Tribal Warfare
09-02-2008, 11:52 PM
http://www.kansascity.com/sports/chiefs/story/779401.html
Chiefs prepare for tough season-opener at New England
By KENT BABB
The Kansas City Star
Herm Edwards knows the opponent and knows the Chiefs’ long odds of winning this Sunday at New England. That doesn’t mean a team that went 4-12 last year is planning for anything but leaving Gillette Stadium with a victory.
“We’re going to prepare to win,” Edwards said Tuesday. “We’re preparing to win a football game.”
So that means a moral victory won’t cut it. Not in the eyes of Chiefs coaches or the 53 mostly young players who will make the trip. It means a one- or two-touchdown loss Sunday to the Patriots, who averaged 36.8 points in 2007, isn’t part of the game plan.
Instead, Edwards said the Chiefs are preparing for the Patriots as they would any other team — and trying to ignore that New England has won three Super Bowl championships since 2001 and is a favorite to win another one this year.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the Chiefs were 16-point underdogs. Edwards knows that. He also knows the Patriots have become one of the NFL’s best teams each year.
“They don’t make many mistakes,” Edwards said.
Which is what the coach doesn’t want the Chiefs’ young bunch of players to do, either. More than half the players on the travel roster weren’t in Kansas City in 2007, when the Chiefs put together their worst season in 30 years. Edwards said many of the young players don’t know much of the Patriots, other than what they’ve seen on television when they were in college.
The Chiefs are expected to start four rookies. Edwards said preseason games offered some experience. Now that the regular season has begun, the rookies will learn that games have a different feel and require more out of them.
Edwards said one of his biggest concerns for this weekend was “how we’re going to react.”
“You never know with young players,” he said. “Your emotions will take you only so far, and then you have to have sound thinking. The speed of the game, I think, is going to change dramatically for a lot of these young guys.
“How you prepare is very important because of the fact that you’ve got to think and it has to be natural. If you’re thinking about what you have to do you’re going to be a step late, and if you’re a step late against these guys, it’ll get you.”
As if there aren’t enough factors that could trip up the Chiefs, it’s their regular-season opener and it’s on the road. And it’s against New England and Tom Brady and Randy Moss and Bill Belichick.
“If you make mistakes,” Edwards said, “they take advantage of you.”
The Chiefs would be hard-pressed to suggest their players match up with the Patriots’. The Chiefs have plenty of talent, but some of their most talented players are beginning their first or second seasons. The Patriots are at the top of the NFL, and the Chiefs are far from the top.
How will the Chiefs deliver a knockout punch against the NFL’s top heavyweight?
Surprise. Edwards hopes New England doesn’t see the Chiefs coming. Maybe the Patriots will be looking past that 4-12 team from last season and will focus on the next week’s AFC East opener against the New York Jets. That might be the Chiefs’ only chance Sunday.
“It’s a good test for us,” Edwards said. “I’m focused on getting the players ready. If they’re not giving us a chance, so be it, as long we feel we have a chance and are prepared.
“We’re going to prepare to win.”
Chiefs prepare for tough season-opener at New England
By KENT BABB
The Kansas City Star
Herm Edwards knows the opponent and knows the Chiefs’ long odds of winning this Sunday at New England. That doesn’t mean a team that went 4-12 last year is planning for anything but leaving Gillette Stadium with a victory.
“We’re going to prepare to win,” Edwards said Tuesday. “We’re preparing to win a football game.”
So that means a moral victory won’t cut it. Not in the eyes of Chiefs coaches or the 53 mostly young players who will make the trip. It means a one- or two-touchdown loss Sunday to the Patriots, who averaged 36.8 points in 2007, isn’t part of the game plan.
Instead, Edwards said the Chiefs are preparing for the Patriots as they would any other team — and trying to ignore that New England has won three Super Bowl championships since 2001 and is a favorite to win another one this year.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the Chiefs were 16-point underdogs. Edwards knows that. He also knows the Patriots have become one of the NFL’s best teams each year.
“They don’t make many mistakes,” Edwards said.
Which is what the coach doesn’t want the Chiefs’ young bunch of players to do, either. More than half the players on the travel roster weren’t in Kansas City in 2007, when the Chiefs put together their worst season in 30 years. Edwards said many of the young players don’t know much of the Patriots, other than what they’ve seen on television when they were in college.
The Chiefs are expected to start four rookies. Edwards said preseason games offered some experience. Now that the regular season has begun, the rookies will learn that games have a different feel and require more out of them.
Edwards said one of his biggest concerns for this weekend was “how we’re going to react.”
“You never know with young players,” he said. “Your emotions will take you only so far, and then you have to have sound thinking. The speed of the game, I think, is going to change dramatically for a lot of these young guys.
“How you prepare is very important because of the fact that you’ve got to think and it has to be natural. If you’re thinking about what you have to do you’re going to be a step late, and if you’re a step late against these guys, it’ll get you.”
As if there aren’t enough factors that could trip up the Chiefs, it’s their regular-season opener and it’s on the road. And it’s against New England and Tom Brady and Randy Moss and Bill Belichick.
“If you make mistakes,” Edwards said, “they take advantage of you.”
The Chiefs would be hard-pressed to suggest their players match up with the Patriots’. The Chiefs have plenty of talent, but some of their most talented players are beginning their first or second seasons. The Patriots are at the top of the NFL, and the Chiefs are far from the top.
How will the Chiefs deliver a knockout punch against the NFL’s top heavyweight?
Surprise. Edwards hopes New England doesn’t see the Chiefs coming. Maybe the Patriots will be looking past that 4-12 team from last season and will focus on the next week’s AFC East opener against the New York Jets. That might be the Chiefs’ only chance Sunday.
“It’s a good test for us,” Edwards said. “I’m focused on getting the players ready. If they’re not giving us a chance, so be it, as long we feel we have a chance and are prepared.
“We’re going to prepare to win.”