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By Patrick Herb

The Chiefs fell into a 13-0 first-half hole one the road against the Miami Dolphins and couldn’t pull themselves out. Despite battling to within three points midway through the fourth quarter, Kansas City couldn’t finish the comeback, losing 13-10 at Dolphin Stadium.

The Chiefs struggled to get their defense off the field in the first half. The Dolphins ripped off drives of 13 and 12 plays early on, converting five of seven third downs on those two series. The Chiefs would eventually make the stop on both possessions, but not before Miami converted a pair of K Olindo Mare field goals to take a 6-0 lead.

While their defense couldn’t get off the field, Kansas City’s offense struggled mightily to stay on it in the first half. The Chiefs went three-and-out on their first five possessions, totaling just 26 yards on those five tries.

Miami would open up a 13-0 lead midway through the second quarter set up by a flea flicker from QB Joey Harrington to WR Chris Chambers. On the play, RB Ronnie Brown shoveled the ball back to Harrington who found Chambers down to the one-yard line. Brown then bulldozed into the end zone on the next play for the touchdown.

Both teams exchanged missed field goals late in the first half to keep the margin at 13 points. First, Mare’s 50-yard try bounced off the left upright. Then, the Chiefs put together their first prolonged drive, but stalled at the Miami 30-yard line. From there, K Lawrence Tynes’ 48-yard field goal try was tipped by DE Jason Taylor keeping the score intact at 13-0.

The third quarter unfolded with little drama as the two clubs traded punts and jostled for field position. Finally in the fourth quarter however the Chiefs put together their best drive of the afternoon and lit up their half of the scoreboard. Starting from their own seven-yard line, Huard completed five first down passes – three of which went to TE Tony Gonzalez – moving the team to the Miami nine-yard line. That was as deep as they would get however settling for a 27-yard field goal from Tynes to cut into the deficit at 13-3 with 11:00 remaining in the game.

A costly Miami turnover allowed the Chiefs to creep back into the game just minutes later. The Dolphins called for a double reverse and Brown fumbled the exchange to Chambers coming around the end. DE Jared Allen was in the perfect place to scoop up the loose ball at the Miami 40 and returned it the 20-yard line. From there Huard hit Gonzalez down to the two-yard line and RB Larry Johnson pounded it into the end zone for a touchdown. That brought Kansas City within three points at 13-10 with 7:14 remaining.

After getting the stop they needed on defense, the Chiefs got the ball back at their own 14-yard line with 3:10 on the clock. On third-and-17 from his own seven-yard line, Huard picked up a 31-yard gain on a perfectly-placed pass to WR Eddie Kennison. Huard was then sacked on first down and threw an incompletion on second down. His third down pass went for four yards to WR Dante Hall, bringing up fourth-and-12 from the KC 36. The do-or-die situation didn’t go the Chiefs way as Huard’s fourth-down pass attempt to WR Samie Parker was broken up over the middle. The Dolphins were able to kneel on the ball twice from there, putting the finishing touches on their 13-10 win.

The Chiefs return home on November 19th to take on the Oakland Raiders at Arrowhead Stadium. Kickoff for the AFC West clash is scheduled for 12:00 noon.

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