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| Tuesday, September 7 | |||||||||||||||||||
Pro Football Weekly | ||||||||||||||||||||
They do things at a faster, almost frenetic pace now. Practices aren't as long, but what they give up in duration they take back in volume.
New Kansas City coach Gunther Cunningham, who says a good team took a wrong turn in the forest last year, is trying to lead the Chiefs out of the woods, calling them home in a voice loud enough to be heard throughout the NFL landscape. But while the exacting, demanding, take-no-prisoners Cunningham is changing the way the Chiefs do things -- using ideas compiled from three decades of apprenticeship under Frank Kush, Frank Broyles, Don Coryell, George Seifert, Marty Schottenheimer and others -- his plan for leading Kansas City out of the 7-9 morass it fell into last year involves concepts that made the Chiefs one of the NFL's elite teams as recently as 1997, their second 13-3 season in a three-year period. "To me, the pride of the Kansas City Chiefs was toughness, and that's why they were the second-most-winning team of the last 10 years," said Cunningham, who battled the Chiefs twice annually during his years as a coach for the Chargers and Raiders. "We're not going to have what we had around here last year," added Cunningham, the defensive coordinator of a self-destructive team that set an NFL record for penalties. "We're going to play disciplined football, and that will be the structure of the whole organization. That's why I'm such a hard guy." Look for Cunningham to manifest his toughness through the return of a running game that was a staple of Martyball during 10 largely successful seasons but slipped badly (only 1,548 yards) last season. Cunningham wants a powerful running game not only because it can break an opponent's will, but it's the best way to keep injury-ridden QB Elvis Grbac fully healthy for the first time in his three seasons in Kansas City. "The bread and butter of the Chiefs has always been the running game," Grbac noted. "(Offensive coordinator) Jimmy (Raye) put up a great stat at one of our first camp meetings. It showed that the last teams in the (playoffs) were among the best running teams in the NFL. The Jets, Atlanta and Denver all ran the ball well. "It's something we need to get back to, and I think we can be good at it." Here's a position-by-position look at Kansas City's roster:
Quarterbacks Grbac is bigger, stronger and hopefully smarter this year, and he's determined not to hold the ball and give defenders free shots at him. Veteran Warren Moon should be OK in spot relief, but his 21 pro seasons are starting to show. Grade: C+
Running backs Tony Richardson and Donnell Bennett are solid blocking fullbacks. Grade: C+
Receivers TE Tony Gonzalez set a team record for catches by a tight end (59) but had only two touchdowns in '98. He could be ready for the regular-season opener despite a knee injury. Backups are thin at wide receiver as Kevin Lockett and Joe Horn have yet to establish track records in the NFL. Grade: B-
Offensive linemen Victor Riley did nicely last year as a rookie forced into the ORT role. Team MVP Glenn Parker played three positions last year and now takes on his biggest challenge at left tackle. But if he can't do it, who can? Rookie John Tait's first-year contributions will be minimal after missing all of camp -- he didn't end his holdout until Aug. 30 -- and top reserve Marcus Spears doesn't have a lot of experience. Grade: B+
Defensive linemen Luckily for the Chiefs, steady but unspectacular Tom Barndt is in the DT rotation. Veteran DE Leslie O'Neal will have to be spelled by Ty Parten (six starts last year) and unproven second-year man Eric Hicks in a three-man DE rotation. Veteran Artie Smith is available for depth. Grade: C+
Linebackers Donnie Edwards moves from the middle to the weak side, where Cunningham hopes he can still make sideline-to-sideline plays as Edwards did in accumulating the team's highest tackle count (151) since 1988. Backup Greg Favors is a second-year attacker with a lot of promise. Grade: B
Defensive backs Newcomer Carlton Gray is an upgrade at the nickel position, and second-year man Eric Warfield is a player for the future. Safeties Reggie Tongue and Jerome Woods begin their fourth year together as a solid pair that keeps getting better. Grade: B
Special teams Stoyanovich hit only seven of 12 kicks from 40 yards or farther in '98. Punter Louie Aguiar struggled last year after fighting testicular cancer, but he remains a fine holder and adequate kickoff man. Grade: C+
Material from Pro Football Weekly. | ALSO SEE Broncos preview
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