Chiefs’ Best Front Seven: Stairway To Heaven
By Laddie Morse
Who Has the Best Front Seven Outside Linebackers?
The Chiefs have two of the best edge rushers in the game in Tamba Hali and Justin Houston. Then, in the draft Kansas City selected another OLB in Dee Ford who looks destined to keep the Chiefs at the head of the class in edge rushers for years to come… assuming they can resign Justin Houston. If H&H stay healthy throughout the season (along with Poe) there will be no question as to which team has the best front seven. Rushing the passer is where I see great progress for the Chiefs in 2014. I can only imagine what defensive front seven line-ups DC Bob Sutton is dreaming up on passing situations. I can see… (cue dreamy pond fog)… Dee Ford and Vance Walker lining up at DEs like thunder and lightning coming off the snap with Poe going T-Rex straight up the middle straight up the middle while H&H Railroads play happy train wreck from the outside, while DJ leaps over the Center to bat down a Manning pass which gets lodged in Peyton’s face mask which then has to be surgically removed. Oh the thinks you can think when thinking of this defensive front seven.
In San Francisco, Ahmad Brooks and Aldon Smith each had 8.5 sacks. If not for Smith’s antics the 49ers pair could rival the Chiefs pair of OLBs. As mentioned previously, A. Smith will be unavailable (league sanctions to follow soon) but the 9ers also got big sacks from Justin Smith (6.5), NaVorro Bowman (6.0), Ray McDonald (3.5) and Glenn Dorsey (2.0- same as it ever was).
“And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife…
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was.”
Once in a Lifetime, Talking Heads, 1981
In Seattle, the answer to the question, “Who rushes the passer?” is, everyone. Outside linebackers Bruce Irvin and K.J. Wright combined for 3.5 sacks… total… together. The list of sackers for the Seahawks looks like this: Michael Bennett 8.5, Cliff Avril, 8.0, Clinton McDonald 5.5, Bobby Wagner, 5.0, Chris Clemons 4.0, Bruce Irvin 2.0, Tony McDaniel 2.0, K.J. Wright1.5, Red Bryant 1.5, Jordan Hill 1.5 and a few others with one sack each. The Seahawks made sacking the QB into a party where everyone is invited. Although the outside linebackers are not big sack artists by design, one aspect they do bring to the party is speed. Bruce Irvin ran a 4.41 official time and while that’s amazing for a 6-3, 245 lb human, he also ran an unofficial 4.38.
Speed or no speed, I’ll take the Kansas City Chiefs pair of outside linebackers over any other pair in the league. Hands down.
“Our little group has always been
And always will until the end
Hello, hello, hello, how low?”
Smells Like Teen Spirit, Nirvana, 1991
For the record, there are other teams out there who may want to lay claim to owning the best front seven, like the Carolina Panthers for example. However, they have a weakside linebacker and an interior defensive lineman who just don’t measure up quite yet. Consequently, the focus of this piece was based on Seattle and San Francisco.
Sometimes analyzing the parts and pieces can give you a clue as to the results of the whole. With the Chiefs front seven it’s not enough to just tear it apart piece by piece and then speculate that they’re better than everyone else. Watching them in the first part of last season gives us clues as to who, or what, they can become. Add in Vance Walker… add in Dee Ford… appreciate that both Mike Catapano and Allen Bailey are “growing” and progressing… give most everyone else credit for learning the system they’re in for the second straight year… and you come to understand that the 2014 Kansas City Chiefs best front seven is going to be a nightmare for other teams to face.
Nightmare for some… dream time for Chiefs fans.
“They stab it with their steely knives, but they just can’t kill the beast
Relax, said the night man, we are programmed to receive.
You can check-out any time you like, but you can never leave!”
Hotel California, The Eagles, 1977
Alright Addict fans, is there anything about the 2014 Chiefs that excites you more than their “best front seven?” Tell me, please!
P.S. Hotel California is my pick and so is the Kansas City Chiefs front seven.