Chiefs' loss proves it isn't better to give
By Tully Corcoran
The Capital-Journal
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Everything was going just how the Chiefs wanted it to go.
They were playing the field-position game. Dante Hall returned the opening kickoff to midfield and the Chiefs mounted a short drive into the red zone.
Then the Chiefs forced a three-and-out and got it back on their own 30.
They were behind, but they were in it. Larry Johnson ran for 120 yards. He made the big play. The defense stopped the run (2.7 yards per carry). The Chiefs defense tightened in the red zone.
"It was a defensive game early," Chiefs coach Herm Edwards said.
The Chiefs were playing the Herm way. And it was working.
Then again, the Chiefs got themselves into a defensive, field-position game with the Baltimore Ravens, which is sort of like getting into an insanity contest with Courtney Love.
Sure enough, it unraveled.
"It was a game that was pretty competitive early," Edwards said. "Field position was the key, but we turned the ball over early too many times. It's hard to recover when you turn the ball over that many times."
A summary:
• On the game's first possession, Kansas City drove to the Ravens 14. Jason Dunn dropped a short third-down pass that would have gained a first down. Lawrence Tynes missed a 32-yard field goal.
• With Kansas City trailing 6-0, the Chiefs drove to the Baltimore 31-yard line after a 19-yard third-down conversion to Hall. On first down, Terrell Suggs beat John Welbourn, stripped Trent Green from behind and recovered the fumble.
• On the very next Chiefs possession, still trailing 6-0, Kansas City drove from its own 6-yard line to the Ravens 25, most of it coming on Johnson's 47-yard run and an ensuing 15-yard personal foul. On third-and-8, Green threw long on a crossing pattern to Samie Parker. Ed Reed picked it off.
• Kansas City took its first drive of the second half into Baltimore territory at the 38, the edge of Tynes' range. On third-and-6, Ray Lewis and Trevor Pryce sacked Green for a 6-yard loss, forcing a punt.
By the time the Chiefs actually did score — a field goal by Tynes, which followed a 10-yard loss on a sack — the Ravens were up by a two-possession margin.
The Chiefs messed up. The Ravens didn't. And they won 20-10.
"Nobody got dominated," guard Brian Waters said. "We just didn't execute."
Linebacker Kawika Mitchell blamed it on big plays.
"We just gave up too many big plays," he said. "That's it, basically."
That's it, if by "giving up," he means "giving away" and by "big plays" he means "the ball."
The Chiefs defense allowed one enormous play, an 87-yard touchdown pass, but allowed only two other plays of more than 20 yards.
Because of turnovers and other mistakes, the Chiefs left, it would seem, a minimum of nine points on the board in field goals that either missed or should have been kicked. This is assuming two promising drives into Baltimore territory would not have ended in touchdowns.
"We had our opportunities," Green said. "And they made plays when they needed to. There were definitely opportunities to make plays."
