"I think a month without playing football is enough," said Edwards, who deactivated Johnson for three games (with pay) before the NFL suspended him without pay for one.

"A month is a lot of football," Edwards added. "It's behind us now and we're moving ahead."

But not all is behind Johnson. Not only does he still face municipal court charges for two alleged simple assaults involving two women in Kansas City clubs, but now one of those women is seeking unspecified damages from Johnson in a civil suit.

--Coordinator Gunther Cunningham did a masterful job of holding together a Chiefs defense that began the San Diego game without three starters and its nickel back before losing two more starters and a top reserve during the game.

Despite the banged-up lineup, Kansas City still held San Diego to a touchdown below its 28-point scoring average, No. 3 in the league coming into last week's game at Qualcomm Stadium.

Cunningham didn't do as well, however, in managing the intricacies of the radio receiver being worn by select defensive players for the first time this season.

NFL rules allow two defenders -- but only two pre-determined defenders -- to wear receivers in their helmets. For the Chiefs in the San Diego game, those two players were linebackers Donnie Edwards and Pat Thomas. And when both went down within minutes of each other, Cunningham was frantic in seeking a remedy.

"Gun is screaming at the equipment guy, almost having a heart attack, hollering, 'Get the microphone in this guy's helmet now!'" Edwards said. "I had to walk over and say, 'Gun, it's against the rules. You can't do that.'

"We talked at the owners meeting about what happens if both guys on defense get hurt. Then what do you do? Well, the rule is, that's it, you don't get to use the helmet anymore. You're out of luck. So, of course, it happened to us."

--Drew Brees is 3-3 as a starter against the Chiefs, with all six previous starts coming as a quarterback for the Chargers. He is 1-3 in games as a starter at Arrowhead.

--As a 5 1/2-point home underdog against the Saints, the Chiefs are looking at their closest line since their Week 2 home game against Oakland, a 23-8 loss.

BY THE NUMBERS: 21-6 -- Kansas City's record against NFC opponents at Arrowhead since 1995, though NFC teams have won the last two meetings (Green Bay last year, Tampa Bay this year).

12.5 -- The Chiefs' scoring average in the first six games of the year, one of which Tyler Thigpen started.

22.3 -- Kansas City's scoring average in its last three games, all of which Thigpen started.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "If it can happen, it'll happen to us." -- Herm Edwards, on losing both his radio receiver-wearing defenders to injury at the same time.