KingPriest2
10-12-2004, 01:35 PM
GRETZ: The Quarter Pole
Oct 08, 2004, 5:00:56 AM by Bob Gretz
The Chiefs are enjoying what amounts to a week of in-season vacation with the bye weekend. They won’t report back to work until Monday morning, when they’ll start getting ready for Jacksonville.
Dick Vermeil and his coaching staff spent time this week looking over the first quarter of the season. Vermeil likes to break the season down into four four-game quarters and the results at the first quarter pole of the 2004 NFL race aren’t very pretty.
The Chiefs are 1-3 and they are two games behind Denver in the AFC West. Coming up on the schedule immediately are the Jaguars (3-1), Atlanta (4-0) and Indianapolis (3-1). If the Chiefs are going to dig themselves out of their hole, they must do that work immediately over the next three weeks.
Checking the four-game numbers compared to previous seasons is an interesting exercise. One major difference is in penalties. After four games last year, the Chiefs had 19 penalties for 140 yards walked off. This year, the numbers are up considerably: 36 flags for 317 yards. And, the flags against their opponents are down in totals (30 to 23) and yards (241 to 200.) Conclusion: the Chiefs haven’t been good enough to overcome some poor work by the zebras.
Despite the offensive problems the team has exhibited, their numbers are almost identical to the first four games of last season, when the team was 4-0. In fact, the Chiefs are averaging 340.8 yards this year; the same as last season. The running average is up slightly, the passing average down slightly.
Trent Green’s passer rating this year is 78.5, compared to 79.6 last season after four games. Priest Holmes is ahead of his totals last year in running attempts and yards, but way down in his receptions and receiving yardage. Tony Gonzalez and Johnnie Morton numbers are up after four games compared to last year, making up for the balls that haven’t gone to Holmes in the passing attack.
Defensively, the Chiefs numbers are not as good as they were at this point last season, especially on the scoreboard. The 2003 Defense allowed only six touchdowns and 58 points after four games last year; this year’s group has given up 11 touchdowns and 110 points. They’ve also forced only six turnovers in four games this year; last year it was 14 turnovers in the first quarter.
The real disparity shows up in the kicking game, where the Chiefs are not getting the job done in four of the six major areas of the special teams. Only Dante Hall’s 14-yard average on punt returns and Lawrence Tynes overall effort in kicking are up to standard. Coverage units are poor compared to last season and they’ve already given up one touchdown. Punting has been problematic, with Jason Baker stepping in to the last two games for the injured Steve Cheek. Baker is now gone again, as Cheek is expected back for the Jacksonville game.
The opinions offered in this column do not necessarily reflect those of the Kansas City Chiefs.
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Oct 08, 2004, 5:00:56 AM by Bob Gretz
The Chiefs are enjoying what amounts to a week of in-season vacation with the bye weekend. They won’t report back to work until Monday morning, when they’ll start getting ready for Jacksonville.
Dick Vermeil and his coaching staff spent time this week looking over the first quarter of the season. Vermeil likes to break the season down into four four-game quarters and the results at the first quarter pole of the 2004 NFL race aren’t very pretty.
The Chiefs are 1-3 and they are two games behind Denver in the AFC West. Coming up on the schedule immediately are the Jaguars (3-1), Atlanta (4-0) and Indianapolis (3-1). If the Chiefs are going to dig themselves out of their hole, they must do that work immediately over the next three weeks.
Checking the four-game numbers compared to previous seasons is an interesting exercise. One major difference is in penalties. After four games last year, the Chiefs had 19 penalties for 140 yards walked off. This year, the numbers are up considerably: 36 flags for 317 yards. And, the flags against their opponents are down in totals (30 to 23) and yards (241 to 200.) Conclusion: the Chiefs haven’t been good enough to overcome some poor work by the zebras.
Despite the offensive problems the team has exhibited, their numbers are almost identical to the first four games of last season, when the team was 4-0. In fact, the Chiefs are averaging 340.8 yards this year; the same as last season. The running average is up slightly, the passing average down slightly.
Trent Green’s passer rating this year is 78.5, compared to 79.6 last season after four games. Priest Holmes is ahead of his totals last year in running attempts and yards, but way down in his receptions and receiving yardage. Tony Gonzalez and Johnnie Morton numbers are up after four games compared to last year, making up for the balls that haven’t gone to Holmes in the passing attack.
Defensively, the Chiefs numbers are not as good as they were at this point last season, especially on the scoreboard. The 2003 Defense allowed only six touchdowns and 58 points after four games last year; this year’s group has given up 11 touchdowns and 110 points. They’ve also forced only six turnovers in four games this year; last year it was 14 turnovers in the first quarter.
The real disparity shows up in the kicking game, where the Chiefs are not getting the job done in four of the six major areas of the special teams. Only Dante Hall’s 14-yard average on punt returns and Lawrence Tynes overall effort in kicking are up to standard. Coverage units are poor compared to last season and they’ve already given up one touchdown. Punting has been problematic, with Jason Baker stepping in to the last two games for the injured Steve Cheek. Baker is now gone again, as Cheek is expected back for the Jacksonville game.
The opinions offered in this column do not necessarily reflect those of the Kansas City Chiefs.
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