Sunday, November 02, 2003

By Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Halfway there, the Kansas City Chiefs are the last ones standing who can make a run at that most elusive of NFL records -- the perfect season that no one accomplished since the 1972 Miami Dolphins went 14-0 and swept three more victories in the postseason.

Some of those '72 Dolphins have the champagne chilling to toast themselves when the Chiefs finally lose. Kansas City's second-half schedule includes only two teams with winning records -- Denver and Minnesota, both on the road.

Bookies have established the Chiefs as long shots to go 16-0. BetWWTS.com, an offshore gambling company, listed odds of 12-1 that the Chiefs will go unbeaten, meaning a $100 bet would bring $1,200 if they do so. They also will take bets that they will lose one of their final eight; it's 1-25, which means you need to put down $2,500 to win $100 on that one.

"Chances are we're a playoff team, but it doesn't mean we're going to be a Super Bowl team," Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil said. "But when you're 8-0, you haven't done many things wrong."

Hair today, gone tomorrow

The Colts' Edgerrin James returns home to Miami to play the Dolphins, and all the comparisons between him and Ricky Williams are again being made.

Both running backs were first-round draft picks in 1999 -- James No. 4 and Williams No. 5 -- both have Miami ties and both wear dreadlock hairstyles, with one difference. James shaved his locks after he was pulled down and tackled by them twice in the season opener at Cleveland. The NFL ruled such hair-pulling tackles as legal. Williams lets his flow and says he won't cut them.

"My momma always called me tender head," James said. "I can't go for letting nobody grabbing me by my hair all day. When you get grabbed by your hair, it really makes you stop and pay attention to what that other person is trying to accomplish."

Rookie QBs duel

Rookie quarterbacks Byron Leftwich of the Jaguars and Kyle Boller of the Ravens square off today in Jacksonville in what might be the coming of the next generation of great quarterbacks. If it weren't for a draft-day snafu, Leftwich might be starting for the other side today.

The Ravens and Vikings made a trade in the first round, and Baltimore was going to draft Leftwich. But the Ravens claim they could not get a phone call through to the NFL in time and the trade never was consummated because of it. The Jaguars snapped up Leftwich and Baltimore was left with Boller.

"The comparison is going to be drawn for a number of years and it's going to be fun to watch these two young guys develop into elite QBs," said Ravens coach Brian Billick.

Bengals catching on

The Bengals are moving into the 21st century one step at a time. They finally hired someone to scout their next opponent, something most NFL teams were doing 30 years ago. President Mike Brown did so at the urging of coach Marvin Lewis. "I thought it was important, and Mike agreed that we should have somebody in place that gives us advance work on our opponents," Lewis said.

Quick slants

NFL teams that held opponents under 10 points have won 23 of 25 games. The Browns have the only two losses, 9-6, to Indianapolis and, 9-3, to New England. Cleveland, punchless this season except when it scored 33 against the Steelers, has scored 14 points or fewer in six of eight games.

Tommy Maddox leads the NFL with 10 passes tipped at the line of scrimmage, according to STATS, Inc.

Denver is 4-1 with Jake Plummer, 1-2 without him. The Broncos averaged 28.2 points per game and 371.8 yards with him, 14.3 points and 252.3 yards without. Plummer has eight touchdown passes and three interceptions; his replacements three TDs and seven interceptions.

Dante Hall's 11 career touchdowns on seven kick returns and four pass receptions average 79.8 yards. That's the highest in NFL history for someone with 10 or more touchdowns.

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