why Gunther Cunningham came back to town. It wasn’t so he could run his own defense again. It wasn’t because he missed Kansas City. And it wasn’t because he wanted to make things right after being fired as the Chiefs’ head coach.

Sure, all of those things played into his thinking.

But no, if Cunningham had to give one reason why he came back to run the Chiefs’ defense after a heartbreaking farewell, he probably would give this scene from Sunday:

The Chiefs led the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots by 13 points. It was almost halftime. Third and long. The Patriots had the ball, and quarterback Tom Brady pointed at Chiefs defensive players and shouted something that probably sounded like, “Block him! Block him, too! Hey, I know that guy! Hey, look, John Candy! Whoa, look at that guy! Don’t let him hit me!”

Cunningham, standing on the sideline, waved his arms to get the Arrowhead crowd to get louder.

The crowd got louder.

He waved his arms more.

The crowd got louder still.

The ball snapped. Jared Allen — looking a whole lot like Derrick Thomas from another time — rocketed past New England left tackle Nick Kaczur. Allen dived at Brady’s feet. Sack. Arrowhead Stadium shook, like old times, and Allen ran to the sideline where Cunningham waited to hug him.

“Our attitude is, ‘Nobody is getting nothing on us,’ ” Allen says. “Nothing.”

If we each get our own personal heaven, well, this would be Gunther Cunningham’s heaven: an overcast day, a deafening Arrowhead Stadium, a Chiefs victory and a defense that believes that nobody is getting nothing.

This was why he came back. Cunningham looks back on his early days as coordinator for the Chiefs — particularly in 1995 and 1997 when the Chiefs had the NFL’s top-ranked defense — as the best time of his life. You can still see the far-off look in his eyes when he talks about those days and the way Arrowhead sounded, the way his defense blitzed Todd Collins four straight downs, the way it hounded John Elway, the 10 straight games the defense did not allow a second-half touchdown.

When he starts talking about the 1990s in Kansas City, Cunningham sounds a lot like Burt Lancaster in “Atlantic City” when he looks out over the water and says, “You should have seen the Atlantic Ocean in those days.”

See, Cunningham came back to relive the best days of his life. How many people get the chance to be the high school quarterback or the homecoming queen a second time? The trouble was, Cunningham soon realized that things in Kansas City were different. He came back to coach a struggling defense with much less talent than he had been led to believe. Last year, the Chiefs gave up points by the dozen. Arrowhead was as quiet as a church — it’s hard to cheer when the other offense is moving.

Cunningham nearly went out of his mind.

He pleaded with Chiefs GM/president/CEO/window smasher Carl Peterson to give him more talent. In the offseason, the Chiefs added a bunch of new defensive players. Cunningham tried to teach his Clinton-biography-sized playbook in a day and a half. And in the early weeks, not surprisingly, the defense did not look significantly better.

This time, though, Cunningham could feel that things were about to change.

“The problem with you guys,” Cunningham remembers telling his players during a practice before the second Oakland Raiders game, “is you don’t realize how close you are. You are too dumb to realize that we’re on the brink of being one of the dominant defenses in this league. I’ve seen it. We’re so close. Give me just a little more, and we’re going to tear up this league.”

Well, Cunningham says this kind of stuff all the time. But sure enough, the Chiefs’ defense held the Raiders to 263 total yards that week. The next week, at Buffalo, they were even better, holding the Bills to 209 yards. After utterly dominating Houston last week, the Chiefs suddenly were fifth in the NFL in rush defense. They had not allowed a 200-yard passer in almost a month.

Sure, Oakland, Buffalo and Houston are not good teams. But remember, before Cunningham came along, the Chiefs’ defenses were not discriminating. They gave up yards and points to everybody.

“We’re about to show the world,” Cunningham told friends and players before Sunday’s New England game.

Sunday, the defense showed. Sure, people can talk about how the Patriots were beat up and they’re not as good as the three New England teams that won Super Bowls, and yada, yada yada. All true. That was still Bill Belichick coaching, still Tom Brady passing (with the league’s fourth-best passing attack), still a champion coming into Kansas City in need of a victory.

And for most of the game, the Chiefs’ defense utterly overwhelmed New England. The Patriots had no running game. Brady threw four picks. The Chiefs sacked him three times. The Patriots managed 104 yards of offense in the first half. Brady had his worst statistical game in almost three years.

