Denver Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs recap: Chiefs defense pays back Orton & Co
Three weeks ago the offenses for these two AFC West division rivals rang up 78 total points as Denver beat Kansas City 49-29. The rematch figured to feature lots of scoring again but welcome to today's NFL. This time both defenses stepped up big to save face & in the end it was the Chiefs defense who ruled the day.
In the first half both teams got the ball for four possessions. Denver kicked one field goal & punted three times. They could muster only 136 total yards on 28 offensive plays. Meanwhile Kansas City's offense ran 33 plays for 188 total yards resulting in two scores: the first a two yard touchdown toss from Matt Cassel to Tight End Leonard Pope, the second a 47 yard Ryan Succop field goal with 3 seconds left before halftime. Both teams seemed very deliberate about maintaining possession of the ball via the ground game. This was not thrilling NFL action.
In the second half Denver's offense turned from bad to worse. Given six possessions they punted four more times, fumbled the ball away & added a second field goal for a total output of six points in this NFL game. Credit the Chiefs defense that harassed & pressured Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton all game long recording four sacks & several knock downs. Orton finished the day with 9 completions on 28 attempts for 117 yards as the KC defense shredded one of the NFL's highest rated passers. The lone bright spot for Denver was Knowshon Moreno who ended up rushing 23 times in the game for 161 yards. The Chiefs highly regarded offense ground to a halt in the second half as they failed to score any points on seven possessions. They punted five times, failed on a 4th down conversion attempt & fumbled the ball away.
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Gardner's Grades:
Offense: D Kansas City's offense moved the ball pretty consistently totaling 21 first downs & 359 yards of total offense. The NFL's leading rushing attack picked up another 185 yards on the ground led by Jamaal Charles with 21 carries for 116 yards. Kansas City controlled the ball for 37 minutes compared to 23 for Denver. Matt Cassel completed 17 of 31 passes for 196 yards with one touchdown & no interceptions. However, scoring only 10 points in an NFL game including zero in the second half is no where near impressive.
Defense: A The Chiefs defense was by far the superior unit on the field on this day. They allowed Denver 247 yards of total offense & only 13 first downs. They forced seven punts, recovered a fumble & reduced one of the NFL's most effective quarterbacks into one of the poorest stat lines of the entire season. They atoned for the embarrassing performance they displayed in Denver three weeks ago in a big way.
Looking ahead:
Quarterback Matt Cassel had an emergency appendectomy on Wednesday & did not even travel with the team to take on the Chargers in San Diego. The last two games the Chiefs played in San Diego they got blown out. Backup quarterback Brodie Croyle gets the start. He's 0-9 in his NFL career. All signs point to a lopsided win for the Chargers. The Chiefs will still be in first place in the AFC even with a loss. So what happens? One thing seems certain in this league: surprise!
By Allan Gardner
ProFootball-fans.com Kansas City Chiefs Correspondent