While everyone remembers that victory over Atlanta

[zhangzk]

The past few weeks , the Kansas City Chiefs have made Carlos Hyde look like Earl Campbell, Marlon Mack resemble Eric Dickerson and Kerryon Johnson look a whole lot like Barry Sanders.No wonder they've lost their last two games, both of them at Arrowhead Stadium.Injuries have mounted on the Chiefs' defensive line, middle linebacker Anthony Hitchens also is hobbled and coordinator Steve Spagnuolo's switch from a 3-4 system to a 4-3 has failed to produce any noticeable improvement from a defense that has been lousy for most of Andy Reid's tenure.When it comes to stopping the run, lousy is putting it mildly."After six weeks, we haven't been good at it," said defensive end Frank Clark, whom the Chiefs acquired in a trade and signed to a $105 million, five-year extension in part to help stop the run."Some running backs are more well-known than others," Clark said, "but we're just making every running back we play look awesome. We haven't really shut down an offense this year and that's something we got to do in order to win. We kept keep putting the pressure on our offense to do everything."No matter how good that offense might be.The Chiefs had the ball for a mere 5:25 in the second quarter of their 31-24 loss to Houston on Sunday. They had it for 4:29 in the third and 1:25 in the fourth, which means league MVP Patrick Mahomes was on the field for less than six minutes total in the second half.A big reason for that is that Houston kept churning the ball on the ground, running for 192 yards to become the fifth straight team with 129 or more. Hyde finished with 116 yards and a touchdown against the team that traded him to Houston in the offseason, when it decided there was no place for him in its own backfield, and became the fourth running back in consecutive weeks to top 100 yards.It would be 5 for 5 if the Raiders' Josh Jacobs managed just one more yard in Week 2."You've got to bow up. That's why we're here and that's why we're professionals," linebacker Darron Lee said. "You got to go out and make a stand, make the plays. Teams are going to try and come here and run so you got to get your mind right."Along with Hitchens, the Chiefs' defensive front is missing tackles Xavier Williams and Chris Jones. But they struggled even before they went down with injuries, and their backups have been no better."We have to fix it. That's what has to take place," Reid said, "and I think there's a lot that goes into it. At times you can sit here and try too hard. It's not an effort thing, it's a maintaining-your-position thing, and we have to do a better job of that, getting ourselves working together, not overcompensating and giving up lanes, and communicating better."As the Chiefs prepare to visit Denver on Thursday night, when Phillip Lindsay is relishing the chance to look like Terrell Davis, here is one last look at their loss to Houston:WHAT'S WORKINGWide receiver Tyreek Hill had a couple of touchdown catches in his first action since Week 1, when he hurt his collarbone against Jacksonville, and gave the offense an early boost.WHAT NEEDS HELPJust about everything else. Along with poor rush defense, the pass defense allowed Deshaun Watson to throw for 280 yards on Sunday. On offense, the running game has produced 89 yards combined the past two weeks, and Mahomes has played below par — for him — while hobbled by a sore ankle.STOCK UPWide receiver Byron Pringle has played well while getting more snaps with Sammy Watkins sidelined by yet another injury. Defensive back Morris Claiborne also flashed more in his second game back from a four-game suspension, and he could become more helpful at plugging holes the more he plays.STOCK DOWNThe obvious answer is everyone on defense, but tight end Travis Kelce has had a couple of difficult weeks. He caught four passes for 58 yards against Houston, but he's also had a few drops in back-to-back losses, and the officials have nailed him for some costly penalties.INJUREDOne of the Chiefs' best cornerbacks, Kendall Fuller, needed X-rays on his hand after hurting it against the Texans. It's the same hand that Fuller hurt late last season , when he was forced to wear a cast during Kansas City's playoff run.KEY NUMBERZero — That's the number of punts the Chiefs forced on