tk13
08-21-2005, 01:13 AM
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/12437863.htm
Starters fare much better than backups
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star
The Chiefs aren’t prepared to call off the last half of preseason and declare themselves ready for real football, not after dropping to 0-2 with Saturday night’s 24-17 loss to Arizona at Arrowhead Stadium.
But judging from the first half, the Chiefs are a lot closer to being ready for the Sept. 11 opener against the Jets than they were a week ago. The Chiefs led 10-0 at halftime, then let it slip away during an abominable second half.
Reserve quarterbacks Damon Huard and James Kilian each committed two second-half turnovers, and the Cardinals cashed in. The Chiefs also gave away some points when Lawrence Tynes missed two field goals, reopening a sore from last week, when he missed a kick.
“The second half wasn’t pro football,” coach Dick Vermeil said. “It was a disguise.”
The starters, though, took a big step toward burying a miserable performance in last week’s preseason opener at Minnesota and the changes were most dramatic on defense. The Chiefs played with a fire they didn’t show against the Vikings.
“You can see we’re really buying in to what the coaches are telling us,” linebacker Derrick Johnson said.
Even when it broke down, the first-team defense still managed to get some breaks.
Anquan Boldin beat Dexter McCleon for what appeared to be a 49-yard touchdown late in the first quarter. It was brought back when Arizona’s Leonard Davis was called for holding.
The Cardinals put together their first serious drive midway through the second quarter before stalling. The Chiefs escaped without damage when Neil Rackers was wide left on a 37-yard field goal attempt.
Otherwise, the Chiefs had a different standout on almost every play. Johnson made a couple of big plays, first chasing down running back Obafemi Ayanbadejo after he caught a pass in the right flat and later beating a block to force quarterback Kurt Warner into a premature throw.
Sammy Knight and Patrick Surtain combined to break up a deep pass. Scott Fujita forced running back J.J. Arrington to fumble and Knight recovered. Eric Hicks made back-to-back plays, first getting into the backfield to cause a loss on a running play and then forcing Warner from the pocket and into an incomplete pass.
Offensively, the starters weren’t nearly as smooth. The Chiefs used their first-team offense for most of the first half but it scored only 10 points.
“We’re still not running smoothly,” Vermeil said. “No excuses. We can say we’re better than that, but tonight we weren’t. We wouldn’t have scored a touchdown if we hadn’t gotten that pass-interference penalty. That would have made two games in a row without a touchdown.”
The Chiefs scored that touchdown on their first possession, but as Vermeil indicated, the big play of the drive was a questionable 33-yard pass-interference penalty on Arizona cornerback David Macklin against the Chiefs’ Samie Parker.
Parker got his 8-yard touchdown on a pass from Trent Green when he left the stumbling Macklin behind with a nifty inside fake. He was alone to catch Green’s toss in the end zone.
“Any time you can get the defensive back to fall down on a double move, that’s a pretty good route,” Green said.
Green didn’t set out to pick on Macklin, but wound up doing so after sensing frustration over his inability to stay with Parker. Macklin was penalized twice more for interfering with Parker.
“Once you get a corner struggling a little bit, you just keep attacking him,” Green said.
The starters’ other possessions mostly met with failure. The Chiefs took over at the Cardinals 38 after Arrington’s fumble, but they couldn’t manage a first down and had to punt.
Macklin interfered with Parker twice more on their next possession, giving the Chiefs a total of 34 yards. The drive bogged down when they moved inside the 20 and the Chiefs settled for a 31-yard Tynes field goal and a 10-0 lead.
Tynes later missed field goal tries of 38 and 46 yards, prompting more frustration from Vermeil.
“He’s in the tank,” Vermeil said. “You miss two field goals like that … not in the National Football League.
“We have a real concern.”
The game disintegrated quickly for the Chiefs in the second half. After Rackers made a 27-yard field goal, Huard’s first interception was returned 27 yards for a touchdown by Eric Green.
The Cardinals scored twice more and took a 24-10 lead. The Chiefs sliced their deficit on Kilian’s 5-yard touchdown pass to John Booth with 4 minutes, 28 seconds left.
The Chiefs got the ball back twice more. The first time they moved into Arizona’s territory but Ernest Shazor intercepted a Kilian pass.
They took over at their one on the last possession. The Chiefs ran three plays and punted, allowing the Cardinals to run out the clock.
