The Chiefs have a tough task trying to maintain momentum after a big win on Monday night.
View full sizeKansas City Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel.1. Monday night hangover: Playing on Monday night is a blessing and a burden. Yes, it amps up your home crowd. Sometimes that energy carries you over a tougher opponent. The burden is picking up your guts off the field, turning the page and going on to the next game. If it happens to be on the road in another time zone -- as is the case with the Chiefs today -- it takes a strong team and an excellent coaching job to win again. It's quite a challenge.
2. Seneca Wallace, NFL quarterback: Mike Holmgren and Gil Haskell, who coached him, know him. Eric Mangini and Todd Haley, who coached against him, know him. But the 70,000 or so of us in Cleveland Browns Stadium who've never seen Wallace play in a regular-season game are intrigued by the thought of seeing him perform in a full game for the first time. In stop-and-go stretches in training camp and preseason, Wallace displayed a strong, accurate arm, nice mobility, and the ability to make pinpoint throws on the move. But we've not seen him long enough to develop a rhythm and "manage" the game.
3. Speed kills The Chiefs' new speed on both sides of the ball was evident in their upset win over San Diego on Monday night. Last week, the same was true of Tampa Bay. So that's two opponents in two games with more of that ingredient than the Browns. Which raises the question: How do you make a team faster once the roster is set?
4. Jerome and Jamaal Jerome Harrison and Jamaal Charles -- the underappreciated running backs of each team -- exchanged haymakers in the teams' meeting in Kansas City last year. Charles with a 47-yard TD run. Harrison with one of 71 yards and another of 28. Back and forth they went and in the end Charles piled up 154 yards and one TD and Harrison had 286 and three TDs. Harrison mused that that never happens a second time. We shall see.