KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City Chiefs have four
straight losses and a kicker the coach doesn't trust to make a
41-yard field goal.
What they do not have yet, however, is team dissension, or a
divided locker room. Coach Herm Edwards said so in the wake of
Sunday's 20-17 loss to Oakland and some key players echoed the
sentiment.
"Why would the locker room be divided?" defensive end Jared
Allen said Monday. "We're all 4-7. It's not like one half is 7-4,
the other half is 4-7. Never. When you lose, you all lose. When you
win, you all win. It's a team sport. Yesterday, did the offense do
its share to win? I thought so."
Nevertheless, a disturbing pattern has set in during this
four-game skid that includes losses to the Colts, Raiders, Packers
and Broncos. For one thing, when the Chiefs get a lead, they can't
hold it.
Also troubling is the fact four of their losses have been at
home, very uncharacteristic of a team that prides itself on having
the best home record in the NFL since 1990.
"We've lost four at home. So my apologies to Chiefs fans in
Kansas City. This is not something we're accustomed to, and it's
definitely not something we're accustomed to around here," Allen
said. "We're all in new situations around here with this much
losing going on."
Edwards indicated Monday the Chiefs will be searching for a new
kicker. Dave Rayner, signed before the season after he was released
by Green Bay, has struggled all season. He missed a 33-yarder on
Sunday and then, with less than 5 minutes left and facing a
fourth-and-one, Edwards elected to try for a first down rather than
let Rayner try a 41-yarder.
Rookie Kolby Smith, who rushed for 150 yards in his first start,
couldn't get that final yard, and the Chiefs' fate was sealed.
"That was the right thing to do in our situation," Edwards
said Monday. "If you were going to put the pressure on anybody,
you wanted to put it on the offensive line and the runner and not
on the kicker. It wouldn't be fair to him."
Rayner's time in Kansas City could be running out. Edwards said
the Chiefs took a look at some possible replacements on Monday.
"We worked some kickers out today but we haven't determined
what we're going to do yet," he said.
Smith will apparently get another start this week when the
Chiefs host San Diego because Edwards said he didn't think Larry
Johnson would be ready to play. He injured his foot against Green
Bay on Nov. 4 and seemed to be walking without any limp in the
locker room on Monday.
Edwards also admitted these are difficult days for offensive
coordinator Mike Solari and his staff. Solari had never been a
coordinator until Edwards handed him the job last year.
"They've got their heads low. There's no doubt because we've
struggled all year offensively," he said. "It's never clicked.
It's never had a rhythm all the way through a game. It might go for
a quarter then it disappears for a while and comes back. We've had
some guys out and then doesn't help you. We switched quarterbacks
and that makes things different."
Are they doing a good job?
"Yeah. They're working. They're working their tails off. We
haven't stopped working hard," Edwards said. "We haven't cut our
hours back because we're 4-7."
Edwards said he's seen progress on Solari's part.
"He's more comfortable in what he has to do. When you're going
through what they're going through right now, everything gets
second-guessed. But it's two-sided. The players have to help the
coaches, too. They've got to execute some things to make it work.
It's on the coaches to an extent, but then the players have to take
it over and run with it and make some plays when they're asked."