tk13
09-19-2005, 01:11 AM
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/12682960.htm
It helps to be lucky and good
JASON WHITLOCK
Kansas City Star
OAKLAND, Calif. — It really doesn’t matter how they got here, 2-0, atop the AFC West, two games ahead of the Raiders and the Chargers and a game ahead of the Broncos.
Let the skeptics question the horrid officiating and stupid Oakland play-calling that handed your Chiefs their second victory in two weeks. Let the doomsayers predict that they’ve seen this all before, just a couple of years ago when the Chiefs four-leaf-clovered to an undefeated start and folded late in the season and bombed in the playoffs.
This is different. Yes, the Chiefs were fortunate Sunday night inside McAfee Coliseum. The refs robbed Randy Moss of a touchdown, calling the unstoppable receiver for pass interference on Dexter McCleon, and Oakland coach Norv Turner inexcusably forgot about Moss when the Raiders reached the Chiefs’ red zone in the game’s final minutes with a chance to steal victory.
Kansas City’s good fortune doesn’t negate the grit and ingenuity that Dick Vermeil’s boys showed knocking off the Raiders 23-17 inside a hostile stadium.
There’s nothing wrong with being lucky when you’re equally good. That’s the difference between this promising 2-0 start and the 9-0 launch the Chiefs put together in 2003.
You have to be good and lucky to win the NFL. No coach has ever denied that fact. On a night the Chiefs played without the foundation of their offense, left tackle Willie Roaf, and on a night when the Chiefs could never establish their running game, Al Saunders’ offense still put 23 points on the board and figured out how to trap Randy Moss on the sideline for 20 of the 30 second-half minutes.
Nice work. Credit has to go to Saunders and quarterback Trent Green. They manufactured an offense when nothing the Chiefs tried worked all that consistently. They certainly had trouble with their running game. Oakland’s mammoth nose tackle Ted Washington had his way with undersized center Casey Wiegmann.
At one point, running back Priest Holmes had 19 yards in 13 carries, and you had to wonder why Larry Johnson wasn’t getting more carries. The lack of a running game devastates KC’s play-action passing game, which in turn puts more pressure on its average receiving corps.
For a brief moment, little-used special-teamer Chris Horn became “the guy” on third down, cradling a couple of big passes.
What Saunders and Green most deserve credit for is never abandoning Kansas City’s running game. The Chiefs didn’t get pass-happy. Holmes and Johnson combined for 28 carries. Green threw the ball 28 times. Holmes eventually found some daylight late in the fourth quarter, finishing the night with 75 yards in 19 carries. Even without Roaf, the Chiefs stayed within their offensive personality.
I can’t lie to you and tell you Kansas City’s defense was great. It wasn’t. A holding call wiped out a long touchdown run by Oakland’s LaMont Jordan. McCleon talked a ref into flagging Moss for pass interference, which negated another Oakland TD. Patrick Surtain, for some unknown reason, slowed down as Moss sped toward a long pass that would turn into a 64-yard TD. Safety help over the top does not give KC’s highest-paid defender the right to release Moss to Sammy Knight, a slow-footed safety.
Raiders quarterback Kerry Collins reminded me time and again why he is my least-favorite pro QB. He’s just too inconsistent. Any pass-rush pressure causes his throws to sail high or into the dirt.
I’m not sure who is responsible for Moss being invisible down the stretch. But you’ll never convince me that Rich Gannon (or a competent veteran QB) would let play after Moss-less play be called from the sideline down the stretch.
The Chiefs were not great Sunday night. They were good (and lucky), and that’s good enough for now. They don’t need to be great until December and January.
It helps to be lucky and good
JASON WHITLOCK
Kansas City Star
OAKLAND, Calif. — It really doesn’t matter how they got here, 2-0, atop the AFC West, two games ahead of the Raiders and the Chargers and a game ahead of the Broncos.
Let the skeptics question the horrid officiating and stupid Oakland play-calling that handed your Chiefs their second victory in two weeks. Let the doomsayers predict that they’ve seen this all before, just a couple of years ago when the Chiefs four-leaf-clovered to an undefeated start and folded late in the season and bombed in the playoffs.
This is different. Yes, the Chiefs were fortunate Sunday night inside McAfee Coliseum. The refs robbed Randy Moss of a touchdown, calling the unstoppable receiver for pass interference on Dexter McCleon, and Oakland coach Norv Turner inexcusably forgot about Moss when the Raiders reached the Chiefs’ red zone in the game’s final minutes with a chance to steal victory.
Kansas City’s good fortune doesn’t negate the grit and ingenuity that Dick Vermeil’s boys showed knocking off the Raiders 23-17 inside a hostile stadium.
There’s nothing wrong with being lucky when you’re equally good. That’s the difference between this promising 2-0 start and the 9-0 launch the Chiefs put together in 2003.
You have to be good and lucky to win the NFL. No coach has ever denied that fact. On a night the Chiefs played without the foundation of their offense, left tackle Willie Roaf, and on a night when the Chiefs could never establish their running game, Al Saunders’ offense still put 23 points on the board and figured out how to trap Randy Moss on the sideline for 20 of the 30 second-half minutes.
Nice work. Credit has to go to Saunders and quarterback Trent Green. They manufactured an offense when nothing the Chiefs tried worked all that consistently. They certainly had trouble with their running game. Oakland’s mammoth nose tackle Ted Washington had his way with undersized center Casey Wiegmann.
At one point, running back Priest Holmes had 19 yards in 13 carries, and you had to wonder why Larry Johnson wasn’t getting more carries. The lack of a running game devastates KC’s play-action passing game, which in turn puts more pressure on its average receiving corps.
For a brief moment, little-used special-teamer Chris Horn became “the guy” on third down, cradling a couple of big passes.
What Saunders and Green most deserve credit for is never abandoning Kansas City’s running game. The Chiefs didn’t get pass-happy. Holmes and Johnson combined for 28 carries. Green threw the ball 28 times. Holmes eventually found some daylight late in the fourth quarter, finishing the night with 75 yards in 19 carries. Even without Roaf, the Chiefs stayed within their offensive personality.
I can’t lie to you and tell you Kansas City’s defense was great. It wasn’t. A holding call wiped out a long touchdown run by Oakland’s LaMont Jordan. McCleon talked a ref into flagging Moss for pass interference, which negated another Oakland TD. Patrick Surtain, for some unknown reason, slowed down as Moss sped toward a long pass that would turn into a 64-yard TD. Safety help over the top does not give KC’s highest-paid defender the right to release Moss to Sammy Knight, a slow-footed safety.
Raiders quarterback Kerry Collins reminded me time and again why he is my least-favorite pro QB. He’s just too inconsistent. Any pass-rush pressure causes his throws to sail high or into the dirt.
I’m not sure who is responsible for Moss being invisible down the stretch. But you’ll never convince me that Rich Gannon (or a competent veteran QB) would let play after Moss-less play be called from the sideline down the stretch.
The Chiefs were not great Sunday night. They were good (and lucky), and that’s good enough for now. They don’t need to be great until December and January.