Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 10/19

via KansasCity.com

V for Victory! Very pleased with a win, but we have a ways to go. The team is still without a rushing touchdown, and Cassel disappointed me with his play. I hope he can learn to throw the ball away rather than take sacks. The line certainly isn't helping him, but that's all the more reason he needs to help himself.

Artistically, it was no masterpiece. The folks in Canton will not be calling for artifacts from the afternoon. The highlights will not dominate Sports Center for the next two days.

But in the homes of Scott Pioli, Todd Haley, their staffs, the players and anyone who still cares a wit about Chiefs football, it was the prettiest darned outcome of a football game this franchise has seen for some time.

Chiefs 14, Redskins 6.

No more losing streak. No more bubbling pain in the stomach. No more headaches.

"We made it difficult right down to the end," said Haley, still dripping from the Gatorade shower he got on the sidelines in the closing seconds of the game. "We pushed through a very difficult period and we needed to get some positive reinforcement."

Victory At Last For Chiefs, 14-6 Over Redskins from Bob Gretz

"During the week," Dorsey said Sunday, "we work so hard. Coach is not taking it easy on us. It’s great to win, just to show that we’re headed in the right direction. The stuff that we’re doing is working.

"It kind of validated our process."

The Chiefs might have won Sunday because of Haley — or even in spite of him. He passed on trying a field goal in the first quarter and tried to convert on fourth and 2. The play resulted in a sack of Matt Cassel, and that became the latest example of a coach who’s willing to experiment, willing to gamble and might not yet be comfortable with his players or himself enough to try to win in more traditional fashion.

"Whatever it takes to win," wide receiver Dwayne Bowe said. "You’ve got to hold them, you’ve got to punch them, whatever it takes."

Haley, like the players, learned from his mistakes. He didn’t try such a thing again against Washington, allowing Ryan Succop to kick — and make — four field goals.

Chiefs beat Washington 14-6 for first win under Haley from KC Star

There have been times over the last nine months where Dwayne Bowe had swallowed so much junk from Todd Haley that he thought he would explode.

Almost from his first day on the Chiefs campus, Haley was after Bowe about his training, his weight, his personality, his hands, his attitude, his focus, his understanding of the offense; to Bowe it seemed like the head coach didn’t like him. Into his third season in the NFL, Bowe couldn’t understand how he’d survived so long by doing so many things wrong.

There were moments when it would all bubble up inside of him and he’d pondered dark thoughts about his coach and his future in the game.

Yet, there was Bowe on Sunday afternoon just moments after his teammates had given Haley a Gatorade shower, standing there laughing with his tormentor and congratulating him on his first victory as an NFL head coach.

"He knows what it takes; he built Larry (Fitzgerald) up to be a great receiver," said Bowe. "I see it; I know it and I’m trying to get there.

"I’m on board."

Commentary: If You Can’t Beat Him, Join Him from Bob Gretz

KC Star Photo Gallery: Kansas City 14, Washington 6 | Sunday, Oct. 18

Ryan Succop said that, before each game, he and punter Dustin Colquitt get together and pray for peace.

It’s a ritual, Succop said, that brings the team’s specialists closer together and brings them comfort when the pressure is on. Succop is a rookie kicker, and he had every reason Sunday to fold: a rowdy and unhappy crowd at Washington’s FedEx Field, a Chiefs team desperate for points and a series of high-pressure kicks.

At least in Kansas City, peace was delivered Sunday when Succop was perfect on his four field-goal attempts, sending the Chiefs to a 14-6 victory.

"It’s been amazing. I haven’t really felt nervous at all out there," Succop said. "It’s been a blessing. It was really good to have an opportunity to go out and help the team today."

Rookie Succop makes pressure kicks in victory from KC Star

“There’s no more old D. Bowe,” he said, indicating his days of often excessive self-promotion are over. “It’s time to build a new D. Bowe. There was nothing wrong with the old D. Bowe, but this is a new D. Bowe.”

As always with Bowe, there was some bad with the good. He dropped some passes, he missed a block on a play that otherwise would have been a touchdown for Matt Cassel and he went out of bounds on his 32-yard gain when the Chiefs wanted to keep the clock moving.

The encouraging part to the Chiefs was that Bowe was aware of it all.

