For Chiefs D, road to Miami began here
Did Kansas City’s road to Sunday’s Super Bowl against San Francisco really begin in its Week 7 road rout of the Broncos? It might have, at least for its defense.
The Broncos scored on their opening possession and for some reason went for two points (and failed). Things didn’t get any better for the Chiefs when quarterback Patrick Mahomes sustained a knee injury while trying to convert a fourth-down sneak.
“I for sure had those (seasonending) thoughts when I had the injury,” Mahomes said. “The biggest thing was, I looked down and I knew my knee didn’t look right. I thought the worst. But at the same time, when I got back to the locker room and talked to the doctors, they were very positive.”
Mahomes sustained a dislocated knee-cap and missed the next two games (1-1 record), but the Chiefs dodged disaster … and found their defense.
Following the Broncos’ touchdown, Denver didn’t run another play inside the Chiefs’ 26-yard line in a 30-6 loss.
The Chiefs defense entered the game allowing 24 points, 161.8 rushing yards and 406.2 yards per game; the Broncos rushed for 71 yards and gained 205 yards.
And the Chiefs had only 11 sacks in their first six games, but nine against the Broncos. The win jump-started their current streak of 10 wins in 12 games.
“That game sticks out because everybody is enthralled with the sacks,” defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said. “Once we were able to put a few of those games together, the defense started to feel confidence. We always knew we had the players, we had the coaches and we had the scheme to do it, it was just a matter of piecing those things together.”
Said defensive line coach Brendan Daly: “I don’t know if it was a turning point, but it was certainly an important game in the journey. It was an opportunity to go on the road and prove ourselves to a degree when we hadn’t been performing to the standard we would have liked to up to that point. We did some good things in that game and we were able to get a little bit of energy and momentum. It did help us.”
Union misses chance. The NFLPA held its annual news conference and nothing was gleaned whatsoever regarding the negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement. The union brought player reps from 30 teams (all except the Chiefs and 49ers) to Miami for a meeting. And?
“The job of this (executive committee) and the job of the board is to represent the interest of the players,” executive director DeMaurice Smith said. “Anytime we get together and talk about our family business, we treat it as family business so that’s pretty much the answer.”
Smith added: “We’re going to keep our negotiations with the league outside of the press.”
And that meant pretty much nothing of note was discussed, save for several current players supporting San Francisco cornerback Richard Sherman’s stance against a 17-game regularseason schedule.
The union missed a chance to speak to NFL fans. Smith should have used the forum to express optimism about a new CBA being signed without a work stoppage (unlike the 2011 lockout) and at least provide an opinion about things the owners and union may agree upon. But nope. It was maddening to listen to.
Asked late in the hour-long ordeal what’s next between the union/owners (further discussions?), Smith said: “It is a process that I’m sure will continue.”
Union officials in the room laughed. Thing is, it wasn’t funny.
Welker enjoys the grind. Wes Welker is back at the Super Bowl for the fourth time and looking for his first ring. He lost twice as a receiver with New England (2007 and ’11) and once with the Broncos (2013). He is now San Francisco’s receivers coach.
Welker caught 122 passes for 1,242 yards and 12 touchdowns in two years for the Broncos (201314). As his career wound down, Welker thought about a coaching career.
“A little bit,” he said. “I didn’t know if I wanted to put in the time. The best thing I did was take a year off from football and during that year, it was killing me and I knew I still had to be a part of it.”
Welker sat out 2017 and was an offensive assistant for Houston in 2018 before joining the 49ers.
“It’s long hours and it’s work, but it’s what I feel like I’ve been called to do at this point,” he said. “I’m enjoying every second
of it.”