Sunday. They did force a trio of turnovers, including a pair of interceptions in the end zone, but it didn't do.NEXT STEPSThe Chiefs have a short turnaround before visiting the Broncos on Thursday night. They had a walk-through Monday and will practice Tuesday before heading to Denver. Three picks after the Baltimore Colts selected John Elway with the 1st pick in the 1983 draft, the Broncos selected tackle Chris Hinton 4th overall. How on earth did the Broncos end up with the 4th overall pick? The 1982 season must have been just awful. The 1982 season was indeed awful in ways that challenge the traditional definition of terrible. First, there was the NFLPA strike that wiped out NFL football for over half the season. Imagine the third game of the season being played the weekend before Thanksgiving! Thankfully, I was only 3-years old at the time and don’t remember it. The 1982 Denver Broncos fielded holdovers from the Super Bowl XII team like Craig Morton, Rob Lytle, Riley Odoms, Tom Glassic, Rick Upchurch, and Randy Gradishar while featuring stars we’d all get to know during the tragic Super Bowl runs of late 1980’s like Denis Smith, Rich Karlis, Gerald Willhite, Keith Bishop, Sammy Winder, and Steve Watson. Managing this collision of eras was Dan Reeves in his first year as head coach of the Denver Broncos. Denver won just 2 games in 1982, none of them in division and none of them in conference. Before the hiatus, the Broncos hosted Bill Walsh, Joe Montana, and their San Francisco 49ers at Mile High and eked out a victory with the aid of a barefoot Rich Karlis field goal.The other victory came against Ray Malavasi’s Los Angeles Rams. Broncos history honks will remember him as the Denver Broncos interim head coach that replaced Mac Speedie after he dropped the first two games of the 1966 season. Malavasi would notch just a 4-8 record as Broncos head coach before being replaced by Lou Saban for the 1967 season.After turning in a horrid performance in the first game of the season against the San Diego Chargers and getting off to a shaky start against the 49ers, Craig Morton was benched in favor of Steve DeBerg. After falling behind in Anaheim, 21-0 in the 2nd quarter, the Broncos finally found their groove with DeBerg hitting Rick Upchurch for a 51-yard touchdown pass. Running back Rick Parros added another touchdown when DeBerg found him to close out the 2nd quarter. Outside of a Rams field goal in the 4th quarter, the Broncos would own the rest of the game adding two Rich Karlis field goals and another Rick Parros touchdown. Broncos won, 27-24.Interesting side note, in Super Bowl XXXIII, the Broncos faced Dan Reeves, as coach, and Steve DeBerg, as backup quarterback for the Falcons.as John Elway’s last game, few remember that it was also the conclusion to Steve DeBerg’s 20-year career. So how did this game ‘help pave the way for the Broncos to acquire John Elway’?If you haven’t seen the ESPN’s 30 for 30: Elway to Marino you need to stop what you’re doing right now and seek it out. The documentary details the minutiae of the 1983 NFL draft and gets deeply into what happened between Denver and Baltimore in the historic trade that changed both franchises forever. The Rams and Broncos both finished 1982 with 2-7 records. Since the Broncos won the head-to-head, the Rams got to pick 3rd overall in 1983, right before Denver. Had the Broncos lost to Los Angeles, the Rams trade with the Houston Oilers to get the 2nd overall pick and hall-of-famer Eric Dickerson would have been more difficult to make or wouldn’t have happened at all. Denver could have picked someone other than Chris Hinton and the 1983 draft would have been different. Chris Hinton, backup quarterback Mark Hermann, and the Broncos 1st round pick in the 1984 draft were traded to Baltimore for John Elway. Would Elway have come to Denver without Hinton?The 30 for 30 mentions that the trade was more a product of then-Broncos owner Edgar Kaiser’s relationship with Colts owner Robert Irsay than the elements that were actually exchanged. However, if things didn’t sit as they did on draft day in 1983 as a result of the 1982 season, you can’t say for sure that Elway becomes the cornerstone of Denver Broncos history. It’s crazy to think of the impact a single game can have on a franchise.

[veranix]

[veranix]