Kansas City Chiefs 23 Arizona Cardinals 20 (October 8, 2006)
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0 commentsby Estebistec
The Kansas City Chiefs overcame several key mistakes today and dodged a bullet to survive the Arizona Cardinals 23-20. The defense spotted two early scores to Matt Leinart in his first NFL start and from there it was a slow struggle for them to catch up and ultimately win the game. It didn't come without a cost though, as Larry Johnson was injured at the end of a long receiving play by a flagrant face-mask tackle from Antrel Rolle. That play got Lawrence Tynes close enough for a chip-shot to win, while the Cardinals' offense left Neil Rackers with seven seconds and a 51-yard try to tie the game that was wide right.
Arizona received the opening kickoff and Edgerrin James briefly regained a little bit of his old look with his first two plays, for 9 and 2 yards, notching a first down. The next two plays the Chiefs defense held him to 3 and then -3 yards. So with 3rd and 10 on the KC 49, it seems the Chiefs just needed to remain stiff to force a punt. Instead, they sold out to blitz and Lenny Walls let Anquan Boldin get by him for a touchdown pass from Leinart.
Eddie Kennison catches a first-down pass from Damon Huard, and after two plays for short or no gain, FB Ronnie Cruz goes 9 yards on a catch-and-run. On the next play Larry Johnson doesn't completely receive a handoff from Huard and Chike Okeafor recovers the fumble to give the Cardinals prime position. Huard is credited with the fumble on the stat-line, but in reality it would be the first of Johnson's two mistakes today.
The Cardinals moved 36 yards in 3:15 to the KC 5, where Matt Leinart then found Larry Fitzgerald for his second touchdown. Most of the success on this drive was through the air. Running was held in check by both teams for most of the game.
The next two possession see both teams punting. Arizona punts from their own 5 giving Kansas City good starting field position on their own 48. Rather than fully utilize the position to try to start closing the gap the Chiefs come away with only a field goal, a 45-yarder by Lawrence Tynes.
Two more possessions, one more punt for each team. The next possession is a three-and-out for the Cardinals but Chiefs rookie safetey Bernard Pollard rushes in and blocks the punt with his hand. It rolls out of bounds at the Arizona 6. After two unsuccessful plays, with 3rd and 9 Damon Huard throws short to Larry Johnson who does a great job of breaking a would-be tackle from LB Dansby to get into the end-zone. This time the Chiefs capitalize on field-position and are only down 14-10.
On the next drive the Cardinals punt again. The Chiefs get the ball back and with only 1:39 left in the half Larry Johnson fumbles again giving the Cardinals the KC 32. The defense stiffens again, getting pressure on Leinart, and the Cardinals settle for a field goal.
On the second-half kickoff Dante Hall is injured. He would not return to the game. The Chiefs go three-and-out on this drive. Arizona then sets up on their own 31. They drive to the KC 27 in 3:24 but again settle for a field goal.
Both defenses continue to give little and four punts ensue. Next, Huard gets on track through the air. With 17, 11, and 14 yard completions in addition to some Johnson rushing, and two penalties on the Arizona defense, the Chiefs get down to the Arizona 15. Huard lofts a pass to the corner of the end-zone for Samie Parker. Initially it is called incomplete, although the replays show his feet in-bounds. The officials flag the Cardinals for pass interference so they are going to place the ball at the one. Herm Edwards challenges the ruling of incomplete and after the review it is a Chiefs touchdown. They are now back in it, down just 20-17.
Two punts later Arizona is starting from their own 15 and Matt Leinart throws an interception to Ty Law, again setting the Chiefs up with prime position to close the gap in the game. After three futile downs Tynes ties up the game with a field goal.
The Cardinals set out to try to break the tie, starting with two Edgerrin James runs of 3 and 7 yards for a first down. Over the next few plays Leinart completes for 21 and 15. Then on 2nd and 5 at the KC 36, Leinart is sacked for the fourth time on the day for -8 yards. He throws incomplete next and the Cardinals punt.
Now the Chiefs get their turn at trying to take a lead. Huard throws a short pass to Larry Johnson, who takes it 78 yards before Antrel Rolle catches up. As he tries to take him down and out of bounds he grabs his face mask, and turns his head a full 90 degrees and backwards over his back as he takes him down by it. Johnson is on the field for several minutes. Players on both teams are concerned, some taking a moment to kneel and pray. The crowd chants "Larry", likewise concerned. Eventually he gets up and leaves the field under his own power. Dee Brown enters the game and on consecutive plays almost coughs up the ball on two fumbles. The second time Jason Dunn recovers for him so that the Chiefs can try a short chip-shot field goal to take the lead. Tynes makes it and leaves Matt Leinart and the Cardinals with 1:31 to go down the field and tie or win.
They start at their own 9 because J.J Arrington elected to take the kickoff out of the end-zone, only makes it to the 19, and additionally they are called for a 10-yard illegal block penalty. On 2nd and 10 on the Arizona 41 Leinart completes a 26 yard pass to Troy Walters. He then hurries up to spike the ball, leaving seven seconds and a 51 yard field-goal attempt. These are just the sorts of long attempts that Neil Rackers is known for, but he pushes this one just wide right. Huard kneels once and the game ends.
Player and Unit Performances
Matt Leinart played admirably in his first NFL start. There were many instances when he did exactly what was expected of a veteran NFL quarterback, hanging in the pocket and making reads to see who would get open. This patience quickly yielded him two touchdowns in the first quarter. It also allowed him to make a competent effort to get down the field on the last drive of the game to give Rackers his field-goal attempt. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, time was against them at this point.
The receivers of the Cardinals definitely gave Leinart something to work with in his first NFL start. Edgerrin James also gave him some options in passing throughout the game.
The Cardinals defense played very physical today and essentially took the running game away. Adrian Wilson and Chike Okeafor were often present near the ball. Karlos Dansby was also just as physical and further notched two sacks on Huard.
Damon Huard played another sharp game, avoiding costly mistakes and spreading the ball around just enough to get the needed movement down-field. The fullback Ronnie Cruz made two key catches for first downs that prevented drives from ending. There were several mistakes by the offense that made the game so difficult for the Chiefs. In addition to Johnson's two fumbles, he dropped a third-down pass in the third quarter. Samie Parker had two drops of his own. Finally there were also two holding penalties called on the offensive line.
After giving up the two early touchdowns the Chiefs defense returned to the form that it has been playing in this season. They likewise made Edgerrin James fight for his rushing yards, but further they imposed a lot of pressure up front on Leinart. They sacked him four times, including one each from the defensive ends Tamba Hali and Jared Allen. As mentioned earlier Bernard Pollard provided a key punt-block and Ty Law intercepted Leinart, both plays resulting in great field position.
Date
October 8, 2006
