For much of the past four years, it has been so very simple for everyone involved: Priest Holmes, the Kansas City Chiefs, even the teams that have had to defend against them. Not that the veteran running back was easy to stop – 5,482 yards rushing and 76 total touchdowns during that time say just the opposite – but at least opponents knew what was coming. Just as the Chiefs knew who was the focal point of their offense.
Today, things aren’t quite so cut and dried. Holmes he has been forced to share the spotlight with teammate Larry Johnson. And though the Chiefs say they have a formula for the rotation – two series for Holmes, one for Johnson – the implementation has been something of a work in progress.
The greater headache has belonged to the New York Jets and Oakland Raiders, both of whom were trampled by Kansas City’s new two-headed monster. In the Chiefs’ opener, Holmes and Johnson combined for 195 yards rushing and three touchdowns in a 27-7 win. Sunday, each player scored a touchdown, and they rushed for a combined 116 yards in a 23-17 win over Oakland.
Monday night, it will be the Broncos’ turn to try to solve the dilemma that is the Chiefs’ ground game, an attack that, at its current pace, would lead to the first 1,000-yard rushing teammates since the Cleveland Browns’ Earnest Byner and Kevin Mack in 1985.
“I wouldn’t be opposed to that,” Chiefs president Carl Peterson said. “I think it’s a terrific 1-2 punch. This business is a business of attrition,” he said, adding that NFL teams want everybody healthy for the postseason.
Attrition is at least part of the reason for the change. As good as Holmes has been – he scored the most touchdowns in a three- year span in league history with a total of 66 from 2002-04 – he has been unable to finish two of the past three seasons because of injuries.
When the 31-year-old missed the final eight games of the 2004 season with a strained medial collateral ligament in his right knee, Johnson stepped in. Kansas City’s first-round draft pick in 2003, a former Penn State star, had played sparingly in his first season and a half, to the point of being inactive in 10 games his rookie season.
When Holmes tweaked an ankle early last season, Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil said it might be “time to take the diapers” off Johnson. Vermeil says he meant it as a joke, but Johnson wasn’t amused. The incident was a fitting encapsulation of their relationship to that point.
“He came here as a first-round draft choice; he was a 2,000-yard rusher in college,” Chiefs fullback Tony Richardson said. “You can’t fault that man for wanting to play. I told him the thing about it is, you have to understand that you’re working behind one of the best running backs in the NFL.
“But he’s not going to play forever, and you have to take advantage and learn from this guy. Then when the opportunity comes, if it’s two carries here or three carries there, get in there and show what you can do. He did that.”
When Holmes suffered his season-ending injury, Johnson shone. He finished the season with 581 yards rushing and 11 total touchdowns. Although Vermeil said he already was committed to playing Johnson more this season, Peterson said the back earned it with “the best training camp of any player I’ve ever seen with the Chiefs in 17 years.”
“To have that kind of talent on the bench and not give him an opportunity to use it, and maybe wear out Priest a little more, that was the whole thing I was thinking,” Vermeil said. “Larry knows we’re not all against him and that we want to help him be what he has the ability to be. His real problem is that he just loves to play so much that he couldn’t handle not playing. I respect that, but I think that behavior is all behind him now.
“You worry about it not working if you have the wrong kind of people, but they’re both unselfish, they really are. Granted, Priest may not have 1,600 yards, but together, they’ll have more than that.”
While Holmes was not available to comment for this story, everyone else says there shouldn’t be any trouble stemming from bruised egos.
“I was just hoping it wouldn’t cause problems,” Richardson said. “Larry’s obviously excited about it, but you have to take Priest into consideration as well. He’s been the guy here for years. You have to make sure he’s OK with it, but he’s handled it like a pro.”
Peterson admits things aren’t perfect, saying, “If one of them is in for a three-and-out, that’s a pretty short series.”
For Johnson’s part, after chafing for so long, he said he’s willing to do what it takes to get out on the field.
“You always feel like you want to get going, get out there and get your reps and get warmed up and into a rhythm, but this is the coach’s decision,” he said. “You have to condition yourself (mentally). I think we can do that and get a rhythm game-by-game. I know when we both get in there and we both get into a groove and we’re pounding and pounding, it’s kind of hard to stop us.”
Staff writer Anthony Cotton can be reached at 303-820-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com.
