A day of close calls
K.C. survives a near-rally by Cards and a scary near-injury to Johnson
By Tully Corcoran
The Capital-Journal
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Herm Edwards was wrong.
You can't turn it over on the road, he said.
The Chiefs did.
You can't get behind early, he said.
The Chiefs were down two touchdowns so fast, several Cardinals fans, new to this sellout thing, thought the scoreboard was tallying fans in attendance.
But the Chiefs won anyway, 23-20. Playmakers, like area rugs, can cover a multitude of mistakes.
Cornerback Ty Law's second interception as a Chief set up Lawrence Tynes' game-tying field goal. Larry Johnson took a screen pass 78 yards to set up Tynes' game-winning field goal. And the Chiefs won on the road despite doing everything wrong.
"Larry made a big play for us," Edwards said of Johnson, who rushed 16 times for 36 yards and caught six passes for 101. "Your big players have to make plays in games and Larry did that."
It almost wasn't enough. At the end of Johnson's run, Cardinals cornerback Antrel Rolle grabbed LJ's facemask, gruesomely twisting Johnson's head around. The running back lay on the field face-down for several minutes before finally walking off under his own power. The Chiefs called it a sprained neck, and Edwards said Johnson is fine.
With four downs from the Arizona 4-yard line, Dee Brown replaced Johnson and fumbled on two of his three carries. Kansas City recovered both times and Tynes made a 19-yard field goal to give Kansas City its first lead.
With no timeouts and 1:51 left, the Cardinals (1-4) started the drive at their own 10-yard line as kicker Neil Rackers warmed up on the sideline, twice missing the kicking net, which sent practice tries sailing into the stands.
Quarterback Matt Leinart, who went 22-for-35 for 253 yards and two touchdowns in his first NFL start, connected with Troy Walters for a 26-yard pass that put the Cardinals on the Kansas City 34 with 7 seconds left.
Rackers' 51-yarder was wide right as time expired. The Chiefs improved to 2-2 heading to Pittsburgh next week.
Down 14-0 in the first quarter, and trailing by 10 in the fourth, it was easy to see the game, maybe the season, evaporating. The Chiefs didn't feel it.
"These guys better know we're gonna be a tough football team mentally," Edwards said. "This is what happens when you're mentally tough.
"I'm looking at the clock and I'm looking at the possessions and I'm going, 'We still have three possessions, we'll be fine.' "
Leinart and the Cardinals made all the plays in the first half. He hit Anquan Boldin for a 49-yard touchdown pass on the game's fifth play from scrimmage and, after Larry Johnson fumbled a handoff, found Larry Fitzgerald on a 5-yard TD for a 14-0 lead. He completed his first six passes and had 89 yards in the first quarter.
The Chiefs got a 45-yard field goal by Lawrence Tynes with 12:01 left in the half to make it 14-3 and had all the momentum for the next 11 minutes thanks to a series of defensive plays.
Tamba Hali got the first sack of Leinart early in the second quarter. Jared Allen and Ron Edwards both sacked him on the next drive, setting up a fourth-and-24. Rookie safety Bernard Pollard then blocked the punt, which rolled out of bounds at the Arizona 6. Johnson lost 3 yards on first down, but scored on a 9-yard pass from Huard, pulling KC to within four.
The Chiefs got the ball back with 1:45 left in the half and, trying to avoid a turnover, handed to Johnson on a second-down draw. He ironically fumbled, Arizona recovered and Rackers hit a 41-yard field goal to give the Cardinals a 17-10 lead at halftime.
The Chiefs punted away their first possession of the second half and the Cardinals drove 42 yards for another Rackers field goal and a 20-10 lead that held until Samie Parker's 15-yard touchdown catch with 9:35 left in the fourth. It was quarterback Damon Huard's fourth TD pass of the season against no interceptions. He was 26 of 38 for 288 yards Sunday.
After another Kansas City punt, the Chiefs needed a play from somebody. Law delivered it with a ballerina act of a pick on the Cardinals sideline on a pass intended for Boldin.
"It was just one of those things. I felt it coming," Law said. "I was one-on-one with Boldin, because Fitzgerald was out (with a hamstring injury). If he was going to go to anybody, he was going to his main guy -- he's going to Boldin."
