52 Days until Chiefs football, we are ‘Creed Humphrey’ days away

We are 52 days away from the Kansas City Chiefs‘ season-opening game against the Denver Broncos on “Monday Night Football” in Week 1.

The No. 52 jersey is worn by center Creed Humphrey, who’s entering the season with two consecutive first-team All-Pro honors under his belt.

He’s definitely the all-time No. 52 in franchise history, but here are some others:

<

Howard played in a dark era of Chiefs football, but he was a full-time starting linebacker for seven seasons, racking up five interceptions, three forced fumbles, 17.5 sacks and two fumbles returned for a touchdown. He ended his NFL career with two seasons playing for the St. Louis Rams.

<

The Chiefs’ red-zone defense ranked eighth in the NFL in opposing touchdown rate (52.9%) while facing the 21st-ranked number of red-zone drives.

It’s a reminder that the Chiefs’ defense held ground and kept the team in games constantly last season, allowing the offense a chance to answer. Whether the offense was able to or not was the difference between a close win and a close loss most of the time.

The Chiefs’ defense needs to improve on third down, getting off the field and forcing more punts than field goals, but the foundation of a sound, above-average scoring defense is what defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has built over his years at the helm of the unit.