Hammock Parties
11-02-2005, 03:22 AM
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/football/nfl/kansas_city_chiefs/13056614.htm
Opponents fancy passing vs. Chiefs
Teams are only too happy to throw against defense
By ELIZABETH MERRILL
The Kansas City Star
A chest-high wood lectern separated him from the media Tuesday, and Dick Vermeil glanced down at a stack of papers.
There was nowhere to duck.
It is Vermeil’s job to spread peace and love in the locker room, to put a positive spin on the Chiefs’ 29th-ranked defense. He mentioned Tuesday how it’s still doing a bang-up job stopping the run.
But are teams even trying to run against the Chiefs anymore when they can pass at will?
“You’d have to ask them,” Vermeil said.
It has been a long 48 hours since the Chiefs’ 28-20 loss at San Diego, two days full of angry radio call-ins and a volley of questions about a pass defense that is giving up 274.7 yards a game.
Vermeil later addressed the run-pass question as an offensive coach, an outsider devising a game plan against the Chiefs’ leaky secondary.
“I would throw more than I would run,” he said.
So has roughly one-fifth of the NFL. One week after the Chiefs appeared to fix some defensive issues, Drew Brees aired it out 43 times Sunday, completing 25 passes for 324 yards and three touchdowns. LaDainian Tomlinson, the Chargers’ star running back, even decided to test the Chiefs’ secondary.
He lofted a 17-yard pass into the end zone, giving San Diego an early touchdown.
“We recognize we have some problems on pass defense,” Vermeil said.
Those problems could get worse Sunday, when the Chiefs play Randy Moss and the Raiders at Arrowhead Stadium. The last time they met, Moss had five catches for 127 yards. Oakland has won three of its past four games and has the NFL’s fourth-best passing offense.
Fortunately for the Chiefs, the Raiders’ secondary is banged up and isn’t exactly shutting down receivers.
Vermeil said the Chiefs have the talent to be better than they are, but that hasn’t helped them stop Moss, Terrell Owens, Santana Moss and Antonio Gates, who have all had 100-plus yard receiving games against Kansas City.
“Sometimes, it’s the players you play against and the situations you face,” Vermeil said. “There are certain phases of the defense that are a lot better and certain coverages that we’re playing that are better. But we’re being tested more because we’ve stopped the running game.
“We’ve gone 14 straight games preventing a 100-yard rusher, and only one team has done it better. But in stopping the run, they’ve thrown the ball more and got more yards. … San Diego didn’t come out running the ball. They came out throwing the football. So that puts more pressure on you.”
The Chiefs spent money in the offseason to upgrade their talent in the secondary, adding safety Sammy Knight and cornerback Patrick Surtain. Knight had Gates wrapped up at about the 31-yard line Sunday, but he squirmed loose for a 35-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Normally, Vermeil said, Knight makes that play.
Just as Vermeil’s press conference ended Tuesday, defensive tackle Ryan Sims walked around the stadium with a trainer. Sims hurt his foot in the season opener against the Jets, and Vermeil said his loss has been significant on a defense line that has struggled to rush opposing quarterbacks.
He’s avoided putting Sims on injured reserve and said Tuesday that the Chiefs have not been in recent contact with Gilbert Brown, who worked out for the team weeks ago.
For now, Vermeil is being patient. His critics aren’t.
“I’d like to believe that we know what we’re doing and we have enough good players to solve those problems,” Vermeil said. “But they don’t all of the sudden get solved overnight unless you play a team that’s weaker in those areas.
“It’s just an ongoing process of working at things that need to be improved and growing and staying on that practice field.”
Opponents fancy passing vs. Chiefs
Teams are only too happy to throw against defense
By ELIZABETH MERRILL
The Kansas City Star
A chest-high wood lectern separated him from the media Tuesday, and Dick Vermeil glanced down at a stack of papers.
There was nowhere to duck.
It is Vermeil’s job to spread peace and love in the locker room, to put a positive spin on the Chiefs’ 29th-ranked defense. He mentioned Tuesday how it’s still doing a bang-up job stopping the run.
But are teams even trying to run against the Chiefs anymore when they can pass at will?
“You’d have to ask them,” Vermeil said.
It has been a long 48 hours since the Chiefs’ 28-20 loss at San Diego, two days full of angry radio call-ins and a volley of questions about a pass defense that is giving up 274.7 yards a game.
Vermeil later addressed the run-pass question as an offensive coach, an outsider devising a game plan against the Chiefs’ leaky secondary.
“I would throw more than I would run,” he said.
So has roughly one-fifth of the NFL. One week after the Chiefs appeared to fix some defensive issues, Drew Brees aired it out 43 times Sunday, completing 25 passes for 324 yards and three touchdowns. LaDainian Tomlinson, the Chargers’ star running back, even decided to test the Chiefs’ secondary.
He lofted a 17-yard pass into the end zone, giving San Diego an early touchdown.
“We recognize we have some problems on pass defense,” Vermeil said.
Those problems could get worse Sunday, when the Chiefs play Randy Moss and the Raiders at Arrowhead Stadium. The last time they met, Moss had five catches for 127 yards. Oakland has won three of its past four games and has the NFL’s fourth-best passing offense.
Fortunately for the Chiefs, the Raiders’ secondary is banged up and isn’t exactly shutting down receivers.
Vermeil said the Chiefs have the talent to be better than they are, but that hasn’t helped them stop Moss, Terrell Owens, Santana Moss and Antonio Gates, who have all had 100-plus yard receiving games against Kansas City.
“Sometimes, it’s the players you play against and the situations you face,” Vermeil said. “There are certain phases of the defense that are a lot better and certain coverages that we’re playing that are better. But we’re being tested more because we’ve stopped the running game.
“We’ve gone 14 straight games preventing a 100-yard rusher, and only one team has done it better. But in stopping the run, they’ve thrown the ball more and got more yards. … San Diego didn’t come out running the ball. They came out throwing the football. So that puts more pressure on you.”
The Chiefs spent money in the offseason to upgrade their talent in the secondary, adding safety Sammy Knight and cornerback Patrick Surtain. Knight had Gates wrapped up at about the 31-yard line Sunday, but he squirmed loose for a 35-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Normally, Vermeil said, Knight makes that play.
Just as Vermeil’s press conference ended Tuesday, defensive tackle Ryan Sims walked around the stadium with a trainer. Sims hurt his foot in the season opener against the Jets, and Vermeil said his loss has been significant on a defense line that has struggled to rush opposing quarterbacks.
He’s avoided putting Sims on injured reserve and said Tuesday that the Chiefs have not been in recent contact with Gilbert Brown, who worked out for the team weeks ago.
For now, Vermeil is being patient. His critics aren’t.
“I’d like to believe that we know what we’re doing and we have enough good players to solve those problems,” Vermeil said. “But they don’t all of the sudden get solved overnight unless you play a team that’s weaker in those areas.
“It’s just an ongoing process of working at things that need to be improved and growing and staying on that practice field.”