FanHouse Derrick Johnson

For 18 games last year, Josh McDaniels' offense in New England was a well-oiled machine, inflicting pain and embarrassment on any defense that had the audacity to cross its path. The Patriots scored at least 30 points in 13 of their first 18 games (never scoring fewer than 20) and at times resembled somebody playing a game of Madden with the difficulty set to beginner.

Then, in the Super Bowl, in a somewhat shocking development to everyone except Plaxico Burress, the Patriots offense was shut down by a relentless New York Giants pass rush, registering only 14 points in the teams only loss of the season. According to Christopher L. Gasper at the Boston Globe, that game, and performance, is still sitting with McDaniels, and he's looking to do something about it.

Judging by McDaniels's mannerisms answering that question, he is motivated by the way the offense sputtered in the Super Bowl. He is eager and excited to correct his mistakes, starting tomorrow at Gillette Stadium against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Not satisfied with an offense that was nearly perfect last season, the 32-year-old McDaniels spent the offseason tinkering and tweaking and rethinking the playbook to counter any so-called "blueprint" the Giants may have laid down and to find new ways to get the ball into the hands of his playmakers

At first, I thought that the Chiefs would be fired up after legendary owner Lamar Hunt passed away just a few days ago. The Giants won convincingly (36 - 0) against the Redskins last season after Wellington Mara passed. Then again, Hunt was gravely ill for a few weeks now, and that never really inspired the team to win.

When the Chargers run the ball:
LaDanian Tomlinson is fired up about comments made by Tamba Hali after the Chiefs' last victory over the Chargers, claiming that the Chargers were soft. Still, the Chiefs are one of the few teams that have been relatively successful against LT. LT hasn't run for over 100 yards against the Chiefs since 2003, and even that was heavily weighted over one 55-yard run.

Tomlinson will be fired up and, despite LT's MVP season, I don't know that he'll be gaining a lot of yards on the ground. His impact will be felt more so in the way the Chiefs stack the box to stop him.

When the Charger pass the ball:
While LT hasn't been overly successful against the Chiefs, Antonio Gates has been a one-man wrecking machine.

The Chiefs should be licking their chops right now. The Browns' offense is in complete disarray right now. Reuben Droughns has been downgraded to special teams for... well, who really knows. The Browns lost starting left tackle Ryan Tucker to an undisclosed mental disorder (not really a laughing matter--I wish him a healthy recovery). Braylon Edwards has been involved in so much drama in the past week, TV executives are thinking of starting a new show called "As Braylon Edwards Turns." Who knows if Edwards will start. The Chiefs have no good reason to struggle on defense but, being a Chiefs' fan for as long as I have been, I never really know what to expect.

When Cleveland runs the ball:
Who really knows what to expect from Jason Wright. It seems to me that the Browns are scapegoating Reuben Droughns for a pretty horrific offensive line. The Chiefs have been pretty solid against the run. They completely shut the Broncos' run defense last week. The Chiefs will be missing a pretty important piece to their run defense with James Reed out for Sunday's game. However, Reed is not exactly a difference maker. There is really no excuse for the Chiefs to struggle against the run on Sunday.

When Cleveland passes the ball:
Kellen Winslow has quietly turned into a pretty terrific receiving tight end. Tight ends have provided substantial matchup problems in the past weeks.

The phrase "trap game" has always bothered me. The phrase "any given Sunday" also bothers me. It's like fingernails on a chalkboard, Richard Simmons on a TV screen, the Raiders on Monday Night Football.

Despite my hatred of the term, it still does not explain how teams like the Texans can completely foil the Jaguars... twice. It does not explain how the Raiders can almost beat a terrific Chargers team. Good teams get caught in these traps all the time. It doesn't help that the Chiefs have a history of losing to teams they have no business losing to. Remember when the Chiefs sleepwalked into Pittsburgh? Peter King, at least, seems to think the Chiefs could get caught in this trap. He's picking the Browns to win 17-13.

