Ron Borges

Herman Edwards jettisoned himself out of the cockpit of the Jets after last season to take what he called his dream job: following his friend and former coach Dick Vermeil as the coach of the Chiefs. Now Edwards is home and he has a pack of remodeling to do on defense if the Chiefs are to get back to the playoffs soon.

Edwards understands defense is what wins championships, and Kansas City's defense is suspect at best. It was 25th overall despite being fairly stout against the run (seventh, allowing 98.1 yards a game). That's because the pass defense was more porous than the city of New Orleans' leveee system.

Kansas City allowed an average of 229.9 passing yards a game, making it the 30th-ranked pass defense in the league. Not surprisingly Edwards released cornerbacks Eric Warfield and Dexter McCleon and signed one of the tallest corners in the league in free agency, 6-4 Lenny Walls, and one of the best, Ty Law. The latter will help a lot more than the former. Law was coming off a terrible ankle injury last season and never was able to properly condition himself in the offseason, yet he still tied for the AFC lead with 10 interceptions playing for Edwards and the Jets. Now he's healthy, fit, down to 205 pounds again after an offseason spent working out with track coach Bob Kersee and ready to join former Pro Bowl corner Patrick Surtain as the starting corners, seriously upgrading the secondary even if he isn't quite as reliable a shutdown corner at 32 as he was a few years ago in New England.

The Chiefs also drafted three defensive backs, although the only one who might challenge anybody is safety Bernard Pollard, a 6-2, 223 pound thumper who will try to push veterans Sammy Knight and Greg Wesley. The safeties were bigger problems in coverage than the corners, so Edwards will try to improve the pass rush to limit their time in coverage and design coverages to protect those safeties by using the cover 2 principles Edwards learned during his days working for Tony Dungy in Tampa.

Coverages can cover up only so many flaws, however. That's why the pass rush has to be improved. The Chiefs had only 29 sacks last season, a 16-year low and eight below the league average of 37. Jared Allen is the only proven pass rusher, so much is being expected of No. 1 pick Tamba Hali, a Penn State playmaker who is quick but undersized. If Allen, Hali and disappointing linebacker Kendrell Bell find ways to get to the passer, the Chiefs' secondary will improve as well. Bell was a playmaker in Pittsburgh, but he barely had an impact his first season in Kansas City. Hali showed remarkable quickness and the ability to disrupt a defense in preseason, so the Chiefs are hopeful he will give them the edge rushing presence they've lacked.

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Edwards knows his offense will put up points as long as running back Larry Johnson and quarterback Trent Green stay in one piece. But for the Chiefs to move back into the playoffs, the pass rush must give opponents less time to throw because the secondary does not have enough speed to stay in coverage too far downfield. Edwards can't do anything about that lack of speed, but he can work on creating coverages that hide his team's weaknesses.

Hot seat
Mike Solari. The Chiefs' new offensive coordinator inherits an offense that has been one of the most high-powered in the league. The Chiefs were first in total offense and scored 403 points last season. They were entertaining even in defeat. Now Edwards wants a risk-averse attack that does not put his questionable defense in difficult circumstances by taking too many chances. Look for the Chiefs to run more often, throw less and play with less innovation. If the offensive production drops off but the defense does not improve considerably, they'll be hollering for Solari's head.

Overheard
Edwards believes Hali can become a difference maker on defense, and he'll give him shots to do it this season. He is the kind of player who is always hustling to make plays and showed in the preseason the kind of problems he can cause when he had a big game against the Rams' first-team offense on a night when he looked all but unblockable. The pick was a gamble, though, because Hali is undersized (275) and was projected to slide into the second round because of consistently poor pre-draft workouts.

Edwards went with the games and he'll give Hali a strong opportunity to prove him right, espeically in passing situations.

Outlook
The Chiefs finished 10-6 and missed the playoffs by a game. Despite having a high-powered offense, they've reached the postseason only once in the past eight seasons. Edwards intends to make that twice in the last nine but to do it he has to find ways to shore up the defense in a hurry.

Prediction
Second.

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