Starters fare much better than backups
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star
The Chiefs aren’t prepared to call off the last half of preseason and declare themselves ready for real football, not after dropping to 0-2 with Saturday night’s 24-17 loss to Arizona at Arrowhead Stadium.
But judging from the first half, the Chiefs are a lot closer to being ready for the Sept. 11 opener against the Jets than they were a week ago. The Chiefs led 10-0 at halftime, then let it slip away during an abominable second half.
Reserve quarterbacks Damon Huard and James Kilian each committed two second-half turnovers, and the Cardinals cashed in. The Chiefs also gave away some points when Lawrence Tynes missed two field goals, reopening a sore from last week, when he missed a kick.
“The second half wasn’t pro football,” coach Dick Vermeil said. “It was a disguise.”
The starters, though, took a big step toward burying a miserable performance in last week’s preseason opener at Minnesota and the changes were most dramatic on defense. The Chiefs played with a fire they didn’t show against the Vikings.
“You can see we’re really buying in to what the coaches are telling us,” linebacker Derrick Johnson said.
Even when it broke down, the first-team defense still managed to get some breaks.
Anquan Boldin beat Dexter McCleon for what appeared to be a 49-yard touchdown late in the first quarter. It was brought back when Arizona’s Leonard Davis was called for holding.
The Cardinals put together their first serious drive midway through the second quarter before stalling. The Chiefs escaped without damage when Neil Rackers was wide left on a 37-yard field goal attempt.
Otherwise, the Chiefs had a different standout on almost every play. Johnson made a couple of big plays, first chasing down running back Obafemi Ayanbadejo after he caught a pass in the right flat and later beating a block to force quarterback Kurt Warner into a premature throw.
Sammy Knight and Patrick Surtain combined to break up a deep pass. Scott Fujita forced running back J.J. Arrington to fumble and Knight recovered. Eric Hicks made back-to-back plays, first getting into the backfield to cause a loss on a running play and then forcing Warner from the pocket and into an incomplete pass.
Offensively, the starters weren’t nearly as smooth. The Chiefs used their first-team offense for most of the first half but it scored only 10 points.
“We’re still not running smoothly,” Vermeil said. “No excuses. We can say we’re better than that, but tonight we weren’t. We wouldn’t have scored a touchdown if we hadn’t gotten that pass-interference penalty. That would have made two games in a row without a touchdown.”
The Chiefs scored that touchdown on their first possession, but as Vermeil indicated, the big play of the drive was a questionable 33-yard pass-interference penalty on Arizona cornerback David Macklin against the Chiefs’ Samie Parker.
Parker got his 8-yard touchdown on a pass from Trent Green when he left the stumbling Macklin behind with a nifty inside fake. He was alone to catch Green’s toss in the end zone.
“Any time you can get the defensive back to fall down on a double move, that’s a pretty good route,” Green said.
Green didn’t set out to pick on Macklin, but wound up doing so after sensing frustration over his inability to stay with Parker. Macklin was penalized twice more for interfering with Parker.
“Once you get a corner struggling a little bit, you just keep attacking him,” Green said.
The starters’ other possessions mostly met with failure. The Chiefs took over at the Cardinals 38 after Arrington’s fumble, but they couldn’t manage a first down and had to punt.
Macklin interfered with Parker twice more on their next possession, giving the Chiefs a total of 34 yards. The drive bogged down when they moved inside the 20 and the Chiefs settled for a 31-yard Tynes field goal and a 10-0 lead.
Tynes later missed field goal tries of 38 and 46 yards, prompting more frustration from Vermeil.
“He’s in the tank,” Vermeil said. “You miss two field goals like that … not in the National Football League.
“We have a real concern.”
The game disintegrated quickly for the Chiefs in the second half. After Rackers made a 27-yard field goal, Huard’s first interception was returned 27 yards for a touchdown by Eric Green.
The Cardinals scored twice more and took a 24-10 lead. The Chiefs sliced their deficit on Kilian’s 5-yard touchdown pass to John Booth with 4 minutes, 28 seconds left.
The Chiefs got the ball back twice more. The first time they moved into Arizona’s territory but Ernest Shazor intercepted a Kilian pass.
They took over at their one on the last possession. The Chiefs ran three plays and punted, allowing the Cardinals to run out the clock.