Defense Needs Big Day … Game-Day Cup O’Chiefs

There is so much that the Chiefs must show on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium against the Chargers.

Some sort of consistent offensive performance is badly overdue and it would certainly help matters if they can run the football. The kicking game has been the most consistent part of the Chiefs through six games and it must be so again because San Diego brings in the biggest little man in the game, Olathe’s Darren Sproles.

And more than anything, on Sunday we find out just who should get credit for the defensive performance of the Chiefs in their victory last week against Washington.

Was it the Chiefs defense coming together and implementing Clancy Pendergast’s plan that did not allow a touchdown? Or, was it an out of synch, out of sorts and out of whack Redskins offense that could not score a touchdown?

Seven days later, the Chiefs defense takes the field against the Chargers. Kickoff is noon and the television broadcast is on CBS.

San Diego’s offense under head coach/offensive guru Norv Turner is not a well-oiled machine. They’ve had problems running the football and are tied for last in the NFL at just 57.6 rushing yards per game. QB Philip Rivers is throwing the ball well and has hit a couple of big plays, but the pass protection is spotty.

It’s another opportunity for the 2009 Chiefs defense to distance itself from last year’s group that finished the season ranked No. 31 in yards allowed in the league.

“I saw a lot of progress,” head coach Todd Haley said about his defense. “I saw guys trying to do it the way we were coaching it and then having success and that’s usually a pretty good deal when it goes that way.”

After six games, the Chiefs are No. 29 in yards allowed, giving up 379.8 yards per game. They rank 25th in rushing yards and passing yards allowed and they currently rank in the bottom fourth of the league in all defensive categories with the exception of third down. In that area, they are No. 16, giving up a first down 38 percent of the time.

San Diego has played five games and the Chargers are 14th in offensive yards, averaging 341.6 yards per game. The Chiefs offense has scored nine TDs, San Diego has 10 offensive scores.

One area where Turner’s offense is very effective is in making big plays in the passing game. They have big receivers in Vincent Jackson (6-5), Malcolm Floyd (6-5) and Antonio Gates (6-4) who make big plays; the Chargers are one of the league leaders in plays more than 25 yards with a dozen. Jackson and Gates have four each.

Stopping the big play is something the Chiefs defense has struggled with for the last three seasons, including ’09 even with the change in scheme, coordinator and players. This year, they’ve allowed 17 running plays of 10 yards or more and 18 pass plays of 20 yards or more. Every week they seem to give up a 78-yard run, a 64-yard pass or the like.

“The Chargers are an explosive team,” said SS Mike Brown. “With Gates and Jackson, and (LaDainian) Tomlinson and Sproles, they have a lot of weapons and can hit you fast with a play.”

Washington had similar players, guys like RB Clinton Portis (78-yard run) and WR Santana Moss (42-yard pass play). The Chiefs got burned, but they were able to control the game by putting pressure on QBs Jason Campbell and Todd Collins. They must find a way to continue to do that against Rivers, who doesn’t take off running very often – just eight runs for 16 yards in five games.

Right now, the Chargers are not carrying the emotional baggage into this game that the Redskins had last week. Tomlinson showed on Monday night when San Diego fell to Denver that he can pout as well as any star in the league, but Rivers told the media this week that everybody in the locker room is pulling in the same direction, despite the 2-3 record and back-to-back losses over the last three weeks to the Steelers and Broncos.

“There’s a lot of optimism in our locker room,” Rivers said.  “We’ve got guys that are mentally strong and that’s what it’s going to take to mentally get through times like this.  We’re not the first team to suffer through an early struggle but we are a team that has gotten out of the struggle in the past and I would expect us to do it again this year.”

If that’s going to happen for the Chargers, it must start on Sunday. But they are facing a team that has now gotten a taste of victory. They were finally rewarded for all the hard work and effort. They need more positive reinforcement and they need it as soon as possible.

“So now we’ve had this win, nobody wants to go back,” said FS Jon McGraw. “Here was a chance for us to be proud of ourselves. We want that to continue.”

IT’S THE NFL BACK IN LONDON: BUCCANEERS AGAINST PATRIOTS

The NFL has flown back across the pond to play a regular season game in London. It’s the winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers against the New England Patriots. I’m not sure how a matchup like this one will get the folks in the United Kingdom excited about NFL football, but so it goes. The Bucs and Patriots join the Dolphins, Giants, Saints and Chargers who have made the trip there for a regular season game.

And speaking this week in London, NFL Commish Roger Goodell said the league would like to add more than one game a season.

“The interest and the enthusiasm for our game continues to grow, and we want to feed that,” Goodell told the media on Friday. “We want to respond to that by hopefully bringing more to the UK. I expect that sometime in the next couple of years, we could be playing multiple games here.

“If we brought more than one game here, and it continues to have the same kind of enthusiasm and growth of interest, I think that is about as good of an indicator you can get that it could successfully support a franchise. And that’s what we’re looking at.”