Belichick was left muttering: “We didn’t do a good enough job offensively, and we didn’t do a good enough job defensively. It wasn’t anything I’m not going to sit here and say it was or it wasn’t.”

You figure out that quote. It’s like NFL Sudoku.

The point is: The Chiefs needed a knockout. The Chiefs got a knockout.

Of course, the Chiefs’ defense will have to prove it all again this Sunday, against the 9-2 Denver Broncos. That’s the NFL. But for a day at Arrowhead, at least, it seemed like old times. Arrowhead rocked, the defense rolled, the Chiefs stayed in the playoff hunt.

And Gunther Cunningham was in heaven. He ran off the field pumping his fists. He left the stadium quickly to spend a few hours with family before getting back to work.

“After the game, he was more tired than we were,” Allen says. “And he was just on the sideline. That’s why we love playing for him. We give our heart. He gives his soul.”

keg in kc · 11-28-2005, 02:25 AM

Quote:

Sure, Oakland, Buffalo and Houston are not good teams. But remember, before Cunningham came along, the Chiefs’ defenses were not discriminating. They gave up yards and points to everybody.

That's a valid point. How many backups did Spinner's "Career Day" defense provide highlights for...

tk13 · 11-28-2005, 02:37 AM

That's a good point. I'm excited by our passing defense. It's coming around. That was a really good passing offense we just shut down. I don't care if they didn't have a running game... early in the season we faced teams that couldn't run and they gashed us through the air. We're starting to play like a more complete defense. Gonna be a huge test Sunday though.

keg in kc · 11-28-2005, 02:41 AM

I'm concerned with out tendency to give up yards after halftime. It's representative of a problem we sometimes have on both sides of the ball, a difficulty dealing with halftime adjustments.

Earthling · 11-28-2005, 02:45 AM

Sure, people can talk about how the Patriots were beat up and they’re not as good as the three New England teams that won Super Bowls, and yada, yada yada. All true. That was still Bill Belichick coaching, still Tom Brady passing (with the league’s fourth-best passing attack), still a champion coming into Kansas City in need of a victory.

What a difference from the Whitlock article.

tk13 · 11-28-2005, 02:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by keg in kc

I'm concerned with out tendency to give up yards after halftime. It's representative of a problem we sometimes have on both sides of the ball, a difficulty dealing with halftime adjustments.

Really, if you look at it, we seem to do that in blowouts. In close games I think we've buckled down. Washington, San Diego, Buffalo, we didn't have a lead and we played well in the 2nd half of all of those games. I don't think we allowed more than 7 points in the 2nd half of each of those games. It's games like Oakland and today when we're up by double digits where we let up.

keg in kc · 11-28-2005, 03:12 AM

We go zone.

AZforBroncos · 11-28-2005, 03:18 AM

yes, im sure you're proud of your 25th ranked defense

beer bacon · 11-28-2005, 03:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AZforBroncos

yes, im sure you're proud of your 25th ranked defense

How proud are you guys of your 17th ranked defense?

AZforBroncos · 11-28-2005, 03:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beer bacon

How proud are you guys of your 17th ranked defense?

7th in scoring defense
as opposed to you being 21st?
try again

Pants · 11-28-2005, 03:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AZforBroncos

7th in scoring defense
as opposed to you being 21st?
try again

Hey man, what's the point? Yeah, your team is much better than ours statistically, you owned us at your house earlier this year, your record is much better. What's your point? We are happy we are improving, what are you trying achieve here?

Let's hold all the shit talking till Sunday afternoon, K?

CoMoChief · 11-28-2005, 03:35 AM

We also need Ryan Sims and Shawn Barber to come back so we can run the 3-4 even better than we have been. I believe our defense can be a good solid defense. Our offense is starting to come around. Roaf is just simply a difference maker. He really does change our whole offensive game plan. I think our defense players need to get cocky in a way that we get more confidence. I like what I saw today and we are really getting closer to being great.

AZforBroncos · 11-28-2005, 03:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Metrolike

Hey man, what's the point? Yeah, your team is much better than ours statistically, you owned us at your house earlier this year, your record is much better. What's your point? We are happy we are improving, what are you trying achieve here?

Let's hold all the shit talking till Sunday afternoon, K?

the point is, this writer seems to be glorifying something that in no way deserves to be glorified. lets face it, the chiefs have had a poor defense for a while now, and you have made so many off season acquisitions and draft choices, and even brought in cunningham all to make your defense strong. and after all of that, you're 25th in the league? i'd be complaining about why you still can't get it done on the other side of the ball, not glorifying it.

