Monday Morning Quarterback: Chiefs 49, Titans 38
December 14th, 2004 @ 9:17 pm; by Raider Hater
176 Views l Comments Off
It wasn’t pretty, but a win is a win. In one of the ugliest defensive games in recent memory, the Chiefs scored 14 points in the final 32 seconds to rally for a 49-38 victory. Here are some of my thoughts on the game:
After a second straight week of watching the Chiefs get slapped around in the first half, it’s obvious that the team needs to do a better job of being ready to play from the opening bell.
1st quarter total yardage: Tennessee = 117, Kansas City = 8
1st half stats: Tennessee = 18 first downs, 356 yards, 42 plays
Kansas City = 8 first downs, 145 yards, 23 plays
The entire first half of this game was terrible for the Chiefs. The offense couldn’t move the ball and the defense couldn’t stop anyone. The Chiefs got lucky though, and thanks to two big plays they were still in the game at the half.
Only the Kansas City defense can make both Ronald Curry and Drew Bennett look like the second coming of Jerry Rice. Bennett torched the Chiefs for 233 yards and three touchdowns, but thankfully he got worn out and ran out of gas in the second half or who knows how many yards he would have had.
Who the hell is Billy Volek? An undrafted free agent who used to back up David Carr
in college should not light up your secondary like Peyton Manning.
The Chiefs were able to “force” a season high four turnovers – all fumbles – but they were more good fortune than good football. Without those turnovers the Titans would have ran away with this one.
Gunther Cunningham went from the Titans to the Chiefs and BOTH defenses got worse! How did that happen?
I do give credit to Cunningham though for making some nice halftime adjustments again this week. He benched William Bartee and began to give his corners some safety help on the long passes which helped slow down the Titans in the second half.
The defense held the Titans on three straight possession with the score tied in the second half, but then the offense couldn’t take advantage. And when they did finally give the Chiefs a seven point lead, the defense quickly collapsed and allowed Tennessee to tie the score. However, the defense came up big after Tony Richardson’s fumble and held the Titans to a field goal that set up the game winning touchdown drive for the Chiefs.
Did anyone catch Dick Vermeil’s halftime interview with Michelle Tofaya? He talked about the offense being out of sync in the first half…when the defense give up 356 yards.
The Chiefs offense took a while to get going, but in the end, they did just enough to allow the Chiefs to come out with a win.
Trent Green had an average game, but he made the plays when he had to.
Larry Johnson once again showed that he may be worthy of the first round selection that the Chiefs used on him two years ago. He only carried the ball seven times, but he gained 104 yards and broke free for touchdown runs of 46 and 41 yards in the second half.
With a 58 yard touchdown reception, Eddie Kennison is finally emerging as a deep threat for the Chiefs. Granted, it helps when nobody covers you.
Watching the Titans run a fake punt a week after attempting three onside kicks made me wonder…when was the last time the Chiefs tried something like that? To be honest I can’t remember, but when you have nothing to lose why not empty the playbook?
This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 14th, 2004 at 9:17 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. Have something to say about this post? Please leave a comment.
