A Heartbreaker Extends Chiefs Losing Streak
From Arrowhead Stadium
It does not get any more painful than that.
Forget the losing streak. Forget the last three seasons of defeats and despair. Every one of those previous 27 losses hurt. But the pain was nothing like what the Chiefs were feeling in the moments after their 26-20 overtime defeat to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday afternoon.
They led most of the way in this game. When the Cowboys came back and went ahead in the second half with 17 unanswered points, it seemed like another chapter in losing was about to be written. But the Chiefs offense answered back with maybe their best offensive drive of the season. The tied the game, it went to overtime, and the Chiefs incredibly won the toss. They were on the verge of victory.
But they could not handle Dallas WR Miles Austin. He had burned them all day, including a 59-yard fourth quarter score that gave the Cowboys the late lead. In the overtime, after both teams had multiple possessions, Austin and QB Tony Romo hooked up again in overtime, a 60-yard touchdown play that won the game and made Dallas 3-2 on the season.
On both of Austin’s touchdowns, Chiefs CB Maurice Leggett and SS Mike Brown missed tackles, turning short passes into long touchdowns. Austin finished the game with 10 catches for 250 yards and those two long TD plays. This game was his first NFL start and in the Cowboys first four games, he’d caught just eight passes for 81 yards. It was the biggest receiving day in the 50 seasons of Texans-Chiefs history.
So despite their best performance of the season, the Chiefs are 0-5 and now losers of 28 of their last 30 games, a string of losing that now ranks among the worst stretches in NFL history.
“I thought the guys fought hard in all phases,” head coach Todd Haley said after the game. “I thought offensively in spurts we showed some progress. Defensively we missed some tackles out there but I thought overall the guys competed to win the game. It wasn’t the result we wanted and I know the guys are hurting.’
Yes, the pain was almost palatable in the Chiefs locker room.
“They all hurt, everyone one of them,” said S Jon McGraw. “When they stop hurting is when it’s time to find something else to do. This one hurts more because we were in position to win the game. For it to end that way, it’s not something you can just forget.”
The Chiefs defense gave up 498 yards, while Romo threw for 351 yards. The Kansas City offense had 304 yards on the day, but only 72 of those came in the rushing game. QB Matt Cassel was officially sacked four times, smashed a dozen other moments and took more hits on the afternoon than a piñata at a kid’s birthday party. There was a blocked FG where the Chiefs protection unit didn’t even see NT Jay Ratliff jump over them and knock down Ryan Succop’s 53-yard try.
Still, they were in the game until the last instant, when Austin slipped through the grasps of Leggett and Brown and hit the end zone for the winning points.
“This team is going to win more games because of what you saw today,” said Cowboys coach Wade Phillips. “They have a lot of heart and a lot of effort.”
The first half was a defensive struggle where the Chiefs gave as good as they got from the Cowboys. The Dallas defense was put in several tough positions because of fumbles by punt returner Patrick Crayton and Romo, but they held the KC offense to just 107 yards in the half. The Chiefs running game could not get things together, as QB Matt Cassel was the leading rusher at intermission with two carries for 21 yards. Johnson had just seven yards on eight carries. Cassel was sacked twice in 16 passing plays in the first half.
The only reason the Chiefs had the lead was the Cowboys fumble problems. The first one came near the end of the first quarter, when Crayton was back to return a punt by Dustin Colquitt. The ball hit his hands, bounced away, hit the leg of teammate Alan Ball and then Leggett fell on the fumble at the Dallas 23-yard line.
Four plays produced minus-five yards for the Chiefs offense, and Ryan Succop had to come on and kick a 47-yard FG to give the Chiefs an early 3-0 lead.
On the next Dallas possession, Romo botched the snap and his fumble was recovered by Brown at the Dallas 16-yard line. It took five plays before Cassel connected with OLB-TE Mike Vrabel for the one-yard TD. It was the 11th catch and 11th TD catch of Vrabel’s career and his first in Kansas City.
Suddenly, the Chiefs had a 10-0 lead and the Cowboys were having all sorts of offensive problems. They were able to get a field goal on the board, as Nick Folk hit a 22-yarder after the KC defense held the fort when Dallas had a 1st-and-goal at the eight-yard line.
The Chiefs added another Succop field goal midway through the third quarter, this one from 38 yards away and a 13-3 lead. But on the next possession, Romo took the Cowboys eight plays, 72 yards with the touchdown coming on a 36-yard run by RB Tashard Choice. The Chiefs had done a very good job up to that point controlling the Dallas running game, allowing just 60 yards before the scoring jaunt.
Dallas tied things up at 13-13 with a 28-yard FG from Folk with just over 11 minutes to play.
That’s when the Chiefs went out and put together a very good offensive drive that ate up a lot of time, some eight minutes on the clock. They were helped along by a spat of defensive offsides calls against the Cowboys and were able to move the ball to the Dallas 35-yard line. That’s where Succop lined up for a 53-yard FG attempt.
