Muleskinner

Issue date: 1/12/06 Section: Sports

During our time away from campus, the NFL playoff push heated up and the games became more and more important.

The AFC proved to be the superior conference and the NFC showed why they are favored to fall short as it strives for a Super Bowl victory.

As a Kansas City Chiefs' fan, I had the pleasure of watching the Chiefs beat up on their opponents and scoreboard watch as other AFC teams tried to keep them out of the playoff picture.

Those teams didn't come through for the Chiefs, and with a 10-6 record, Kansas City players now finds themselves watching playoff games on their High-Definition televisions, eating pretzels and chugging down cold beverages.

Vermeil vanishes

As if being home for the playoffs wasn't bad enough, the Chiefs got more distracting news.

New Year's Day, head coach Dick Vermeil announced his retirement to spend more time with his wife at their Napa Valley winery in California.

I figured this would be the last year for the much-traveled Vermeil. During his career, he took the Philadelphia Eagles and the St. Louis Rams to the Super Bowl, but fell short in his expectations with the Chiefs.

No matter what happened, Vermeil wasn't going to guide the Chiefs in 2006. In his time in Kansas City, Vermeil helped the Chiefs build a powerhouse offense, but the defense continued to struggle which is the primary reason the team made the playoffs just once in his tenure.

'Hail to the Chief'

Just days after the announced retirement, rumors began to stir about the hiring of New York Jets' head coach Herman Edwards.

The Chiefs and Edwards, who was still under contract with the Jets, held a press conference Monday to announce the trade which ended the speculation.

By giving up only a 2006 fourth-round draft choice, the Chiefs came out a winner in the deal. Edwards could be just what the doctor (Chiefs' President Carl Peterson) ordered.

Peterson and Edwards have been career-long friends and with the hire, Peterson has received a New Year's gift: a defense-oriented head coach.

For most of the 90's, The Chiefs suited up a dominant defense and made the playoffs on a regular basis. Sure, the offense wasn't great, but games are won with swarming defense.

New objective

Not since the days of Marty Shottenheimer, have the Chiefs shown the league defensive intensity which intimidated opponents. With Edwards on the ship, the Chiefs could return to prominence.

Chiefs' offensive coordinator Al Saunders will probably not be on the Kansas City sideline in 2006, as he will move on as a head coach himself.

This could dampen the hiring of Edwards and change the offensive approach for the team, but Edwards declared he won't fix what isn't broken.

The one thing he could fix is the defense. If he does, Kansas City could again be the 'Best of the West.'

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