Chiefs at Dolphins Saturday, August 23, 2008 6:30 PM
1 2 3 4 Total Chiefs 0 0 0 0 0 Dolphins 3 14 0 7 24 Final

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by Bob Gretz
It’s an impossible task to win any football game without being able to erase the pre-game zero on the scoreboard. The Chiefs were reminded of that Saturday at Dolphin Stadium, as they were shut out by the Miami Dolphins 24-0.

The Chiefs offense simply could not sustain any momentum or production throughout the game. Only once did they penetrate the scoring zone against the Dolphins and that possession ended short of the goal line. In fact, the Chiefs got inside Miami’s 45-yard line just two times.

The Chiefs defense started the game on the field and QB Chad Pennington was able to drive the Miami offense into scoring territory thanks largely to RB Ricky Williams. The Dolphins held the ball for over 10 minutes on the first-quarter clock, racking up 15 plays. Six of those plays were inside the Kansas City five-yard line, but Miami was not able to dent the end zone. Big defensive plays were made by LB Derrick Johnson, S Jarrad Page and S Bernard Pollard, who brought down Williams for minus-four yards on a sweep to the right side.

Dan Carpenter kicked the 19-yard field goal and Miami took an early 3-0 lead.

The second quarter was not a good one for the Chiefs, as they gave up a pair of Miami touchdowns in less than two minutes.

The Chiefs had problems getting anything going offensively and they could not change the field position battle. But Miami’s Ted Ginn, Jr. did. On a 40-yard punt by Dustin Colquitt, Ginn was able to get outside the containment on the right side of the coverage unit and he roared 59 yards for a punt-return touchdown. Carpenter’s extra point pushed Miami’s lead to 10-0.

Things did not improve for the Chiefs on their next possession. QB Brodie Croyle had the ball knocked out of his hands by blitzing LB Channing Crowder and DE Matt Roth recovered the fumble for Miami. That gave the Dolphins possession at the Chiefs 22-yard line. Three plays later, Pennington found TE Anthony Fasano wide open across the middle for a 17-yard touchdown. Carpenter’s extra point made the scoreboard 17-0 in favor of the Dolphins.

Offensively, the Chiefs finally started moving the ball late in the second quarter with a seven-play possession, which included a nice 13-yard run by RB Larry Johnson. But the drive stalled and Colquitt punted the ball away. They had one more first-half possession, but the half ended when Miami CB Renaldo Hill picked off a Croyle pass.

The Chiefs came out of the locker room at half-time and on their first possession of the second half put together their best offensive drive of the game to that point, set up by a nice 36-yard kickoff return by Dantrell Savage. They used 12 plays and moved the ball some 64 yards, using almost seven minutes of the third-quarter clock. The big play was a 22-yard completion on third down from Croyle to RB Kolby Smith.

But the Chiefs came away from the drive without a score. They had four snaps inside the Miami three-yard line. On fourth-and-goal, Johnson came up short when he was tackled by Dolphins DE Philip Merling short of the goal line.

Defensively, the Chiefs did a good job against Miami’s offense in the third quarter, as the Dolphins went three plays and out on their first two possessions, gaining 17 yards on six plays. Miami got great field position at the Chiefs 11-yard line after an interception of QB Damon Huard by CB Michael Lehan, but the defense shut them down. CB Brandon Carr ended the Dolphins scoring chance by picking off QB Chad Henne in the end zone on a third-down throw.

Miami tacked on a fourth-quarter touchdown that was set up by RB Jalen Parmele’s 80-yard run. Parmele scored three plays later on a nice second effort run. Carpenter’s PAT kick gave Miami a 24-0 lead.

Late in the fourth quarter the Chiefs had their only other scoring opportunity of the evening, as DT Derek Lokey recovered a Miami fumble at the Dolphins 20-yard line. But the offense couldn’t move the ball and Nick Novak was wide right on a 48-yard FG attempt.

Now 1-2 on the pre-season, the Chiefs will finish their early schedule next Thursday, hosting the St. Louis Rams at Arrowhead Stadium. Kickoff is 6:00 p.m.

Halftime Quotes
Head Coach Herm Edwards on the first half: “Offensively, we had bad field position and couldn’t get anything going. Defensively, we did a nice job stopping them on their first drive, holding them out of the end zone. They beat us on man coverage for their touchdown. Then on special teams, we give up the punt return TD. They’re beating us and we’re going to have to play a whole lot better in the second half. We’ve got another half to play, so we’ll have to be a lot better.”