KC defense ready to ice vanilla look

Mr. Laz · 08-22-2006, 09:59 AM

KC defense ready to ice vanilla look

Chiefs don’t want to show too much but say they must improve.

By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star

Notes: No sign of Holmes

Herm Edwards wants to see the Chiefs play defense with a lot more fire than they showed in last week’s loss to the Giants.

One way to get that fire is to turn up the heat. Edwards hinted that the Chiefs, after playing mostly plain, basic defenses in their first two preseason games, might do just that in Saturday night’s game against St. Louis at Arrowhead Stadium.

“We’ll just see,” Edwards said. “Let’s wait until Saturday and see what we do.”

Edwards is conflicted about the defense, which has been a pushover in two games. The Chiefs have yielded a ton of rushing yards and have made no momentum-generating big plays.

The Chiefs haven’t forced a turnover and have just three sacks.

Edwards wants better. He also wants to keep the defenses as plain as possible to reveal as little as possible about their regular-season plans.

Something has to give, and it might be the need to hide their plans.

“This is the third game, so you might see a little bit different,” linebacker Derrick Johnson said. “Whatever we’re going to do, this is the game to do it. We won’t be as vanilla.”

Vanilla isn’t the normal way of defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham. Blitzing and getting pressure on the quarterback are his favorite tactics, so sitting by idly while opponents take advantage of the Chiefs has to be killing him.

“A little bit,” Edwards said. “You want to work on fundamentals, but you’re right, we’re playing it real vanilla. People know what we’re doing. They can sit there and game-plan for us all they want because they know what kind of coverage we’re going to run.

“We’re trying to implement some things and see if players can play them. That’s very, very important. Believe me, Gunther has a bag of blitzes. We can blitz. We know how to do that. We can put pressure on the quarterback if we need to do that. But we want to get some basic defenses down first. We need to get some principles down. That’s important.”

The Chiefs worked in training camp on some exotic defensive tactics but used precious few in the exhibition losses to Houston and the Giants.

“I believe the coaches are doing the right thing right now in keeping it vanilla,” Johnson said. “They’re making sure we’ve got our base defense down. We can come with the blitzes. You know Gun. He can fire off some stuff. We know his mentality. Right now, he’s probably biting his tongue sometimes. But we’ve got those plays. We’re going to get to that.

“When you play like we’ve been playing and when teams know what you’re going to do, they’re going to get some stuff on you. That’s OK. The coaches know what they’re doing. We’re buying in.”

Safety Sammy Knight agreed.

“What we’re doing is fine,” Knight said. “We’ve just got to play better. It starts by playing with more emotion. If you do that, the plays will come no matter what we’re doing on defense.”

Despite some otherwise gloomy defensive statistics, Edwards sees one positive in the pass defense. The Chiefs have not yielded a throw of more than 15 yards despite defending 59 passes and allowing 38 completions.

“We’re getting them to throw the ball where they don’t want to throw it,” Edwards said.

As far as the largely punchless pass rush, the Chiefs are counting on the return from injury of first-round draft pick Tamba Hali to help. He will start against the Rams.

Edwards indicated he believes the Chiefs are talented enough to play good defense.

“We’ve got it,” Edwards said. “We just have to get on the same page. That’s all. That’s tough. We haven’t revamped everything, but we’re asking them to do some things differently. We’re playing a coverage that’s very disciplined coverage, a very physical coverage. They’re starting to understand that. There are some things we’re going to do to help them. We’re not going to just stay in this coverage.”

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To reach Adam Teicher, Chiefs reporter for The Star, call (816) 234-4875 or send e-mail to [email protected]

08-22-2006, 09:59 AM	Topic Starter
Mr. Laz Don't Tease Me Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: KS Casino cash: $11047037	KC defense ready to ice vanilla look KC defense ready to ice vanilla look Chiefs don’t want to show too much but say they must improve. By ADAM TEICHER The Kansas City Star Notes: No sign of Holmes Herm Edwards wants to see the Chiefs play defense with a lot more fire than they showed in last week’s loss to the Giants. One way to get that fire is to turn up the heat. Edwards hinted that the Chiefs, after playing mostly plain, basic defenses in their first two preseason games, might do just that in Saturday night’s game against St. Louis at Arrowhead Stadium. “We’ll just see,” Edwards said. “Let’s wait until Saturday and see what we do.” Edwards is conflicted about the defense, which has been a pushover in two games. The Chiefs have yielded a ton of rushing yards and have made no momentum-generating big plays. The Chiefs haven’t forced a turnover and have just three sacks. Edwards wants better. He also wants to keep the defenses as plain as possible to reveal as little as possible about their regular-season plans. Something has to give, and it might be the need to hide their plans. “This is the third game, so you might see a little bit different,” linebacker Derrick Johnson said. “Whatever we’re going to do, this is the game to do it. We won’t be as vanilla.” Vanilla isn’t the normal way of defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham. Blitzing and getting pressure on the quarterback are his favorite tactics, so sitting by idly while opponents take advantage of the Chiefs has to be killing him. “A little bit,” Edwards said. “You want to work on fundamentals, but you’re right, we’re playing it real vanilla. People know what we’re doing. They can sit there and game-plan for us all they want because they know what kind of coverage we’re going to run. “We’re trying to implement some things and see if players can play them. That’s very, very important. Believe me, Gunther has a bag of blitzes. We can blitz. We know how to do that. We can put pressure on the quarterback if we need to do that. But we want to get some basic defenses down first. We need to get some principles down. That’s important.” The Chiefs worked in training camp on some exotic defensive tactics but used precious few in the exhibition losses to Houston and the Giants. “I believe the coaches are doing the right thing right now in keeping it vanilla,” Johnson said. “They’re making sure we’ve got our base defense down. We can come with the blitzes. You know Gun. He can fire off some stuff. We know his mentality. Right now, he’s probably biting his tongue sometimes. But we’ve got those plays. We’re going to get to that. “When you play like we’ve been playing and when teams know what you’re going to do, they’re going to get some stuff on you. That’s OK. The coaches know what they’re doing. We’re buying in.” Safety Sammy Knight agreed. “What we’re doing is fine,” Knight said. “We’ve just got to play better. It starts by playing with more emotion. If you do that, the plays will come no matter what we’re doing on defense.” Despite some otherwise gloomy defensive statistics, Edwards sees one positive in the pass defense. The Chiefs have not yielded a throw of more than 15 yards despite defending 59 passes and allowing 38 completions. “We’re getting them to throw the ball where they don’t want to throw it,” Edwards said. As far as the largely punchless pass rush, the Chiefs are counting on the return from injury of first-round draft pick Tamba Hali to help. He will start against the Rams. Edwards indicated he believes the Chiefs are talented enough to play good defense. “We’ve got it,” Edwards said. “We just have to get on the same page. That’s all. That’s tough. We haven’t revamped everything, but we’re asking them to do some things differently. We’re playing a coverage that’s very disciplined coverage, a very physical coverage. They’re starting to understand that. There are some things we’re going to do to help them. We’re not going to just stay in this coverage.” -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To reach Adam Teicher, Chiefs reporter for The Star, call (816) 234-4875 or send e-mail to [email protected]
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