Wednesday Morning Cup O’Chiefs

This has been the week to remind everyone who follows the game of football what the coaches and players deal with on a daily basis: one play can lead to one injury and boom, the season is over.

It certainly has shuffled the deck in the AFC for the coming season.  New England loses it’s leader, QB Tom Brady on Sunday.  On Tuesday, the San Diego Chargers lost their defensive leader, LB Shawne Merriman.  And in Tennessee, the Titans have some problems, both physically and emotionally with their quarterback Vince Young.

We all know the Brady story, so let’s move on to Merriman.  After being advised to have surgery on his injured knee by almost a half-dozen doctors in the last month, he decided to play and wait for surgery.  But one game, last Sunday’s loss to Carolina, obviously convinced the Chargers linebacker that he wasn’t going to be able to make it happen.

Chargers GM A.J. Smith is always grumpy, and he was even more so in announcing that Merriman was headed for surgery.

“Shawne informed me he did not feel right and thought it best to shut it down,” Smith said in a statement released by the team. “The road to winning the AFC West just got more difficult, but not impossible. Nothing is impossible. Shawne is a great player and an inspirational leader. He will be missed.”

Merriman played in the Chargers’ season opener and appeared limited in some of his movements.  He was wearing a big knee brace and said after the game he felt fine.  The 24-year old had just two tackles and was a non-factor most of the game.

His 39.5 sacks during the 2005-07 seasons is the most of any player in the NFL during that span.

Second-year player Jyles Tucker likely will replace Merriman in the starting lineup for Sunday’s game against the Denver Broncos.

In Nashville, the last few days have been a mess for Young.  He’s injured physically, with a knee ligament strain that will likely keep him out 2-to-4 weeks.  Then, his family called the team and the Titans called the police when Young went missing Monday night.

Here are the details, lead by comments from his mother including: “… it is hard, all he is going through right now. He’s hurting”

FROM THE EX-CHIEFS FILE

Over in St. Louis, the Rams signed WR Eddie Kennison, returning him to the team that originally drafted hiim into the NFL.  That was in the first round of the 1996 NFL Draft.  With WR Drew Bennett out for at least a month with a fractured foot, the Rams needed help in their receiving corps. Rams officials reported that Kennison was in excellent shape and could play Sunday against the New York Giants.

Down in Miami, the Dolphins released FB Boomer Grigsby.  They signed another fullback, Casey Cramer. This comes two days after RBs Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown combined for 47 yards against the New York Jets. Cramer began his career with Carolina in 2004, where Dolphins offensive coordinator Dan Henning was an assistant. The Miami Herald reported that the Dolphins coaches didn’t feel Grigsby was adjusting well to the fullback position.

OPPONENT NEXT/THE RAIDERS

There’s not much time for the silver and black to get over their embarrasing opening game performance to face the Chiefs this weekend.

One Bay Area columnist says it’s time for football fans in northern California to marchon the owners’ box and demand answers from both the 49ers and Raiders.

FROM THE PAGES OF CHIEFS HISTORY

On September 10, 1961 the Dallas Texans met the San Diego Chargers at the Cotton Bowl in the opening game of the season. In front of a crowd of 24,500, the Chargers won 26-10.  RB Jack Spikes had all the scoring for the Texans.  He scored on a 74-yard touchdown run and kicked the PAT and a 27-yard FG. The Chargers had four interceptions of Dallas QBs Cotton Davidson and Randy Duncan.  Spikes ended up with 109 yards on seven carries.

On September 10, 1989, the Chiefs opened the season at Mile High Stadium and lost to the Denver Broncos 34-20.  It was the first game of the Carl Peterson-Marty Schottenheimer Era for the franchise.  It did not start well.  In the first quarter, the Broncos jumped to a 17-0 lead, including a 34-yard INT return for a TD by Dener CB Tyrone Braxton.  The Chiefs actually outgained the Broncos in this game (287 to 250 yards),  but the Chiefs had four turnovers.  TDs were scored by RB Kenny Gamble on a 1-yard run and WR Carlos Carson on a 5-yard pass from QB Steve DeBerg.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Over in St. Louis, former Rams RB Marshall Faulk unloaded on the team after it’s pitiful performance in the season opener against Philadelphia.  Read his comments here.

Down in Jacksonville, the authorities believe Jags OL Richard Collier was targeted for the attack that led to his being shot three times.

AROUND THE AFC WEST/NON-RAIDERS

The Chargers tried to pick up the pieces after losing to Carolina, even before finding out that Shawne Merriman was done for the season.

After keeping a low profile for most of the pre-season, the Broncos smashing victory over Oakland and the other happenings in the AFC have cast them into the conference spotlight.