The Chiefs have plenty to play for and I sure hope that they don't sleepwalk in this game. The Browns, after all, are coming off a pretty embarassing loss to the Bengals. You gotta think the dawgs are going to be hungry.

That being said, it would surprise me if the Chiefs didn't take this game seriously. The Chiefs still haven't proven that they can win on the road, and I imagine that Herm Edwards has brought this up to his team countless times this week.
Furthermore, I get the feeling this Chiefs' team is going to be fired up. They've had an extra three days to rest and you have to think they're excited about finally playing with all their superstar players healthy: Gonzalez is probably ready to once again assume pro bowl form and Derrick Johnson looks like he's about ready to continue an interrupted pro bowl season.

By all accounts, when you look at the matchups, the Chiefs should slaughter the Cleveland Browns this weekend. Then again, it's exactly this optimism that often traps fans into false hope.

What better way to celebrate one of the greatest rivalries in the game than over a plate of turkeys, yams, and cranberry sauce? The Chiefs' defense might not be eating delicious turkey, but they might be licking their chops about playing the Broncos' 20th ranked offense.

When the Broncos pass the ball:
The Chiefs did a very good job shutting down the passing game in their first matchup against the Broncos. Most other defenses have followed suit by doing a pretty good job against the Broncos' passing game as well. However, the Broncos might have another driving force in their favor: a fired up Jake Plummer. According to our fellow blogger at the Broncos' Fanhouse, Jake Plummer is expected to be replaced by Jay Cutler when the Broncos face Seattle.

That would make this start Jake Plummer's last. Do you think he might want to prove something? Do you think it's a coincidence that the Broncos would leak out this kind of rumor before perhaps the Broncos' biggest game of the season? This cannot bode well for the Chiefs. Plummer can be a dangerous when he maintains his focus. Plummer might respond with either a big game to stick it to the Broncos. Then again, Plummer has a long history of also trying to do too much and forcing dumb mistakes. My vote is that we will see the former version of Jake Plummer.

The key to stopping Jake Plummer, as Chiefs' fans are well aware, is to get in his face, seal off the bootleg, and don't give Plummer room to run.

I'm amazed that Derrick Johnson's injury has received such little scrutiny.

Derrick Johnson has been a difference maker for the Chiefs. I'm pretty quick to blame Keyaran Fox for a few screw-ups in Sunday's game, but then, perhaps I'm asking too much of Fox. He has some pretty big shoes to fill.

In 8 games, DJ had 49 tackles and 4.5 sacks. He was on pace for about 98 tackles and 9 sacks, which are pretty terrific numbers for a linebacker. In fact, those could reasonably have earned him his first pro bowl berth.

There have been multiple times when DJ's absence was visibly noticeable.

Click on this link. Tell me what you see.

No, it is not the Chiefs' starting lineup. It is the injury report. Six starters are either out, doubtful, or questionable. Sammy Knight has been upgraded to probable.

It is really quite a list. Brian Waters and Tony Gonzalez are perennial Pro Bowlers. Derrick Johnson is a Pro Bowl-caliber player. Tamba Hali was a sleeper possibility for defensive rookie of the year. Greg Wesley was having his best season in several years. Kevin Sampson... well, he had to be replaced by Kyle Turley.

The Chiefs are still going to be favored against the Raiders, but the game is going to be a lot tougher than it should be. Chris Bober, replacing Waters, was nothing more than a turnstile against the Dolphins. Jason Dunn, replacing Gonzalez, is a fine blocker, but is as much of a downfield threat as Lawrence Tynes is. Keyaron Fox, replacing Johnson, forgot that the most important part of tackling is to actually bring the ballcarrier down. Eric Hicks has not had a sack in about forty years. And, of course, there is Turley, of whom nothing more needs to be said, except that I already did.

