Wait until January
Chiefs are dominating, so it must be September
Posted: Tuesday September 08, 1998 10:33 AM
Explain one thing to me. Every year we watch the Kansas City Chiefs destroy
teams in September, October and November. Did you see the whipping they
laid on the Raiders on Sunday night? It very well could have been 34-0 at
halftime, not just 20-0, on the way to a 28-8 rout. You watch and you
wonder: Why isn't this the best team in football? I mean, every year. I
don't get it.
But then we've seen it all blow up in the playoffs. First round 1997:
Denver 14, Chiefs 10, in Kansas City, no less. First round 1995: Colts 10,
Chiefs 7, again a loss at home. Wild Card 1994: Dolphins 27, Chiefs 17, in
Miami. This team has the second-best regular-season record in the '90s but
hasn't won a playoff game in four years and nine months.
My theory is the Chiefs have never had the quarterback to lead a big
fourth-quarter playoff-game drive when the season's on the line, and
they've never had the great back to win a game in the fourth quarter if the
quarterback is having an offday. Front seven, always great. Offensive line,
very good. Secondary, great. Skill players, blah.
This year, despite the most impressive opening-day performance of any team
in the league-and despite a terrific outing by first-time tailback Donnell Bennett (24
carries, 115 yards), I'll hold my applause, if there's going to be any,
until the final week. But the way Bennett ran Sunday night makes me think
this year there finally might some cause for celebration.
Offensive Player of the Week: San Francisco RB Garrison Hearst. Let's
see. First-and-10 from your own four. Overtime. Game tied, 30-30. You take
a handoff, cut once, cut again, straight-arm two guys down ... and run 96
yards for a touchdown. This can't happen. It had never happened before: it
was the longest run from scrimmage in 49ers history. Hearst for the day: 20
carries, an NFL-best 187 yards.
Defensive Player of the Week: Miami CB Terrell Buckley. I'm not
saying Buckley is the long-term answer for Jimmy Johnson's cornerback slot
-- I think Patrick
Surtain and Sam
Madison will be the starters at the two corners by opening day 1999 --
but Buckley opportunistically picked off Peyton Manning twice in
his pro debut and ran the second back 21 yards for a touchdown.
Special Teams Player of the Week: Green Bay kick returner Roell Preston. His
100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown ensured the Pack's 38-19 win over
the Lions. "The thing about [Preston] is he's so big [195 pounds]," said
Detroit special teams coach Chuck Priefer. "He can be physical unlike a lot
of returners." Desmond who?
Coach of the Week: Kansas City's Marty Schottenheimer, for
ignoring the cacophony of cries to go get a washed-up Rodney Hampton or a
too-slow Ron Moore and sticking to his guns. He always thought Donnell
Bennett was good enough to be an every-down back, and Bennett's 115-yard
night against Oakland showed Schottenheimer might be right.
Goat of the Week: Baltimore long-snapper Harper LeBel, who had three
bad snaps in Sunday's 20-13 loss to the Steelers. One errant snap on a punt
led directly to seven Pittsburgh points; the other lousy LeBel throws
caused kicker Matt
Stover to miss two 42-yard field goals. But I give this much to him:
LeBel stood up after the game and admitted he blew the game. "I was
responsible for a lot of what happened today, and I shoulder that burden,"
LeBel said. "This is going to be a good team, a very good team, despite my
inability to perform today." It will probably be a good team without him.
He could be cut by the time you read this. Ten Things I Think I
Think This Week
1. I think this might be my favorite weekend of the football season,
every year, because about 10 things invariably happen that are stunning.
Like Tampa Bay falling behind 21-0 after 25 minutes. Like Chicago leading
Jacksonville into the fourth quarter. Like Seattle losing by 38 at home on
one opening day, then winning by 38 on the road the next opening day.
2. I think if you have the chance you ought to take in a game at the new
stadium in Baltimore. Here's what you do: Stay downtown, walk over to
the park, buy upper-deck scalpers' seats for maybe $40 a ticket. Eat and
drink before you get there, though. A 16-ounce Bud for $5?
3. I think it would be amazing if Ray Rhodes lasted the year.
4. I think I owe the Vikings an apology. I've been saying they
remind me of the 1978 Red Sox, with a great offense and maybe one pitcher
(Mike Torrez in Boston, John Randle in
Minneapolis). These Vikings not only have a great offense; they may also
have the rookie of the year in Randy Moss and an intriguing pitching
staff to back up Randle.
5. I think I can't believe what it costs sometimes to be an East Coast
football writer. Driving from New Jersey to Long Island to Baltimore on
Friday cost $21.05 in tolls alone. But there was one bit of good news: the
Chesapeake House rest stop on I-95 in Maryland now has a Starbucks.
6. I think just about everyone in the football world is a Mark McGwire
fan. As the Cowboys ate their pre-game meal at a St. Louis hotel before
playing the Rams on August 22, McGwire stepped up to the plate in
Pittsburgh. Suddenly, the sound of forks dropping on plates filled the air.
"Every eye turned to the TV, and the room got real quiet, like the old E.F.
Hutton commercial," said Dallas PR man Rich Dalrymple.
7. I think Jeff George
looked as poised as I've ever seen him Sunday night. Clearly he's as happy
as he's ever been.
8. I think I've never bought a scintilla of the anti-Raiders conspiracy
theory that organization loves to espouse. But I think Oakland was
jobbed big-time by the officials Sunday, and you'd have to be blind to
have another opinion.
9. I think Chester
McGlockton, who had back surgery Sunday in California, could be a lost
cause this season. Too bad because Chiefs defensive coordinator Gunther
Cunningham and coach Marty Schottenheimer are guys who could make
McGlockton the consistent good player he always should have been for the
Raiders but wasn't because he played hard only a third of the time.
10. My weekly top 10:
1. Green Bay (1-0)
2. Pittsburgh (1-0)
3. Denver (1-0)
4. Kansas City (1-0)
5. Minnesota (1-0)
6. San Francisco (1-0)
7. Tampa Bay (0-1)
8. Jacksonville (1-0)
9. New York Giants
(1-0)
10. New York
Jets (0-1)
(tie) Seattle (1-0)
Miami (1-0)
See you next week.
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