But the ball never got past the line of scrimmage. Ratliff jumped over snapper Thomas Gafford and the left guard, Mike Goff and blocked the kick. Three plays later, Romo and Austin connected on a 59-yard TD and suddenly, with 2 minutes, 16 seconds to play, the Cowboys had their first lead of the afternoon.
Cassel then drove the offense 74 yards in 10 plays, using less than two minutes of the clock. The touchdown came on a 16-yard strike to WR Dwayne Bowe with 24 seconds to play. Haley didn’t think twice about what to do next. He went ahead had Succop kick the PAT to tie the score, rather than attempt a two-point conversion to get the lead.
The overtime coin toss went to the Chiefs and they got first possession. But after a first down, a holding call on LT Wade Smith – who was filling in for the injured Branden Albert – sucked all the momentum out o f the drive and they punted. Dallas punted right back, going three plays and out. The Chiefs returned the favor, going three plays and punt.
Dallas took over at its own 21-yard line and immediately hit the Chiefs with a 24-yard run by Choice. The second-year back then hit for five yards and Cowboys LT Flozell Adams was called for holding.
On 2nd-and-15 at the Dallas 40, Romo threw to the right where Austin caught the ball, shed Leggett’s arms and then ran through Brown’s arms and on to the end zone for the victory.
It’s time to release Maurice Leggett. I’m beginning to think the only reason we had high expectations for the secondary was because we couldn’t stop the run last year. So far Carr and Leggett have played poorly. Vrabel is on his last leg and can’t cover TE’s anymore. Personally i think we need to draft a LT and move Albert to guard, because Waters is finished. Goff was injured and it seems they started to play a little better( nothing spectacular but better). Even if the line starts to play better it’s time to sit LJ, he just doesn’t have it anymore(I was rooting for him too). Jamal Charles(who i’m still upset with from last week), is next in-line to start. I’m still a Chiefs fan and will always be, but there is no moral victory and anybody who thinks there is, is ludacris.
Kolbe SMith should be active in 3 weeks. He definitely should get an opportunity. Our nickel corners were awful. Leggett was in only because Washington was so poor in the first half. I am SICK of watching our safetys get caught out of position, too slow to react and out of control. Jarred Page has been very poor this year. When Albert went out we started keeping in the tight end to help. In retrospect, we should have done it when he was in the game. Goff needs to go.
Poor tackling has plagued the Chiefs for years…and for whatever reason, it hasn’t changed this year. There is simply no excuse for NFL players to miss tackles on a consistent basis like that. None.
Larry Johnson is done. Period. The guy has nothing. Congratulations to him, though, for fooling Haley and Pioli enough to make the opening day roster so he could get his one last big payday. Get him out of the lineup, ASAP. Every play he gets the ball is a wasted play. Do they not see that? Time to give someone else the bulk of the carries.
The Cowboys gift-wrapped our first victory today. The Chiefs simply did not have the skills to open the box.
Mad Chief,
I agree. I feel like the we are trying to display LJ for trade bait but he just is not selling himself. I would like to send him to the Jets. Send him to NY and give them the criminals they’re always interested in. How about congratulations to the DB’s from last year who fooled our staff they they were worth anything. Our D played so well minus the 2 huge plays by Leggett.
Oh well!
I aw so many good things today I am not even worried.
Cassel, in my opinion, showed why he is payed so much. For those nay-sayers, if Brodie started today, he’d be on the IR for the 3rd time of his career. Cassel is TOUGH! He is tougher than his sorry O-line. Cassel hit D-linman more than our O-line does and he still tries to come back for more.
Albert’s injury better be serious otherwise that is another busted high round draft pick. I am starting to feel Bowe was a reach also at his high draft status. He is just not a playmaker like Macklin, Harvin, and that kid from WV playing for Philly.
That is where we need to get better, draft wise. Finding playmakers, gamebreakers on the offense side of the ball. We need guys who want the ball on offense and want to make things happen!
I’m not happy with the result, but man, the Chiefs are getting better! To see them march down in a 2 minute drill, score a touchdown…Awesome!
Wins are a coming! Turn your frowns upside down!
Heheheh
GO CHIEFS!
Absolutely Ludacris!!! GO CHIEFS!!!
2009 AND BEYOND!!!!
MDChief says:
Kolby Smith should be active in 3 weeks. He definitely should get an opportunity.
I agree with that statement totally, Kolby ran good last year and could catch the ball out of the backfield.
The game with the Giants the announcers were saying the Chiefs have a problem with the line not getting their heads up with the snap of the ball on field goals. I thought the Giants would capitalize on that fact. I guess the Cowboys were listening and the Chiefs weren’t, to bad.
Cassel is one tough hombre. He reminds me of Bill Kenney. LJ did not have many creases to run through. I want to see Smith, too, but you can’t expect much with that o-line blocking for him. Charles should be the 3rd down back, but not an every-down guy.
Trent Dilfer said Donkeys have the best o-line in football. We have to get better on the o-line if we want to compete in AFC West in the near future.
Big Lee says:
“Trent Dilfer said Donkeys have the best o-line in football.”
