Good Saturday morning, Chiefs fans. Her's your daily roundup of news from across the internet.
When it comes to beating the Denver Broncos at Arrowhead Stadium in this decade, the Chiefs offense relied heavily on the running game.
The last 10 times these two teams have met in Kansas City, the Chiefs won eight games. From 1999-2008, the Kansas City offense averaged 171.7 rushing yards per game.
Consider that number for a moment: 171.7 yards on the ground.
In that span, four different Kansas City runners went over 100 yards against Denver: Kimble Anders, Tony Richardson, Priest Holmes and Larry Johnson. In three of those 10 games, the Chiefs ran for more than 200 yards. The only time they ran for less than 100 yards was in 2007, when they were beaten by the Broncos.
That’s the history. The present doesn’t look so rosy when it comes to the Chiefs running game.
Patching The Run Game … Saturday Cup O’Chiefs> from Bob Gretz
Todd Haley has tried screaming, changing lineups and emptying the playbook, but nothing has worked in his effort to get the Chiefs off to a quick start offensively.
"That’s the magic question," Haley said. "We’ve tried a number of different ways to start and try to recreate a sense of urgency, whether it’s no huddle, running the ball, throwing the ball, screening or whatever. We’ve tried a lot of different avenues in practice, (such as) tempo. I really feel like we’re pushing the envelope of trying to find a way."
But the Chiefs have only a field goal against Jacksonville to show for the first drive in each of their 11 games. In those 11 first quarters, they have just 19 points, and the only touchdown was on Jamaal Charles’ kickoff return to begin the recent game against Pittsburgh.
Chiefs hope to get off to a quicker start against Broncos from KC Star
In the 16 meetings where the Chiefs were able to score 4 times they never lost a game.
So, in conclusion, the Chiefs’ Magic Number to escape with a victory is 4, which would be the number of times Kansas City needs to put up 3 or more points on the scoreboard. That will properly complete Derrick Thomas’s day.
Magic Number for Denver> from Bob Gretz
It’s a record that still sits there in the franchise record book, unlikely to be broken any time soon. It hasn’t been close for the last 49 seasons.
On a rainy Sunday in Dallas on December 4, 1960, the Dallas Texans held the Houston Oilers to minus-27 rushing yards in grabbing a soggy 24-0 victory.
In the 12th game in franchise history the Texans established a record that has not been broken. The closest a defense came to the number was the n ext season, when they allowed the San Diego Chargers just three yards rushing.
Defense Stymies Oilers, Texans win 24-0> from Bob Gretz
Kyle Orton is the starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos.
Jay Cutler is throwing gobs of interceptions for the Chicago Bears, instead of for the Broncos.
Over in Kansas City, Matt Cassel’s doing what he can to make the Chiefs a winning team.
For the most part, the three quarterbacks haven’t had much to do with each other during their NFL careers.
During the spring, however, the three were linked to one another as the Broncos and Cutler played out a public feud.
Broncos coming full circle: Denver faces final piece of the offseason’s QB controversy on Sunday from The Longmont Times-Call
Hoye has been a Broncos hater for almost 40 years. During that time, he has spent Sunday afternoons pulling for two teams: the Kansas City Chiefs, and whatever team is playing the Broncos.
There's just one problem. Hoye, an Iowa native, has lived in Denver since the early '90s. No, make that two problems. There's also the matter of the Chiefs having fallen off the NFL map, with six wins in their past 32 games.
And so it was that Hoye recently sent an e-mail to The Post entitled: "Chiefs fan living in Denver needs an intervention."
Hoye was so desperate, so frustrated, so alienated from his friends and family on Sundays, he asked if the newspaper could arrange for him to be hypnotized so he could accept the dreaded Donkeys into his heart.
Broncomaniac wannabe from The Denver Post
Becoming a great defense in the NFL usually means investing high draft picks in defensive linemen, even if the payoff isn’t immediate.The Kansas City Chiefs are finding that out this season. In the next few years, the Denver Broncos> likely will experience it as well.
Last year, Kansas City took defensive lineman Glenn Dorsey with the fifth pick of the draft. This year, the team shocked many people by drafting LSU defensive end Tyson Jackson with the third pick.
The Chiefs want to build the defense starting up front, and great defensive linemen are rare and expensive in free agency.
"In order to succeed in the league, you need offensive linemen and defensive linemen that can play at a high level," Kansas City coach Todd Haley said. "This defense has been one that has struggled here over the last handful of years, and usually when you’re struggling on defense that’s an area that you need to invest in."
Defensive line top priority for many NFL teams from The Colorado Springs Gazette
Lanier went on to become one of the greatest linebackers in football history. He earned a place in both the College and Pro Football halls of fame. He also returned to Richmond and became a successful businessman and community leader.
To honor his accomplishments on and off the field, the Richmond Times-Dispatch and the Touchdown Club of Richmond are naming the award for the state's small college player of the year for him.
The first Lanier Award will be presented Tuesday at the Greater Richmond Convention Center as part of the Dudley/Lanier Awards. The Dudley Award, named for former U.Va. great Bill Dudley, is given annually to state's top Division I player.
Award named for Richmond gridiron great Lanier from The Richmond Times-Dispatch
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If you asked an NFL player to identify the team he gets the most amped-up to play against, odds are good that you’d get a clichéd answer about giving 100 percent no matter who the opponent is. |
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Denver Broncos safety Brian Dawkins is questionable for Sunday's contest against division-rival Kansas City with an ankle injury.
The 36-year-old did not practice on Wednesday or Thursday, and took limited reps on Friday. Dawkins has played in all 11 games for Denver this season.
Broncos S Dawkins questionable for Chiefs from KMTR.com
Going tweet-free this morning.