Pants · 11-28-2005, 03:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AZforBroncos

the point is, this writer seems to be glorifying something that in no way deserves to be glorified. lets face it, the chiefs have had a poor defense for a while now, and you have made so many off season acquisitions and draft choices, and even brought in cunningham all to make your defense strong. and after all of that, you're 25th in the league? i'd be complaining about why you still can't get it done on the other side of the ball, not glorifying it.

How about we take out the first five weeks considering it takes a little time for the defense to gel? The point is - we are improving and that is what the article is glorifying.

AZforBroncos · 11-28-2005, 03:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Metrolike

How about we take out the first five weeks considering it takes a little time for the defense to gel? The point is - we are improving and that is what the article is glorifying.

i suppose thats as good an excuse as any

11-28-2005, 02:17 AM
tk13 ... Join Date: Nov 2001 Casino cash: $2062500	Posnanski: This is why Gunther came back to KC http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansas...s/13271551.htm Cunningham’s defense taking him back to the glory days JOE POSNANSKI Kansas City Star This was why Gunther Cunningham came back to town. It wasn’t so he could run his own defense again. It wasn’t because he missed Kansas City. And it wasn’t because he wanted to make things right after being fired as the Chiefs’ head coach. Sure, all of those things played into his thinking. But no, if Cunningham had to give one reason why he came back to run the Chiefs’ defense after a heartbreaking farewell, he probably would give this scene from Sunday: The Chiefs led the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots by 13 points. It was almost halftime. Third and long. The Patriots had the ball, and quarterback Tom Brady pointed at Chiefs defensive players and shouted something that probably sounded like, “Block him! Block him, too! Hey, I know that guy! Hey, look, John Candy! Whoa, look at that guy! Don’t let him hit me!” Cunningham, standing on the sideline, waved his arms to get the Arrowhead crowd to get louder. The crowd got louder. He waved his arms more. The crowd got louder still. The ball snapped. Jared Allen — looking a whole lot like Derrick Thomas from another time — rocketed past New England left tackle Nick Kaczur. Allen dived at Brady’s feet. Sack. Arrowhead Stadium shook, like old times, and Allen ran to the sideline where Cunningham waited to hug him. “Our attitude is, ‘Nobody is getting nothing on us,’ ” Allen says. “Nothing.” If we each get our own personal heaven, well, this would be Gunther Cunningham’s heaven: an overcast day, a deafening Arrowhead Stadium, a Chiefs victory and a defense that believes that nobody is getting nothing. This was why he came back. Cunningham looks back on his early days as coordinator for the Chiefs — particularly in 1995 and 1997 when the Chiefs had the NFL’s top-ranked defense — as the best time of his life. You can still see the far-off look in his eyes when he talks about those days and the way Arrowhead sounded, the way his defense blitzed Todd Collins four straight downs, the way it hounded John Elway, the 10 straight games the defense did not allow a second-half touchdown. When he starts talking about the 1990s in Kansas City, Cunningham sounds a lot like Burt Lancaster in “Atlantic City” when he looks out over the water and says, “You should have seen the Atlantic Ocean in those days.” See, Cunningham came back to relive the best days of his life. How many people get the chance to be the high school quarterback or the homecoming queen a second time? The trouble was, Cunningham soon realized that things in Kansas City were different. He came back to coach a struggling defense with much less talent than he had been led to believe. Last year, the Chiefs gave up points by the dozen. Arrowhead was as quiet as a church — it’s hard to cheer when the other offense is moving. Cunningham nearly went out of his mind. He pleaded with Chiefs GM/president/CEO/window smasher Carl Peterson to give him more talent. In the offseason, the Chiefs added a bunch of new defensive players. Cunningham tried to teach his Clinton-biography-sized playbook in a day and a half. And in the early weeks, not surprisingly, the defense did not look significantly better. This time, though, Cunningham could feel that things were about to change. “The problem with you guys,” Cunningham remembers telling his players during a practice before the second Oakland Raiders game, “is you don’t realize how close you are. You are too dumb to realize that we’re on the brink of being one of the dominant defenses in this league. I’ve seen it. We’re so close. Give me just a little more, and we’re going to tear up this league.” Well, Cunningham says this kind of stuff all the time. But sure enough, the Chiefs’ defense held the Raiders to 263 total yards that week. The next week, at Buffalo, they were even better, holding the Bills to 209 yards. After utterly dominating Houston last week, the Chiefs suddenly were fifth in the NFL in rush defense. They had not allowed a 200-yard passer in almost a month. Sure, Oakland, Buffalo and Houston are not good teams. But remember, before Cunningham came along, the Chiefs’ defenses were not discriminating. They gave up yards and points to everybody. “We’re about to show the world,” Cunningham told friends and players before Sunday’s New England game. Sunday, the defense showed. Sure, people can talk about how the Patriots were beat up and they’re not as good as the three New England teams that won Super Bowls, and yada, yada yada. All true. That was still Bill Belichick coaching, still Tom Brady passing (with the league’s fourth-best passing attack), still a champion coming into Kansas City in need of a victory. And for most of the game, the Chiefs’ defense utterly overwhelmed New England. The Patriots had no running game. Brady threw four picks. The Chiefs sacked him three times. The Patriots managed 104 yards of offense in the first half. Brady had his worst statistical game in almost three years. Belichick was left muttering: “We didn’t do a good enough job offensively, and we didn’t do a good enough job defensively. It wasn’t anything I’m not going to sit here and say it was or it wasn’t.” You figure out that quote. It’s like NFL Sudoku. The point is: The Chiefs needed a knockout. The Chiefs got a knockout. Of course, the Chiefs’ defense will have to prove it all again this Sunday, against the 9-2 Denver Broncos. That’s the NFL. But for a day at Arrowhead, at least, it seemed like old times. Arrowhead rocked, the defense rolled, the Chiefs stayed in the playoff hunt. And Gunther Cunningham was in heaven. He ran off the field pumping his fists. He left the stadium quickly to spend a few hours with family before getting back to work. “After the game, he was more tired than we were,” Allen says. “And he was just on the sideline. That’s why we love playing for him. We give our heart. He gives his soul.”
Posts: 54,911