I don’t know about “the best in football”…but they’re miles above the Chiefs. Funny how Casey apparently wasn’t good enough for us a couple of years ago…but went to Denver and is still kicking ass. And we replaced him with Rudy N? Yeah, nice move.
Albert was getting beat on pretty much every play today. Has Waters had a game without a penalty yet this year? And this is supposed to be the GOOD side of the line???
I agree with the Cassel comments. I think he has the skills to be a good QB…but my gawd, he doesn’t have a whole helluva lot to work with right now.
I keep looking for bright spots for the Chiefs…but I’m not finding many.
We need Derrick Johnson in the lineup. What the hell is Jon McGraw doing going in as a linebacker or whatever instead of Johnson. DJ plain and simple needs to play.
People you all are missing the point as great of a day Miles Austin had. The Biggest question of the day is WHY didnt we match Flowers up against the guy. He’s our best corner. WE want him to be great according to Haley. Romo obviously wasn’t throwing to anyone else other than him and Witten. That just didn’t make any sense me. Where was the defensive adjustment. Leggett has been playing poorly all season and Carr hasn’t been as good as last year. But if Flowers is this team best corner being wasted guarding other receiver like Crayton who isn’t a number 1 receiver, but Miles Austin is going off. We should have put Flowers on this guy. Its not like you got Flowers checking Marshall, Fitzgerald, or Andre Johnson. His talent is being wasted on Crayton vs putting the guy on Austin. The same guy Champ Bailey shut out at the end of the game last week. And oh might I remind you Broncos won.
I’m not quite ready to give up on LJ. He’s in great shape and we know what he is capable of doing. It’s just hard for him to do it when he’s being hit by defensive linemen before he can take two steps after the handoff. The O-line needs to suck it up and gel.
It’s looking more and more like our Chiefs have found a QB for the future, that drive at the end of the game should give all Chiefs fans a little faith that better things are to come! Go Chiefs!
was dj at the stadium?
still giving up to much offense, we shouldn’t even be close to winning games when giving up nearly 500 yards of offense…
I can’t believe that McDaniels has the Donkeys playing so well, I thought it was there easy early schedule but after beating the Patriots it’s starting to look like they have the best team in the AFC West.
I think the chiefs should have either kept Pollard or tried to get Dawkins instead of Brown who hasn’t looked better then Pollard yet.
Albert was facing a damn good LB in Ware, the guy had 20 sacks last year. Not much Albert can do against him, I think the loss of wieght has really damaged his blocking ability, he probably is more suited to play guard at this wieght. Last year Albert only allowed 4 sacks on the season, this year he has allowed ??, double that to this point??
I SEE COMMITTS ABOUT THE MISSED TACKLES BY LEGGITT ON THE TWO LONG TOUCHDOWNS. HE WASN’T TRYING TO TACKLE THE RECEIVER BUT WAS ATTEMTING TO TIP THE BALL AWAY. WHERE IS THE HELP? ANYONE, SAFETY, LINEBACKER, LINEMAN(THEY ARE NOT THAT FAR AWAY).
Bob,
What is your opinion of Peter King’s take on the J. Allen trade (SI website today)?
I feel embarrassed to be a Chiefs fan. Why are we so bad? It’s obvious – dreadful drafts. Name the most consistent player Chiefs have drafted in past 5 years – a punter, Colquitt (99th pick in ‘95)! No wonder we are so bad. From ‘04 thru ‘07, 7 players remain on the roster: ‘04-0, ‘05 Johnson/Colquitt, ‘06 Hali/Croyle/Page, and ‘07 Bowe/Tyler. Not one is a top 30 player at his position in AFC except Dustin. For example, Bowe is ranked 36th in receptions and 33rd in rec yards in AFC.
My patiences, loyalty, and passion are running thin. This isn’t about a few bad drafts. Since the 1970 Super Bowl, we have 3 playoff wins. For comparison, since 1980 the Jets and Tampa have each won 6 playoff games. Alas, I have some idea what Cubs fans feel and its no fun.
Brown has looked like crap. We should have never let Pollard go. Brown was supposed to be a better tackler than Pollard, but he missed Austin and we lost the game. Legget is doing ok this year, but he totally whiffed on the tackle on Austin too. Cassel finally showed some promise, but he’s stil holding onto the ball way too long. Albert has loooked horrible this year. Good thing we traded Jared Allen for Albert…that’s payed off.
Holding on to the ball too long? He takes a three step drop and is sacked. MAybe he shouldn’t even catch the snap.
I saw very little positives. The Cowboys almost beat themselves. We didn’t almost beat the Cowboys. We are a sorry club as we were in 07 and 08. I think we have the right coach, just hope he gets a couple more years to get some personell before we give him the boot.
gordymule, Yea Brown was the help overtop and he let him run by him with a poor angle at the receiver…
How bout that great defense with the retooled D-Line?
Pollard was the Texans leading tackler in a losing effort this past Sunday. Last Sunday he was the second leading tackler.
Pendergast will not be our D-Cord. next season.