I suppose I should take some solace in the fact that all these injuries came when the Chiefs are facing the Raiders. Yet, I cannot help but worry. Only the win against the 49ers was easy; otherwise, the Chiefs have scratched, clawed, and hung on for dear life to win games. The Chiefs absolutely cannot lose this game if they want to keep any hope alive for the playoffs. As Herm Edwards has said all year, "You play to win the game." The only problem is that, well, you need to actually play.

Ever heard of Murphy's Law? The theory states that "Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong."

The 2006 Kansas City Chiefs are a good football team, but they are cursed. CURSED! According to the Palm Beach Post, the Chiefs will now have to play without Tony Gonzalez, who will miss 2-3 weeks with a strained shoulder.

This could be the Chiefs' most devastating injury to date. Gonzalez is a critical blocker for Larry Johnson, he is the main reason for Damon Huard's most recent resurgence, and he draws attention from linebackers and safeties that would normally be focused on LJ. With two upcoming rivalry games against Oakland and Denver, the Chiefs really did not need to lose these two players.

Let's review the Chiefs' woes to date:

• John Welbourn retires suddenly. He claims he wants to become a lawyer; truthfully, we find out he probably needed a law degree to defend himself from a 6-month suspension.
• Pro bowl left tackle Willie Roaf retires on extremely short notice.

Nobody flinches when good players fall for the Chiefs. It's amazing how quiet the news was that Derrick Johnson and Greg Wesley would miss this Sunday's Game. Especially for Johnson, who is on pace to rack up a very impressive 100 tackles and 9 sacks. Luckily, the Chiefs feel pretty confident in the depth behind these two players. Jarrad Page has played a lot of snaps this season and should be polished enough to adequately replace Wesley, who is having a surprisingly good season. Johnson will be replaced by Keyaran Fox--not nearly as fast, but he's not a bad player to bring off the bench.

When the Dolphins run the ball
The Chiefs have been somewhat spotty in stopping the run this season; however, the Dolphins should not provide too much of a test for the Chiefs. The Dolphins are deathly afraid of running the ball. Their offensive line simply does not open up holes. The Chiefs will take a big hit on run support by not having Derrick Johnson to flag down the outside runs and Greg Wesley, who has always been a very good run defender.

Keyaran Fox did not seem to get to the outside nearly as fast as Derrick Johnson usually does. Tamba Hali and Jared Allen have been doing a terrific job this season containing the outside run, and they will need to do so again on Sunday. James Reed and Ron Edwards have mostly done a pretty good job all season plugging holes in the interior run defense. The run defense needs to be won in the trenches. The Dolphins' offensive line has been absolutely awful in run support and the Chiefs need to take away the Dolphins' running game early to shy the Dolphins away from the run.

When the Dolphins pass the ball?
Joey Harrington has this Dolphins team playing a little more consistently.

The Chiefs have gotten a lot of press this week because of the nature of their division. All of a sudden, everyone is talking about how the AFC West is the toughest division in the league (though AFC West fans already knew that before the season), and how the division could send three teams to the playoffs.

Little has been made, though, of the team itself. While we have been receiving constant updates about Brian Urlacher and Terry Glenn, quietly the Kansas City Star reported that Brian Waters and Derrick Johnson are out for the Miami game, and that Greg Wesley is still a question mark. Kevin Sampson will miss his second consecutive game.

These are some major injuries, and that isn't even taking into account Trent Green or Ronnie Cruz. Maybe it's because those player don't have a lot of fantasy value, or because the Chiefs are facing a very disappointing Miami team, but Waters is the Chiefs' best offensive lineman (in fact, one of the NFL's best linemen), and Derrick Johnson was on pace for a 100+ tackle, possibly 10-sack season. Meanwhile, Wesley has stepped up his play, and his improvement is a big reason why the Chiefs' defense has improved this year. While Sampson isn't a star, Kyle Turley has not shown yet that he is able to overcome his massive weight loss.

Most are favoring the Chiefs to win, largely based on their winning streak, but you wonder how many of the "experts" realize that so many key components will be missing from the game. Miami has struggled enough this year for the Chiefs to still be favored, but they have a lot more to overcome than people may realize.