Pride Returns to Chiefs Defense

Dec 01, 2008, 9:33:33 AM by Bob Gretz - FAQ

OAKLAND – Going into the Chiefs game against the Raiders on Sunday the situation with the defensive line was very much in flux.

Defensive end Tamba Hali had practiced o n Wednesday, but then not worked on Thursday and Friday because of his sore ankle. Defensive tackle Tank Tyler had not worked on Wednesday and Thursday, and took limited snaps on Friday with his sore hip. Defensive end-tackle Alfonso Boone tried at various times to practice, but a balky back kept him from full participation. Defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey was still gimping about on the sore knee he injured the week before.

So concerned were the Chiefs they brought another defensive line onto the roster, promoting Antwon Burton from the practice squad.

Yet on Sunday, there was Hali, Tyler, Boone and Dorsey. They were all on the field. They were all throwing their bodies around with abandon. They were all laying it on the line.

They had to.

“Come on, there’s no way we miss this game,” Tyler said afterwards. “My hip hurt so bad all week, but today it felt better. Right now, it feels great. I bet it feels horrible tomorrow. But that doesn’t matter, we had to play. It was a matter of pride.”

Way back in the second week of the season, the Chiefs defensive pride was smashed by the Raiders, who ran for 300 yards that day. Oakland’s embarrassing whipping of the Chiefs started a defensive slide that continued until … well until Sunday at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

With a second chance to play the Raiders, Kansas City’s bruised and battered defense stood up and established that pride still matters. Oakland scored one touchdown, and that was set up at the one-yard line by an interception return. The Chiefs allowed their fewest yards on the season at 271 and the Raiders running game went from 300 to 139 yards, with 37 of those yards coming from Oakland quarterback JaMarcus Russell.

“There was pride involved in this one,” said Dorsey. “That (first game) was a long time ago, but we haven’t forgotten what happened. We went out today to make sure we wrote a different story.”

On Saturday in the team’s hotel on the other side of San Francisco Bay, coaches and players were killing time with a walk-through practice and meetings. Gunther Cunningham had a message for his defense, especially the guys on the defensive line that were not getting to the quarterback. The Chiefs are on pace to see a new NFL record for sack futility. Cunningham knows the numbers; he just doesn’t think it’s been that bad.

So in a hotel meeting room, the defensive coordinator threw up a highlight tape of the San Diego Chargers defense and especially its pass rush. The season was 1986 and that year the Chargers group led by DE Leslie O’Neal had 62 sacks as a team.

The players soaked up the chance to watch a really good defense go about his business. Cunningham and his assistant coaches pointed out moments on the tape where a Chargers defender was doing something the Chiefs staff were teaching.

When the tape ended and the lights were turned back on the players and coaches discussed what they had just seen. Cunningham asked the players what record they thought the Chargers finished that season with.

“They all guessed 13-3,” Cunningham said.

That San Diego team was 4-12.

“I was stunned when he told us that,” said safety Jarrad Page. “They were getting things done, they were successful and they played hard. They looked like a championship defense.”

But they were still one of the worst teams in the NFL that season.

“It really drove home the point that he’s been making to us all year, which is just keep working hard, keep believing in what you are doing,” said Hali. “Yes, it would be nice if you got rewarded for that on a weekly basis with a win, but if you don’t, you can’t chuck it all away.

“You just have to keep playing hard.”

And keep playing with pride.

The opinions offered in this column do not necessarily reflect those of the Kansas City Chiefs.

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A former beat reporter who covered the Pittsburgh Steelers during their glory years, Gretz covered the Chiefs for the Kansas City Star for nine years. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Board of Selectors. He has been the senior columnist for the Chiefs web site since its inception.