Chiefs at Bears Thursday, August 07, 2008 7:00 PM
1 2 3 4 Total Chiefs 7 7 0 10 24 Bears 0 3 14 3 20 Final

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By Bob Gretz

CHICAGO – The Chiefs new offense made an impressive debut at Soldier Field as Kansas City claimed a 24-20 victory. Backup QB Tyler Thipen hit WR Bobby Sippio on a 27-yard touchdown pass with 1:08 to play to give the Chiefs a win in their initial preseason outing of the season.

It was a night where the offense started strong, had some problems, but came together late in the game to get the winning score on the board. Thigpen’s throw to Sippio ended a six-play, 60-yard drive that used 2:11 of the fourth quarter clock.

The opening drive of the season couldn’t have been scripted much better. Taking over at the 19-yard line, QB Brodie Croyle moved the Chiefs down the field in 16 plays, going 81 yards, converting five third downs and running 8:45 off the clock. The key plays in that first possession were a scramble for five yards by Croyle, an 18-yard Croyle-to-WR Will Franklin completion and a 12-yard run on third down by RB Jamaal Charles.

Then, on third-and-15 from the Chicago 28-yard line, Croyle delivered a bullet to Franklin for a 22-yard completion to set the Chiefs up with first-and-goal from the Bears six-yard line. Even after a holding call moved the club back, Croyle got the club right back into scoring position with a 12-yard pass to FB Mike Cox. The score came on a third-and-goal play at the Bears five-yard line when RB Larry Johnson went over G Brian Waters and scored the touchdown. Rookie K Connor Barth kicked the PAT and the Chiefs had an early 7-0 lead. On the night Croyle completed six of 10 passes for 82 yards.

There was success on the first defensive series of the preseason for the Chiefs, as well. The Bears picked up two first downs, but the Kansas City defense stiffened, with DT Tank Tyler knocking down a third-down throw to force a punt on Chicago’s initial possession. Chicago finally cracked the scoreboard on its third offensive possession when K Robbie Gould connected on a 42-yard FG to narrow the Chiefs margin to 7-3.

QB Damon Huard entered the lineup in the second quarter and orchestrated a crisp two-minute drill. With 1:44 to play in the half, he took the offense on an eight-play, 75-yard scoring drive, combining with WR Maurice Price combined for several big plays, including a 25-yard gain. They got together again on the final play, an eight-yard TD pass with Price fighting his way into the end zone to give the Chiefs a 14-3 halftime lead.

Thigpen entered the contest for Kansas City in the second half and the evening’s only turnover gave Chicago its first touchdown of the night. On a third-and-seven play at the Chiefs 25-yard line, Thigpen’s pass attempt intended for Price was picked off by Bears LB Rod Wilson, who returned it 12 yards to the Chiefs 25-yard line. Chicago reached the end zone on the next play, as QB Rex Grossman dumped a short pass to RB Garrett Wolfe and he ran around a half-dozen Chiefs defenders for the score, trimming Kansas City’s advantage to 14-10.

The Bears would grab the lead before the end of the third quarter as QB Caleb Hanie led Chicago’s offense down the field on a 12-play, 80-yard drive that consumed 6:08. Big plays in the drive were a fourth-and-one run by RB P.J. Pope and a 25-yard completion from Hanie to TE Kellen Davis. The scoring play was a 13-yard touchdown pass to WR Brandon Rideau, giving the Bears a 17-14 edge.

The Chiefs got the scoreboard even at 17-17 with an 11-play drive that ended with a 37-yard field goal by rookie K Connor Barth. Big plays in the possession came on a 19-yard run by RB Dantrell Savage and Thigpen completions of 15 yards to WR Kevin McMahan and 21 yards to Sippio. But Chicago immediately replied with a 12-play, 58-yard scoring march that culminated with a 37-yard Gould FG, giving the Bears a 20-17 lead with 3:19 left to play.

On the ensuing Chiefs possession, Thigpen connected on the game-winning score with Sippio and the Chiefs defense staved off a final Chicago drive to preserve a 24-20 preseason victory.

Halftime Quotes
Head Coach Herm Edwards on the first half: “In preseason games, you’re never as good as you think and you’re never as bad as you think. Our first drive offensively was very good, good for 16 plays. Then the fouls got us. We can’t allow that to happen. I thought their defense picked it up after our first drive. Defensively, we did a pretty good job to limit them to three points. Now all of our seconds and thirds are going to play. We were pretty competitive and a lot sharper offensively than we were in our first preseason game a year ago. It’s something to build on. We’ve still got a long way to go.” 

On the club’s two-minute drill: “That was nice. We got there and punched it in to score. We played it pretty good with the clock. Damon (Huard) did a good job and our young receivers made some plays and Jamaal (Charles) played pretty well.” 

QB Brodie Croyle on the club’s 16-play, 85-yard drive to open the game: “It couldn’t have gone much better for us. I think we converted five third downs. We got our running game going and hit some timely passes. That was what we wanted. On the next drive, it’s kind of hard to overcome a holding penalty in our league when you’re backed up as far as you were. We feel good about what the first group did. It’s something to build on. We can still correct a lot of things that we didn’t do right.” 

On his key third-down completion to WR Will Franklin: “They ran cover two. It was a play we put in that can attack that backside hole. I told him, ‘you’re probably going to get hit,” He made a great catch and kept the drive going.”