Kansas City, Mo ? The Kansas City Chiefs are about to prove they’re willing to go farther than any other franchise in the NFL to get to the Super Bowl.

Quite literally.

In an era when most NFL teams are opting to pitch training camp close to home, or just not leave home at all to prepare for the long season, the Chiefs once again will open camp in River Falls, Wis.

Coach Dick Vermeil’s third Chiefs team begins the two-a-day grind in the cool climes of the Upper Midwest today.

But if Vermeil’s history of third-year breakthroughs is to hold true, the Chiefs will have to find positive answers to two big questions:

l No. 1 — What about Priest Holmes?

The NFL’s offensive player of the year last season, Holmes has spent the past few months secretly rehabbing a hip injury that shelved him for the final two games of the Chiefs’ 8-8 campaign in 2002. He insists he’s healthy and ready to go, and Vermeil says he’s confident his record-breaking running back will be “100 percent.”

l No. 2 — Have a series of offseason personnel moves turned around the NFL’s lowest-ranked defense?

A defense that gave up 55 running plays of 10 yards or more and 50 passing plays that covered at least 20 yards, doomed the 2002 Chiefs to .500 despite a Holmes-led offense that was one of the league’s most explosive.

Offseason acquisitions of linebacker Shawn Barber, defensive end Vonnie Holliday and defensive back Dexter McLeon should go a long way toward a turnaround.

Perhaps just as important will be the return of two former first-round draft picks.

Safety Jerome Woods, a key member of the defense, was lost for the season during an exhibition game in August. And 2002 No. 1 pick, tackle Ryan Sims, hardly played at all before injuring an elbow following a training-camp contract holdout.

Nevertheless, optimism does seem to abound for a franchise that hasn’t made a playoff appearance in five years or won a postseason game in 10.

One reason may be Vermeil’s history of third-year breakthroughs. The Philadelphia Eagles, his first NFL head-coaching assignment, broke a decades-long playoff drought in his third season.

Then he led St. Louis to the Super Bowl championship in his third year with the Rams.

“I feel much better than I ever have right now,” Vermeil said.

“That doesn’t mean we’re going to win a world championship, but I just know this — I’ve never felt as confident that I have a good football team.”

It will also be Trent Green’s third year as Chiefs quarterback. The former St. Louis backup, who struggled his first full season as a starter, appeared last year to begin reaching the heights that Vermeil had always predicted he could. Plus, he should have the best receiver corps the Chiefs have had in many years.

“I’m real excited. I think that everybody’s excited,” Green said. “It’s a much faster team.”

Even if Holmes regains close to full health, the Chiefs plan to reduce his load, shifting a gradually increasing share of the burden onto No. 1 draft pick Larry Johnson. The former Penn State standout, taken with the 27th pick in the first round, signed a seven-year deal just three days before camp opened.

For the Chiefs, that is significant. They haven’t had a first-round draft pick report to camp on time since 1998.

“I think Priest will be ready to go,” Green said. “I’m not going to speculate that he’s not. I think he’ll definitely be ready. They’re going to be rotating Priest and making sure they don’t overdo it with him.”