11-28-2005, 02:37 AM	#3
tk13 ... Join Date: Nov 2001 Casino cash: $2062500	That's a good point. I'm excited by our passing defense. It's coming around. That was a really good passing offense we just shut down. I don't care if they didn't have a running game... early in the season we faced teams that couldn't run and they gashed us through the air. We're starting to play like a more complete defense. Gonna be a huge test Sunday though.
Posts: 54,911

11-28-2005, 02:41 AM	#4
keg in kc oxymoron Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: OP/KC/Whatever Casino cash: $9556299	I'm concerned with out tendency to give up yards after halftime. It's representative of a problem we sometimes have on both sides of the ball, a difficulty dealing with halftime adjustments.
Posts: 58,682

11-28-2005, 02:45 AM	#5
Earthling MVP Join Date: Apr 2001 Casino cash: $10008447	Sure, people can talk about how the Patriots were beat up and they’re not as good as the three New England teams that won Super Bowls, and yada, yada yada. All true. That was still Bill Belichick coaching, still Tom Brady passing (with the league’s fourth-best passing attack), still a champion coming into Kansas City in need of a victory. What a difference from the Whitlock article. __________________ AND SOMETIMES IT'S NOT SO EASY ESPECIALLY WHEN YOUR ONLY FRIEND TALKS SEES LOOKS AND FEELS LIKE YOU AND YOU DO JUST THE SAME AS HIM -Jiimi Hendrix
Posts: 5,995

11-28-2005, 03:12 AM	#7
keg in kc oxymoron Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: OP/KC/Whatever Casino cash: $9556299	We go zone.
Posts: 58,682

11-28-2005, 03:18 AM	#8
AZforBroncos Rookie Join Date: Nov 2005 Casino cash: $10004900	yes, im sure you're proud of your 25th ranked defense
Posts: 23

11-28-2005, 03:35 AM	#12
CoMoChief Mahomes Dynasty Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Parts Unknown Casino cash: $8052254	We also need Ryan Sims and Shawn Barber to come back so we can run the 3-4 even better than we have been. I believe our defense can be a good solid defense. Our offense is starting to come around. Roaf is just simply a difference maker. He really does change our whole offensive game plan. I think our defense players need to get cocky in a way that we get more confidence. I like what I saw today and we are really getting closer to being great. __________________
Posts: 39,155