Chiefs’ odd schedule could have them primed for a run

By Mike Ash  |   Wednesday, October 03, 2007  |  Comments( 27 )

Kansas City Chiefs
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When the NFL released its 2007 regular-season schedule back in April, a certain amount of anger rose up from both fans of the Kansas City Chiefs and some of the organization's employees. The Chiefs were the only team in the league to play three of their first four games on the road, and as a reward for dealing with such a difficult start to the season, they get to close their campaign in exactly the same manner.

The bright spot to such a strange schedule is that between Week 5 and Week 15 of the season, which sees the Chiefs leave Kansas City a total of three times (Oakland, Indianapolis, Denver). In other words, seven of the next 10 games the Chiefs play will take place inside the cozy confines of Arrowhead Stadium, where the team has the best home record in the league over the last 17 years.

At 2-2 and coming off its upset of division rival San Diego, the lengthy stretch of home games puts Kansas City in position to make some serious noise in the AFC West. Already tied for first place with Denver and the idle Raiders, the Chiefs can take sole possession of the lead on Sunday with a win over Jacksonville and a Broncos loss to the Chargers.

Of course, it's not simply an issue of its home-field advantage that suddenly has optimism flowing around the team. Even the most die-hard Chiefs supporters were probably surprised by what they saw in the 30-16 win over the Chargers last week, as Kansas City's offense came alive with nearly 400 yards and the defense posted a shutout after halftime for the second straight week.

It took four weeks of NFL action, but as the game in San Diego progressed, the Chiefs finally began to resemble the team fans have been hoping to see. A stingy defense - currently ranked third in the NFL - created havoc and caused turnovers, while the offense consistently moved downfield by getting the ball to playmakers like breakout rookie receiver Dwayne Bowe. Kansas City has looked better each time out this season, and it should be interesting to see how the steady diet of home cooking helps the team improve in the coming weeks.

But the Chiefs can't fall into the trap of relaxing while they're at home. In another scheduling quirk, the Chiefs' next two opponents will both be coming off their bye, giving them an extra week to prepare for the difficulty of playing at Arrowhead. Additionally, the coaching staff can't afford to fall back into the same traps that plagued it early in the season. Even though it may not be the style that head coach Herm Edwards or offensive coordinator Mike Solari prefer, the Chiefs are clearly more successful when using the aerial game to spread out the defense and open room for Larry Johnson, rather than the traditional method of establishing the run to set up the pass.

If the team can continue building on the momentum of its last two wins, it can use this upcoming stretch to not only make a statement in its division but in the AFC as a whole. The Chiefs' opportunity to seize control of their season begins Sunday when Jacksonville comes to town.
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CommentsComments: 27  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
chef tom		11:58 PM
10/03/2007
Eveybody sucks. But not the chefs! We are going to the super bowl.In 2071! I am bored! chef fans, anybody out there! I think Ill ...
No.2
pinky bill		12:01 AM
10/04/2007
hey chef tom, Im bored and lonely! Ill be you freind! I'll stay up late hours and help you trash talk. We can be reallly close! ...
No.3
Chef Tom		12:44 AM
10/04/2007
Yea!! Yea!! I HATE the Raiders. Yea!! They Suck!! I hate them! The Raiders suck! The chiefs are cool like me! I RULE!! BEVIS ...
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