Both Goodell and Patriots owner Robert Kraft talked about a possible franchise in London at some point. But the best reaction to that idea came from New England QB Tom Brady.

“That would be challenging,” Brady said. “But I don’t see that happening any time soon.”

SIGNINGS, INJURIES & MOVEMENT AROUND THE LEAGUE

• CHARGERS – promoted CB Simeon Castille from the practice squad; released CB Daymeion Hughes.
• PATRIOTS – activated WR Brandon Tate from the Non-Football injury List and OT Mark LeVoir from the PUP List.

FROM THE PAGES OF CHIEFS HISTORY

On October 25, 1970, the Chiefs lost to the Dallas Cowboys 27-16 in front of 51,158 fans at Municipal Stadium. The Chiefs jumped to an early lead on a five-yard TD run by RB Ed Podolak in the first quarter. But Dallas had the next 13 points on a pair of field goals and a one-yard TD run by RB Duane Thomas, who later added a 47-yard run for a score. Plus, QB Craig Morton and WR Bob Hayes combined on an 89-yard TD pass in the third quarter. Other than Podolak’s score, the Chiefs got three field goals from Jan Stenerud. Thomas finished with 134 yards on 20 carries, while Dan Reeves had 56 yards on 16 carries. Hayes had two catches for 100 yards. Chiefs QB Len Dawson was sacked four times and picked off twice by Cowboys CB Mel Renfro.

On October 25, 1981, the Chiefs beat the Raiders 28-17 at the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum. Down 17-0 at half-time, the Chiefs roared back in the second half behind QB Steve Fuller and FB Billy Jackson. Fuller came into the game as a replacement for starter Bill Kenney and he hit nine of 10 passes for 103 yards and kept the offense moving with his scrambling, running three times for 43 yards. Jackson scored on TD runs of three, 29 and three yards. The Chiefs defense also added a TD late in the game when LB Charles Jackson hit Oakland QB Marc Wilson, knocking the ball loose. LB Gary Spani picked up a fumble and ran it back 91 yards for a touchdown. The KC pass defense was tough, picking off four of Wilson passes, as CB Gary Green grabbed two of those interceptions.

On October 25, 1987, the Chiefs lost to the Chargers 42-21 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. It was the fifth straight loss for the Chiefs as the Chargers ran out to a 14-0 first quarter lead and then a 35-14 lead at half-time. San Diego’s defense forced five turnovers, including a fumble recovered in the end zone for a Chargers TD. QBs Bill Kenney and Todd Blackledge were sacked seven times. Dan Fouts and the San Diego offense held the ball for 37 minutes, while throwing for 293 yards. The Chiefs touchdowns came on a pair of TD passes from Kenney to WR Carlos Carson of 19 and 63 yards. RB Christian Okoye had a one-yard run.

On October 25, 1992, the Chiefs lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-3 in a Sunday night game at Arrowhead Stadium in front of a crowd of 76,175 fans. The Steelers got on the board first when Rod Woodson returned a punt 80 yards for a TD. They later added a four-yard TD run by Barry Foster and a four-yard TD pass from QB Neil O’Donnell to TE Eric Green. The Chiefs had just 179 yards of offense in the game, as QB Dave Krieg threw three interceptions and completed just nine of 27 passes. The only Kansas City score came on a 52-yard field goal by K Eddie Murray who was filling in for the injured Nick Lowery.

SAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY …

Born on October 25, 1939 in San Rafael, California was TE Reg Carolan. He joined the Chiefs in 1964 after playing two seasons with the Chargers after coming out of the University of Idaho. Carolan spent five seasons with the Chiefs (1964-68), appearing in 62 games. He was part of the Chiefs team that played in the first Super Bowl. Carolan caught 20 passes for 325 yards and four touchdowns during his time in Kansas City. He was just 43 years old when he passed away on January 1, 1983.

Born on October 25, 1950 in Oak Creek, Wisconsin was DT John Matuszak. He joined the Chiefs in 1974 through a trade with the Houston Oilers, coming to Kansas City along with a third-round choice in the 1975 NFL Draft in exchange for DT Curley Culp and the Chiefs first-round selection in the ’75 Draft. Matuszak played two seasons with the Chiefs (1975-75), appearing in 22 games with 20 starts. In the ’76 pre-season, he was traded to Washington, released and he signed later that year with Oakland. Matuszak spent six seasons playing with the Raiders. He died on June 17, 1989 at the age of 38

Born on October 25, 1963 in Rochester, Pennsylvania was QB Mark Vlasic. He joined the Chiefs at the end of his career, playing in six games during the 1991 season and starting one. In that ’91 season, he completed 28 of 44 passes for 316 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Vlasic played three seasons with San Diego after coming out of the University of Iowa.

Born on October 25, 1969 in Terre Haute, Indiana was RB Ernie Thompson. He joined the Chiefs in 1993 and played in all 16 games that season and the playoffs, with two starts. Thompson ran 11 times for 28 yards and caught four passes for 33 yards. It was his last season in the NFL.