Will Chiefs Records Be Broken? Part II: Defensive Edition

From the FanPosts -Joel

Recognize the headline? I was really hoping you did. Last Monday I posted up the first “Will Chiefs Records Be Broken?” post, and not too long after did it make the front page and receive many comments and praise. Thanks again to all who read the post and enjoyed it, and thanks to those who are reading this post now.

Anyways, in the comments section of my post I hinted that I might decide to make a part two. Well here it is folks: the sequel. Do not think of this sequel as a Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen type of sequel either, with lots of explosions, mediocre acting, and mindless entertainment; think of it more as The Dark Knight, with intriguing storylines, dynamic fight scenes, and captivating dialogue. Okay, maybe not that great, but it’s got to be somewhere in between the two.

In my last post I touched on the receiving and rushing records, and I concluded that Dwayne Bowe can reach Tony Gonzalez’s receiving touchdown record but not receiving yards record, while Jamaal Charles will reach Priest Holmes rushing yards record and not come close to his rushing touchdown record. This time, however, I’ll be looking over the defensive side of the ball. Let’s begin with sacks.

The all-time sack leader here in KC is… Now say it with me because you already know… The almighty Derrick Thomas, with 126.5 sacks. I don’t see this record being touched anytime soon unless the NFL decides to implement an 18 game schedule.

However, in 2nd-5th place in sacks are Neil Smith (85.5), Eric Hicks (44.5), Jared Allen (43), and Art Still (42.5). Sitting at sixth place with 41.5 sacks is Tamba Hali. I think it’s pretty safe to say that Hali will pass over Still, Allen, and Hicks with ease over the 2011-12 season. But will he reach Neil?

If Scott Pioli can lock up Tamba to a long term contract this season, then yes, I believe he will reach Neil in sacks. Tamba needs 44 sacks to get to second place; this is something he can accomplish in four seasons (11 sacks per season) or maybe less if he continues to produce like he has been. And I do believe Pioli will do his job and pay the man this season, allowing Tamba to destroy AFC West quarterbacks for years to come.*

*Fun Fact: I’m sure everyone has heard that Derrick Thomas’ favorite sack target was Denver Broncos’ QB John Elway. DT sacked John Elway 17 times, and 73 of DT’s 126.5 sacks were against AFC West opponents. Well, it looks like our boy Tamba Hali is following DT’s path of Bronco-hating, racking up 20 of his 41.5 sacks against AFC West opponents, and 8.5 of those against the Broncos. Tamba has 6 sacks against Oakland and 5.5 against San Diego. (Hey, Tambahawk, I’d really love it if you sacked Philip Rivers a few more times!)

We have many more defensive statistics to look over: tackles, interceptions, forced fumbles, and passes defended. I’ve decided to look at tackles first, where Derrick Johnson has a chance to become the record holder. The top three leaders in tackles are Kevin Ross (827), Derrick Thomas (601), and Donnie Edwards (590). Derrick Johnson sits back in tenth place with 407 tackles. With the new five year contract that the Chiefs awarded him back in November, and the Pro-Bowl caliber season he had in 2010 with 94 tackles, 1 pick, 15 passes deflected and 3 forced fumbles, things are really looking good for DJ. I feel that 420 tackles is definitely reachable for him over the next five seasons.

Another potential record that DJ could break is passes defended. However, he has some competition. The top five players in passes defended are Greg Wesley (52), Brandon Flowers (50), Eric Warfield (49), Brandon Carr (48), and Derrick Johnson (39). B-Flow and B-Carr will easily break that record this season. DJ most likely will break it as well. Also, Eric Berry will most likely get over 50 passes defended in a few seasons, already gathering 10 in his rookie year.

But wait! Is there another record for DJ to break? Possibly. This stat is forced fumbles. Once again, Hall of Famer Derrick Thomas leads that category with 41. In second is Neil Smith (28), followed by Tamba Hali (18), and DJ (14). I do believe that both Hali (assuming he gets signed) and DJ will get past Neil in forced fumbles, but I think it’s a pretty close call with DT’s record of 41. The jury is out on this one, but with consistent play over the next few seasons this little record battle could be fun to watch.

The last category we have is interceptions. The top five players in interceptions are Emmitt Thomas (58), Johnny Robinson (57), Deron Cherry (50), Gary Barbaro (39), and Albert Lewis (38). All current Chiefs are pretty far behind the top five. Brandon Flowers has 9, DJ has 7, and Eric Berry, Brandon Carr, and Jon McGraw all have 4.

I think we can safely eliminate McGraw from any discussions, and I really don’t believe Brandon Flowers or Brandon Carr will reach the top five because these guys just don’t seem to get the picks very much. Flowers is more of a shutdown corner, and it seems that corners like him do not get a whole lot of picks because they aren’t being thrown to as much as the other DB’s. Brandon Carr hasn’t exactly racked up the picks either, but he definitely has done well with defending passes. I really hope he can turn some of those PD’s into INT’s next season.

The man that I think has the best shot in reaching the top five (maybe even top 3) of the INT record list is Eric Berry. I think that bamachief5558 said it best in the comments section in my last post: “Berry will probably have seasons with more than 6, meaning he wouldn’t have to get as many as 6 every season. He just has to average that. You really don’t think Berry can have a 10 year career? That would make him 31. Look at Ed Reed, old and still out there grabbin picks, even if if [sic] he only plays part of a season.”

We all know that Eric Berry likes to take it to the house as well when he gets his picks. That’s why I think he’ll have no problem breaking Emmit Thomas’ record of 937 interception return yards and Bobby Bell’s record of 6 interception return touchdowns. Berry had 1 INT return touchdown and 102 INT return yards in his rookie season.

Well, there you go. I have realized that we truly are close to having an elite team with this many potential record breaking players. This post has really got me excited about the future. Feel free to give you opinion in the comments section and please let me know if I missed an important person or statistic. Oh, and keep your eyes peeled for a Part III.