Chiefs Achieve Goals In Beating of Broncos

From Invesco Field, Denver

Todd Haley laid out the goals for his football team last Monday. They were ambitious, far-reaching and maybe a bit wacky.

No. 1 was beating the Broncos and knocking them out of the playoffs.

Second was Jamaal Charles rushing for 200 yards.

No. 3 was holding the Broncos under 20 points.

And fourth was the Chiefs offense scoring more than 30 points.

Haley was three for four on his agenda, as the Chiefs beat the Broncos 44-14, knocking Denver from any shot at the AFC playoffs and doing it on the legs of Charles, who ran for 259 yards.

“This was an important win for the Kansas City Chiefs and that group of guys,” Haley said afterwards. “I take my hat off to them for sticking together, continuing to practice hard, knowing that there was light at the end of the tunnel.”

For the Broncos, the light at the end of the’09 tunnel was a train named Jamaal Charles. The Chiefs wanted to get Charles the yards he needed to get 1,000 yards for the season. They did far more than that, as Charles ran 25 times for 259 yards, scoring two touchdowns, including the last one of 56 yards.

“My goal was to go for 1,000 yards,” said Charles. “Coach had the goal of 200. I didn’t’ believe it, but I went for it. Our goal was to be 1-0 in 2010. That’s what we were shooting for.”

LB Derrick Johnson went for it as well, returning a pair of interceptions for touchdowns. K Ryan Succop added three field goals and FB Mike Cox scored his first NFL touchdown.

The first quarter was unusual for the Chiefs because they actually scored a touchdown on their first possession and held a lead at the end of the first 15 minutes. Denver won the toss and took the ball, but the Chiefs defense held them to a three plays-and-out and after a punt, the Chiefs offense took over at its 14-yard line.

Haley decided to go for the homerun ball immediately and QB Matt Cassel connected with seldom used WR Terrence Copper on a 50-yard completion, beating Denver CB Champ Bailey down the right side. Copper was wide open by 5 to 10 yards. On the next snap, Cassel found TE Leonard Pope who got away from Pro Bowl FS Brian Dawkins for 29 yards. Cassel and WR Dwayne Bowe connected for a six-yard completion down to the one-yard line.

On second-and-goal, Cox went off the left side and scored the first touchdown of his NFL career on a one-yard run. The PAT kick by Succop gave the Chiefs a 7-0 lead. It was only the fourth time in 16 games that the Chiefs scored first and it was the only time they were able to score a touchdown on their first possession of the game. In 16 games, the first time they had the ball they scored 10 points.

The teams traded punts and didn’t get much going offensively, until the Chiefs finally put the ball in the hands of Charles. Through the first 10 minutes of the game, the Chiefs No. 1 offensive weapon had not touched the ball. When he finally did, his first run went for just two yards. But on third-and-eight, Charles went left, got to the second level and cut right, where he swerved around traffic and headed left again. This time he found open field and by the time he was brought down, Charles had a 52-yard run to the Denver 35-yard line.

Two plays later at the Denver 31-yard line, Haley outfoxed his own self. The offensive coordinator called for a trick play, as Cassel dumped it off to FB Tim Castille who went right. Cassel continued to his left and ran down field as a receiver. Castille stopped and heaved the ball downfield without any idea of whether Cassel was in the area where he was throwing. He wasn’t. Denver DB Andre Goodman could have called a fair catch on the play, as he caught the ball for an interception. He was tackled by Cassel, who had finally gotten down to the spot where Castille threw the ball.

Although they interception gave them the ball on their five-yard line, the Denver offense turned that takeaway into points. Orton moved the Broncos 95 yards in 10 plays with five first downs. The big plays were back to back passes from Orton to WR Jabar Gaffney and RB Knowshon Moreno for 21 and 20 yards. They also got a gift from the Chiefs defense, as CB Brandon Carr was flagged for pass interference in the end zone, giving Denver the ball at the KC one-yard line. It took them three plays, but Moreno finally scored over the right side. After the PAT kick, the score was tied 7-7 with less than a minute gone in the second quarter.

More punting ensued, but then the Chiefs offense got a drive going, thanks to a 33-yard run by Charles. They had first-and-goal at the Denver two-yard line, but couldn’t score the touchdown. They settled for a 20-yard FG by Succop and a 10-7 lead with five minutes to play in the half.

Denver came right back and evened the score right before intermission with a 25-yard FG from Matt Prater at the end of a 11-play drive. Most of the yardage in that possession was generated by from passes by Orton to Gaffney, with gains of 26, 18, 10 and three yards.

At half-time Gaffney had 10 catches for 145 yards. Charles had 113 rushing yards and after hitting the first offensive play for big yardage, Cassel was just seven of 13 for 75 yards.

The Chiefs started with the first possession of the second half and Cassel marched them 79 yards on 10 plays with Charles getting the last five yards for a touchdown. That scoring run put Charles at 1,000 rushing yards for the season. The two big plays in the drive were a 26-yard end-around run by Quinten Lawrence and a 15-yard run by Charles and then another 15 yards tacked on for a personal foul call against Denver LB Robert Ayers. He body slammed Charles at the end of the play and that mistake made for a 30-yard play.

That 17-10 Chiefs lead did not last long. Orton hit a pair of big pass plays of 24 yards to Gaffney and 44 yards to WR Brandon Lloyd and on the fourth play of the possession, Moreno scored on a one-yard run. The PAT kick made the score 17-17 with just over eight minutes to play in the third quarter.

The Chiefs came right back and put together a drive for a 36-yard Succop FG, the key play was a 43-yard pass from Cassel to WR Chris Chambers. That 20-17 lead did not last long.

On Denver’s first offensive play, Johnson grabbed an Orton pass and took it back 45 yards for a touchdown. Succop’s PAT kick gave the Chiefs a 27-17 margin.

Before the end of the half, the Broncos defense made a contribution, as veteran CB Ty Law picked off a Cassel pass and limped 37 yards with the return to set up the Denver offense at the Chiefs three-yard line.

Three plays later, Orton connected with WR Brandon Stokely in the end zone on an all-out blitz by the Chiefs defense. That left Carr in one-on-one coverage and Stokely won that battle for the TD. The PAT kick cut the Chiefs lead to 27-24.

But right back came the Chiefs, keyed by another long run from Charles who scampered 30 yards. It was part of a seven-play, 51-yard possession and Succop banged home his third FG of the game, a 47-yarder and the KC lead was now six points, 30-24.

That’s when the Chiefs defense stepped up again, in the familiar form of No. 56. Johnson picked off another Orton pass, returning this one for 60 yards and his second touchdown of the game. D.J. was in perfect position to catch the ball, grabbed it and then went untouched to the north end zone. The PAT kick gave the Chiefs a 37-24 lead.

Charles added more yards and another touchdown late in the game, scoring on a 56-yard run with just over six minutes to play.

It made for a wonderful way to end what had been a miserable season.

“It’s something for us to build on, no doubt,” said Cassel. “It’s a good feeling we can carry into t he future about ourselves and each other.”