FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7.2005
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
5B
NFL
Chiefs to welcome back desperately needed players
BY DOUG TUCKER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When they get back from their bye week to host Washington on Oct. 16, the Kansas City Chiefs won't be the same team.
They'll acquire over the break a great left tackle, an experienced starting cornerback and a versatile, valuable backup lineman.
How much difference that will make remains to be seen. Perhaps even if they'd had Willie Roaf, Eric Warfield and John Welbourn and been at full strength, the Chiefs would be 2-2 anyway, victors over two losing teams and victims of two contenders. And still in search of their own true identity.
But getting those three back on the field may also turn out to be a tremendous boost in the last 12 games of what will probably be the last team Dick Vermeil ever coaches.
"You bet it will be nice to see those guys," said wide receiver/kick returner Dante Hall. "We can use all the help we can get."
Welbourn, a former starter who can play both guard and tackle, served a four-game suspension for steroids. With injuries cutting down the effectiveness of the offensive line, his absence hurt.
Warfield, the only productive cornerback Kansas City's had for several years, had to sit out the first quarter of the season for violation of the NFL's drug abuse policy. With him joining newcomers Patrick Surtain and Sammy Knight in the secondary, maybe Chad Pennington and Donovan McNabb would not have torched the Chiefs for a combined 721 yards passing
But the biggest plus will be Roaf. The hulking 10-time Pro
Bowler popped a hamstring early in the first half of the first game and his absence has had an amazing trickle-down effect on the entire offense.
Without Roaf, quarterback Trent Green's been fighting to stay upright. The Denver Broncos knocked him down eight times during a dominating 30-10 Monday night victory.
Pro Bowl tight end Tony Gonzalez, who set an NFL receiving record for his position last year with 102 catches, has been almost entirely neutralized.
Frequently held in for maximum pass protection. Gonzalez hasn't had a chance to make any meaningful catches when he does go downfield because the harried Green's not had time to wait for him to get there.
Without Roaf, the bread-and-butter running game that was so vital to an offense that set an NFL record with 398 first downs last year has been relegated almost entirely to wide stuff.
"When the players come back, we'll be healthier than we've been at any time this year, including training camp," said Vermeil. "(Roaf) feels very good right now. He feels very confident he can play these 12 games stronger than he played them last year because of the rest and how good he feels right now. We'll be deeper in the offensive line with the return of John Welbourn."
With Warfield back, defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham may be able to go to more of the man defense he prefers instead of the soft zone which saw the Eagles' Terrell Owens get wide open time after time for 171 yards receiving. But Vermel insists that Warfield will not walk right back into his job.
In fact, veteran Dexter McCleon has done better than many expected filling in for him.
David J. Philippe/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Houston Astros' Lance Berkman dives safely back to first base on a pickoff attempt by Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz in the 3rd inning of Game 2 of the National League Division Series at Turner Field in Atlanta, Thursday.
Smoltz returns to the plate
MLB
David J. Phillip/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BY PAUL NEWBERRY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rookie Brian McCann hit a three-run homer in his first postseason at-bat, which were all the runs Smoltz needed to lead the Braves past Roger Clemens and the Astros 7-1 on Thursday night, tying the best-of-five series at one game apiece.
ATLANTA — The Braves rocked the Rocket, John Smoltz picked up where he left off six years ago, and Atlanta finds itself all even with the Houston Astros in the NL playoffs.
Smoltz broke a one-day tie with Houston's Andy Pettitt to reclaim the title of baseball's winningest postseason pitcher. The right-hander improved to 15-4 with seven strong innings in his first October start since the 1999 World Series.
With the NL East champion Braves having bounced back from a 10-5 loss in Game 1, the
series shifts to Houston. Twenty-game winner Roy Oswalt is set to go against Atlanta's surprising 13-game winner, Jorge Sosa, on Saturday.
The Astros hope Oswalt looks better than Clemens, who led the majors in ERA (1.87) at age 43 but was bothered late in the season by a sore hamstring.
McCann sent the Turner Field crowd into a frenzy when he connected with two outs and two on in the second, driving a fastball into the right-field seats to put the Braves up 3-1.
The 21-year-old catcher became the first player in Braves history — including Boston and Milwaukee, too — to homer in his first trip to the plate in the postseason.
McCann, one of 18 rookies who played for Atlanta this season, started the year at Double-A Mississippi. He was born less than three months before Clemens made his major league debut with
the Boston Red Sox in 1984.
The Braves stretched their lead to 5-1 in the third. Adam LaRoche hit an opposite-field double to bring home two more runs.
The ball slipped under the glove of diving left fielder Orlando Palmeiro before rolling all the way to the wall.
With Smoltz on the mound
— stiff shoulder and all — the lead was secure. This is what he yearned for after spending three-plus seasons as the Braves closer, a role that left his playoff fortunes in the hands of others.
Smoltz had to wait an extra day to make this long-awaited playoff start, getting bumped from the expected Game 1 nod to give his shoulder a little extra rest.
No problem, considering how long he already had waited.
Back in that '99 World Series, Smoltz's last year as a starter before an elbow injury cost him an
entire season and prompted his move to the bullpen, he struck out 11 in Game 4 against the Yankees.
It wasn't enough to keep New York from completing the sweep with a 4-1 victory. And the winning pitcher that day? Clemens, who was back to face Smoltz, now 38, in the oldest pitching matchup in postseason history.
The Braves added two more runs in the seventh against reliever Chad Qualls, even with two runners thrown out on the basepaths. Andruw Jones and Jeff Francoeur had RBI singles to give the shaky Braves bullpen a six-run cushion.
Jones, who came into the playoffs mired in a 6-for-51 slump, followed up a Game 1 homer with three more hits, scoring each time.
Chris Reitsma, who retired only one hitter while giving up four runs in the opener, gave up a leadoff single in the eighth but retired the next three hitters.