FanHouse BennySapp

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

In an NFC that is heading into the offseason without a clear favorite, the Minnesota Vikings have almost all the pieces to be the presumptive favorite. They have an outstanding defensive line, an improved secondary and the best running back in the business. They also have a very good offensive line and thanks to Bernard Berrian, the receiver corps no longer is a joke.

A pivotal game in the NFC North saw a pivotal series of plays twice swing the momentum in the middle of the second quarter. The Bears were faced with a third and nine on the Minnesota 45 yard line, when Kyle Orton appeared to be sacked for a huge loss. The Vikings, however, were off-sides on the play. On the third and four play, Matt Forte was stuffed on the run. Of course, during the play, Benny Sapp committed a blatantly stupid penalty by whacking Rashied Davis in the head multiple times clearly after the whistle. After the 15 yards were assessed, Forte busted through the Vikings' defense for a 26 yard gain and was knocked out of bounds at the one yard line.

Considering the score -- 7-3 at the time -- the Bears were on the verge of a major confidence boost. Scoring a touchdown to build a 14-3 lead on the road, especially after such a stupid penalty by the Vikes, would have been beyond huge.

It's a good thing for the Vikings the Bears coaching staff brought their F-game.

Defensive Ends:
Simply outstanding. They have been difference makers. Tamba Hali was an absolute steal in the first round of the draft, and Jared Allen is having a pro bowl caliber season. Allen gets his share of sacks, but he is extremely underrated in his ability to strip the football and force turnovers. Watch him tackle a quarterback – he practically integrates a strip into his tackle. Allen would likely have more sacks if it weren't for all those darn forced fumbles. Hopefully, pro bowl voters can look past the sometimes overrated sacks statistic, even though Allen has more than his share. Hali has also been outstanding. He's generated pretty decent pressure, but he is also all over the field and is a critical piece to the Chiefs' run defense. It was almost painful to watch Eric Hicks stand in for Tamba Hali--you could just tell how much Tamba Hali impacts this football team. I almost feel like an injured Hali would have gotten more pressure than Hicks. Jimmy Wilkerson has been a solid rotational DE. He has played his way into a roster spot for next season; I can't say the same for Hicks.
Grade: A

Defensive Tackles:
In short, they get the job done. Nothing more, nothing less. We've certainly seen the pocket collapse a lot more than we have in years past. That's really all you can hope for from your tackles. The tackles have been ordinary; then again, they haven't been awful. There's really not a whole lot to say about them, except that Ryan Sims may have eaten his way out of the Chiefs for next season.
Grade: B-


Linebackers:
It's surprising how little recognition Derrick Johnson is getting this season, but he is on pace to rack up 100 tackles and 9 sacks.

When it rains it pours. The Chiefs released their latest injury report and the results are not good.

Trent Green is out. Nobody is surprised by that. What's equally alarming is that the Chiefs will be extremely shallow at left tackle. Jordan Black will start against Arizona replacing Kyle Turley, who is out for Sunday's game. Black was surprisingly decent in Sunday's game against the 49ers, but he also rotated snaps with Will Svitek at the position. Svitek is listed as questionable for this Sunday's game, which means that the Chiefs can't rely on that same tackle rotation and they will be without an adequate left tackle to back up Black. The next best option might be to sign Jason Whitlock or, at least, that's the way it seems.

You would have to look a little deeper to find the next alarming issue in the recent injury report. Benny Sapp will be out 4-6 weeks, according to Rotoworld.com. While Sapp's role has been minimized this season, with Surtain, Law, and Walls being their primary cornerbacks, Sapp is still quality depth at the cornerback position and still sees a good deal of snaps as a nickel back in the Chiefs' secondary. If any of the Chiefs' cornerbacks get injured Sunday, the Chiefs will have no cornerback to sub in. The next best option would be Jarrad Page, who practiced the position some during training camp, but has mostly practiced as a safety and a dime back.

Finally, Michael Bennett is injured. So if you were one of the many gamblers who wagered in the "when will Michael Bennett get injured" pool, you won if you picked game 3. This injury is no concern, however, because the Chiefs have Dee Brown and Derrick Ross on their roster, so the Chiefs would still be three halfbacks deep in their rotation.

All-in-all, the Chiefs aren't getting hit hard with the injury bug, but they sure are getting hit hard at tackle and cornerback. The only thing they can do is keep their fingers crossed. Hopefully, they won't have to resort to forcing their offensive players to play ironman football.