Kansas City, Mo. ? If Jim Mora is upset about being kicked out of his bedroom to let Dick Vermeil get a good night’s sleep, then maybe this is a revenge game.

It turns out today’s clash between Mora’s surprisingly good Atlanta Falcons and the venerable Vermeil’s unexpectedly bad Kansas City Chiefs will not be the first time the two have met.

When Mora was just a precocious youngster, Vermeil came to Boulder, Colo., on a recruiting trip for UCLA. Because Vermeil had just hired Mora’s father, also Jim, as an assistant coach, he was a welcome guest and even given the youngster’s room.

“He was moved somewhere else,” said a smiling Vermeil, who still can’t stop calling his 42-year-old opponent “a kid.”

“I kicked young Jim out of his bedroom and slept in his bed,” Vermeil said. “When I came back to recruit there again, I stayed in his room again. I’ve known this guy since he was 6 years old. I’m proud of him. I just hope he doesn’t have a good day against his real old friend.”

The memory also brings a smile to Mora, who has revitalized the Falcons in his rookie year with five wins in six games, already matching their victory total of 2003.

“He’s one of my coaching idols as well as a good friend of my family,” said Mora. “He’s always been a guy since I started in this business who has looked out for me.

“I don’t think on Sunday’s he’s going to be looking out for me anymore. It’s going to be different.”

Oddly, the Chiefs’ defensive coordinator also is an older man who is a close friend. After he was given the Atlanta job last year, Mora tried to hire Gunther Cunningham away from Tennessee as his defensive coordinator. Instead, Cunningham elected to return to Kansas City.

“We’ve become and remain extremely good friends,” said Mora, who was an entry-level errand boy loading sodas into the pop machine and paper into the copying machine when they met 20 years ago in San Diego. “You make a lot of friends in this business. But there’s not a whole lot of people I’m closer to than Gunther.”

A good day for Mora’s Falcons (5-1) in their first trip to Arrowhead Stadium in 13 years could elevate them to 6-1. The Falcons are led by peerless quarterback Michael Vick, who engineered a stirring fourth-quarter rally in last week’s 21-20 victory over the Chargers.

But defensive end Patrick Kerney, who already has seven sacks, gives much of the credit to Mora.

“He’s just so energetic,” Kerney said. “It’s trickled down. You leave here flying around like a Tasmanian devil because of him. He’s helped everybody.”

For the Chiefs (1-4), every outing has become a must-win if they’re to return to the playoffs following last season’s 13-3 campaign.

They might seem especially vulnerable to quick-stepping quarterbacks such as Vick. In losses to Denver and Houston, they repeatedly were burned by quarterback draws and bootlegs.

“He’s the most rare animal in the NFL to defend,” defensive end Eric Hicks said. “He’s a guy who can beat you with his legs and his arm. We really have to be disciplined and try to match his athleticism.”

Defensively, the Falcons could present Priest Holmes with his biggest challenge of the year. Although bedeviled by injuries, Atlanta has been giving up an average of only 74.5 yards rushing and fewer than 15 points a game.

“It’s an overall attitude,” Kerney said. “We don’t have any specialty players on this defense. We’ve got linemen who are willing to chase the ball downfield. Everybody is always working for the greater good.”

Considering what these teams did last year, not many figured the Chiefs would have only one win at this point in the season and Atlanta would have five.

“We are 1-4,” Chiefs fullback Tony Richardson said. “That’s the reality. But we really feel we’re a better team. We played some pretty decent ball. We just have to continue to stay our course and keep the faith, believe in what we’re doing.”