Direckshun
11-05-2006, 03:30 PM
If you were anything like me, before the season started you scoured websites, bought the preseason Sports Illustrated, scrolled through the numerous NFL preseason predictions in those countless football magazines they have in gas stations... you went everywhere trying to get the professional skinny on what your Kansas City Chiefs chances were.
They ranged from decent (Cris Carter) to very poor (Peter King).
The near-unanimous criticism of this Chiefs football team wasn't that they lacked offensive talent, nor that Herm wasn't up to the task of rebuilding the defense.
It was the perception that the Chiefs lacked depth.
The offensive line is old, and there were no serious players to fill in for Roaf and Welbourne. Speaking of age, what would happen of the seemingly elderly Trent Green went down? There was zero rushing threats outside of Larry Johnson, and the Chiefs would suffer from failing to adequately replace Tony Richardson. What would the Chiefs do if Parker, Dante, or Kennison went down?
Herm Edwards and the Kansas City Chiefs have made the professional football experts eat crow.
We rebuilt our line into something respectable, and still we're having to weather injury after injury, week after week. And every single week Black, Sampson, Turley, Svitek, and Bober have filled the holes respectably, and oftentimes powerfully.
Our run game has shut down all naysayers. We've lost Tony Richardson, but in his wake we discovered an impressive Ronnie Cruz who could run almost as well as he blocks. And when Cruz went down, Kris "Bigfoot" Wilson has stepped in for the first time at a position he wasn't even recruited for, and has blocked wonderfully, and caught sure-handedly. All this, and LJ-reliever Michael Bennett has got his groove back.
We pulled Jeff Webb out of nowhere to fill in for Dante's hip pointer, and he outperformed Dante himself. Not to mention Webb, Gardner, and Kris Wilson stepping up their receiving performance to take slack off the burdened Eddie Kennison and Tony G, both of whom have been allowed to flourish in career years thus far.
And one of the best pass rushers the Chiefs have go down this game (Hali), and Cunningham rotates in a plethora of guys to that defensive line and continues to stuff the run and apply pressure to Bulger.
But of course, let's not forget Trent Green. This guy is the key to the Chiefs' livelihood, it was often read, and understandably so. But when Trent did fall, Solari and Edwards eased a surprising star into the role. Not only has Damon Huard filled in wonderfully for Green, he has been one of the most exemplary quarterbacks in the NFL, and has essentially filled in as a Green clone during his 5-2 tenure.
The Chiefs were criticized as being shallow on the depth chart. But Edwards, Solari, and Cunningham have enlivened a football team of stars, and supported them with an impressively deep roster of support.
Diamond-in-the-rough role players, nearly every one of them, looking for the right place to fill in. Edwards deserves recognition for building a talented, tested roster of 53 men.
They ranged from decent (Cris Carter) to very poor (Peter King).
The near-unanimous criticism of this Chiefs football team wasn't that they lacked offensive talent, nor that Herm wasn't up to the task of rebuilding the defense.
It was the perception that the Chiefs lacked depth.
The offensive line is old, and there were no serious players to fill in for Roaf and Welbourne. Speaking of age, what would happen of the seemingly elderly Trent Green went down? There was zero rushing threats outside of Larry Johnson, and the Chiefs would suffer from failing to adequately replace Tony Richardson. What would the Chiefs do if Parker, Dante, or Kennison went down?
Herm Edwards and the Kansas City Chiefs have made the professional football experts eat crow.
We rebuilt our line into something respectable, and still we're having to weather injury after injury, week after week. And every single week Black, Sampson, Turley, Svitek, and Bober have filled the holes respectably, and oftentimes powerfully.
Our run game has shut down all naysayers. We've lost Tony Richardson, but in his wake we discovered an impressive Ronnie Cruz who could run almost as well as he blocks. And when Cruz went down, Kris "Bigfoot" Wilson has stepped in for the first time at a position he wasn't even recruited for, and has blocked wonderfully, and caught sure-handedly. All this, and LJ-reliever Michael Bennett has got his groove back.
We pulled Jeff Webb out of nowhere to fill in for Dante's hip pointer, and he outperformed Dante himself. Not to mention Webb, Gardner, and Kris Wilson stepping up their receiving performance to take slack off the burdened Eddie Kennison and Tony G, both of whom have been allowed to flourish in career years thus far.
And one of the best pass rushers the Chiefs have go down this game (Hali), and Cunningham rotates in a plethora of guys to that defensive line and continues to stuff the run and apply pressure to Bulger.
But of course, let's not forget Trent Green. This guy is the key to the Chiefs' livelihood, it was often read, and understandably so. But when Trent did fall, Solari and Edwards eased a surprising star into the role. Not only has Damon Huard filled in wonderfully for Green, he has been one of the most exemplary quarterbacks in the NFL, and has essentially filled in as a Green clone during his 5-2 tenure.
The Chiefs were criticized as being shallow on the depth chart. But Edwards, Solari, and Cunningham have enlivened a football team of stars, and supported them with an impressively deep roster of support.
Diamond-in-the-rough role players, nearly every one of them, looking for the right place to fill in. Edwards deserves recognition for building a talented, tested roster of 53 men.