| RINGLEADER |
11-22-2005 08:27 PM |
Rick Dean: Surtain Seriously Injured
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Blogging around the Chiefs beat while thinking we'd feel a lot better about Sunday's 45-17 tuneup win in Houston were it not for the sight of cornerback Patrick Surtain hobbling out of the locker room on crutches afterward.
The Chiefs probably won't provide any medical information on Surtain until the NFL makes them do so on Wednesday. But first impressions say this guy ain't playing anytime soon. The team said Surtain has an ankle sprain. If it's a high sprain, count on him being down several weeks -- the toughest weeks of the season. ...
Dewayne Washington, the 32-year-old former NFL starter who did OK while playing left corner when Surtain was down against San Diego and Oakland, will have to step up big. He showed he was up to the task earlier. But can he be effective over the long haul? ...
If Washington steps up like Eric Warfield did in Houston, Kansas City will at least be competitive.
Upset that he was burned for the two touchdown passes in last week's 14-3 loss in Buffalo, Warfield apologized to his teammates at a squad meeting last week.
"I didn't want anybody to lose confidence in me and my ability just because of what happened in last week's game," said Warfield, who broke the Houston game open with his Pick Six interception return for a TD with three seconds left in the first half. "I told them I was going to continue to get better and this defense would continue to get better." ...
We probably ought to apologize ourselves for saying that Larry Johnson didn't talk to the media after his team-record 211-yard rushing night. But we won't.
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Johnson did talk to ESPN coming off the field, then later to Bob Gretz of the Chiefs radio network. But as he didn't talk to the large crowd of other deadline-anxious KC reporters who'd been told that he would speak, and as few people were still up to hear the post-game shows that followed the blowout, any comments must be regarded as a tree falling in the forest with no one around. ...
Our sincere condolences to Pats coach Bill Belichick on the death of his father Saturday night. Steve Belichick's stone-faced son said nothing to his players about his loss until after their to-the-wire win over New Orleans.
Anyone else suspect the Pats will be even more inspired than usual coming into Arrowhead Stadium this week? ...
Dick Vermeil says his team did nothing more in Houston than win Game One of an NBA style best-of-seven playoff series. It's a nice analogy, but it doesn't hold up for a couple of reasons.
One, the 6-4 Chiefs can't afford three losses over their last six games. Anything less than 10-6 likely will keep them out of the NFL's postseason.
Two, not even the NBA -- which lets just about everybody into its postseason -- lets a team like Houston into the playoffs. ...
Finally, the NFL is big on stadium security. Bag searches, individual pat-downs and other violations of personal freedoms are common this year.
So, how do you explain the drunken fan who wandered into Vermeil's postgame media session in the bowels of Reliant Stadium and asked the Chiefs coach if Texas or Kansas City barbecue is better?
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