Kansas City Chiefs - Lack of Touchdowns Sinks Chiefs, 27-17

Lack of Touchdowns Sinks Chiefs, 27-17

Aug 16, 2008, 7:00:00 PM

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	0	6	14	7	27
Chiefs	3	3	3	8	17
Final

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Unlike their pre-season opener when they were able to find the end zone three different times, the Chiefs had trouble finding pay dirt and dropped their pre-season home opener to the Arizona Cardinals 27-17.

Although they were able to move the ball racking up 345 yards in total offense, the Chiefs had trouble getting the ultimate payoff. Twice in the first half they moved the ball inside the Cardinals 20-yard line, but had to settle for field goals. They returned twice in the second half and were finally able to squeeze in a touchdown in the game’s final minute.

“I like our offenses ability to control the clock,” said head coach Herm Edwards. “We’ve just got to get some touchdowns down there.”

Just as they did last week in Chicago, the Chiefs took the ball first and moved down the field. The offense picked up three first downs, as QB Brodie Croyle hit passes to WR Will Franklin and WR Dwayne Bowe to convert third downs. RB Larry Johnson carried four times in the possession for 15 yards, including a nice 8-yard run off right tackle. Eventually the drive stalled and K Nick Novak drilled a 32-yard field goal to give the Chiefs a 3-0 early lead.

The Chiefs young cornerbacks made themselves known in their first game at Arrowhead when Arizona took the ball. On the first snap, Cardinals QB Kurt Warner went long to WR Anquan Boldin, but CB Brandon Flowers broke up the play. On third down, CB Brandon Carr broke up a throw from Warner to WR Larry Fitzgerald. In between those plays, LB Derrick Johnson forced a fumble by Arizona RB Edgerrin James that was recovered by the Cardinals.

But Arizona came back in a drive that began late in the first quarter and moved the ball 78 yards on 13 plays, eating up 6 minutes, 50 seconds of the clock before RB Tim Hightower scored on a 4-yard run. Rackers missed the PAT kick and Arizona had a 6-3 lead.

Later, the Chiefs put together a long possession, using 12 plays, moving 53 yards and Johnson was very active in the drive, ripping off runs of 9, 18, 4, 8 and 1-yard. RB Kolby Smith added a 15-yard run. Johnson took a direct snap from center and picked up 3 yards on a third-down play that gave the Chiefs 1st-and-goal at the Arizona six-yard line. But the drive stalled there and K Connor Barth came on and kicked a 35-yard field goal to tie the score at 6-6.

Arizona came out of the half-time locker room and put together an 11-play, 70-yard drive directed by QB Matt Leinart. The Cardinals picked up five first downs and Leinart was 5-for-5 passing, including a 14-yard touchdown pass to WR Steve Breaston. Rackers made the PAT kick and Arizona grabbed a 13-6 lead.

Rookie RB Dantrell Savage changed the momentum with a nice 45-yard kickoff return that gave the Chiefs possession at the Kansas City 43-yard line. A eight-play, 35-yard drive ended when Novak drilled a 40-yard field goal that made the score 13-9.

The Cardinals answered right back, with RB J.J. Arrington getting it started with a 78-yard kickoff return. On the first offensive play, QB Brian St. Pierre hit a wide open FB Tim Castille in the left flat and he went untouched into the end zone for 24-yard TD pass. Rackers PAT kick gave Arizona a 20-9 lead at the end of the third quarter.

The Chiefs had a scoring chance early in the fourth quarter, but a 46-yard FG attempt by Barth hit the right upright.

Arizona added a late TD when FS Dennis Keyes picked off Thigpen and returned it 84 yards for a touchdown.

But Thigpen bounced back and moved the offense 60 yards on six plays as the drive ended with a 14-yard TD pass to WR Sergiori Joachim with 15 seconds left. Savage scored the two-point PAT for the 27-17 final score.

Johnson finished the game with 61 yards on 14 carries, while Smith added 37 yards on four carries. Croyle was 7 of 13 passing for 38 yards. Thigpen was 16 of 27 for 174 yards with one TD and one INT. Doing there work in the second half WRs Kevin McMahan and Maurice Price were the Chiefs leading receivers. McMahan had three catches for 41 yards and Price had three for 34 yards.

Defensively, LB Wes Dacus was the leading tackler with five and DE Turk McBride contributed a pair of sacks, along with a forced fumble. DE Johnny Dingle also contributed a sack.

Next Saturday, the Chiefs continue their pre-season schedule with a trip to Miami to play the Dolphins. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. (Central).

HALFTIME QUOTES
Head Coach Herm Edwards on the first half: “I like what I saw, but what kills us again is on the second offensive series we don’t block it quite right and we’re in a negative position and all of sudden we go three plays and out.

“On defense in the second series they did a good job on converting third downs. We need to do a better job. But now it’s going to not be the young guys but even the younger, younger guys in the second half and we’ll see how we fare.”

QB Brodie Croyle on the first half: “It was good to come out two weeks in a row and get a sustained drive and some third-down conversions. But we want touchdowns; we don’t want field goals. Then we’ve got to eliminate the three-and-outs. We can’t go long drive, then two three-and-outs and then go another 10-play drive. We just have to have sustained drives. If we can go back out there and get a four, five, or six-play drive it at least gives our defense a little rest. It’s something we’ve got work on, but that’s why you have the preseason. We did some good things we can build off on.”

On the running game and the play of the offensive line:
“We had some nice runs, especially on that last drive where we really got them going. The line did a great job on both the run and pass game and it was good to see Larry get back out there and tear up the yards.”

Cardinals QB Kurt Warner
On getting going on the touchdown drive:
“It felt good. We made a couple of mistakes there early which didn’t make me real happy but we got into a rhythm in that second drive. That is really what the preseason is about. You want to get a couple of drives in, you want to get hit a couple of times and you want to be able to make the throws. I felt really comfortable in that second drive.“

On what he learns from a preseason game:
“I think the biggest thing is getting comfortable again with the speed and being able to manage the game. I think that is the thing that you never get to do in practice. You have to manage the game and understand the situations. When you get into a game, you have to manage all those things, the third and shorts, first down and what kind of throws you make on that. That is what I have to get back into.“

On how he felt throwing the ball to Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin again:
“Obviously we could do some things better but those guys are great players so it is great to have an opportunity to throw to them. We continue to get comfortable with this offense and what we are doing. We are always talking about the little things. We have a good rapport right now and we will keep that going all year long.”

Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt
On how the team played in the first half:
“We have to protect a little better and not let anybody come free. The one thing we can’t do is lose ground. We will come back out and we would like to get first downs.“
On being two-for-two on instant replay reviews:

“Those were pretty easy so I am not going to take credit for those. I am glad that we got them because you never know but we’ll see.“

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