“I left a lot of plays out there,” he said. “I was pressing, trying to make a big play. Even on that 32-yard slant, I should have stayed inbounds. I’ve got to be a smarter player in situations like that.”

Bowe's performance reminiscent of last season from KC Star

Edwards plays fullback

Chiefs nose tackle Ron Edwards took a turn for one snap as a blocker. He paved the way for Mike Cox to gain 2 yards on fourth and 1 in the first quarter,

The 315-pound Edwards flattened a defender for Cox.

“It’s something we’ve been working on,” Edwards said. “I was just looking for the first (white jersey) I saw. I was supposed to take him out. That’s the whole idea of having me out there.”

Chiefs Buzz | Win comes without two starters from KC Star

But safety Mike Brown, one of the victims on two big Dallas plays last week, wouldn’t quit on the play. Despite being shoved away from Portis early, he stayed with him and eventually got Portis down at the 10-yard line.

The Chiefs held from there, and though Washington kicked a field goal and took a three-point lead, it wouldn’t score again. The Chiefs scored the game’s final 11 points and won their first game of the season 14-6 on Sunday.

They pointed afterward to Brown’s tackle of Portis, which allowed the Chiefs to hold an opponent without a touchdown for the first time since late in the 2006 season.

“That was a big boost to us mentally,” Chiefs coach Todd Haley said. “It sure looked like a long touchdown run, but we got him down.”

Brown's big play gives Chiefs defense momentum from KC Star

Larry Jr. was 17 years old when his father got a job on Joe Paterno’s coaching staff with the Nittany Lions. So a lot of childhood memories for L.J. came in places like Pomfret and Alexandria and other small burgs around the nation’s capital.

It was there that he watched all those NFL Films tapes about great running backs. The team he followed as a kid was the Redskins, not only because they were there, but because Larry Sr. had gotten a chance to make the Redskins when he came out of college as an NAIA All-America at Elizabeth City State in North Carolina.

“I enjoy seeing those uniforms of theirs and it brings back memories for me,” said Johnson. “They were a good team in the day, winning Super Bowls with all those guys like John Riggins and the Fun Bunch and the Hogs.”

That’s a lot of L.J. history. There are some Chiefs fans who think L.J.’s ability to run the football is history. It’s been a struggle to run the ball for this Chiefs team and the guy paying the price for that is Johnson.

Sunday was a better day however, although the final numbers do not look that impressive: 83 yards on 23 carries, a 3.6-yard per carry average. It was Johnson’s best rushing day of the season so far, but the overall numbers are not very pretty: 309 yards on 116 carries for a 2.7-yard average.

L.J. Enjoys Homecoming Victory from Bob Gretz

“We had a good plan for them,” said DE Glenn Dorsey, who played another good game up front. Press box stats had Dorsey taking part in seven total tackles on the afternoon. “They gashed us a couple times, but overall we were able to get off the field.”

That’s one of the things the Chiefs defense did best – kept the Redskins offense on the sidelines. The Chiefs ended up with a time of possession advantage of more than 15 minutes Washington had 13 possessions and seven of those were three plays and out.

The home team offense strung together just one drive all day – an 11-play march at the end of the first half, when the Skins ran out of options and Campbell was forced to throw up a Hail Mary that was intercepted by CB Brandon Flowers.

Chiefs Defense Befuddles Dazed Skins from Bob Gretz

Your Whitlock Alert

Sunday, I experienced the game your way and spent the afternoon figuring out what to say to you about the game.

Man, the TV broadcasters feed viewers a lot of team-friendly propaganda. Color commentator Rich Gannon almost had me ready to punch Matt Cassel’s Hall of Fame ticket. And play-by-play man Ian Eagle called guard Mike Goff’s name so much that I came up with the nickname “Willie Goff Roaf.”

When Eagle and Gannon declined to properly discuss the insanity of Todd Haley’s decision to eschew a 42-yard field-goal attempt in favor of a fourth-down pass in the first quarter, I just assumed that Scott Pioli was the executive producer of Sunday’s broadcast.

Seriously, the Chiefs were playing one of the worst offenses in the league and Haley turned down three points in the first quarter so he could pass the ball on fourth and 2. Cassel, of course, was sacked on the play.

It was an asinine decision. Eagle and Gannon pretended it never happened.

TV stamps its bland on game from KC Star

There was the best kick return day of the season for Jamaal Charles and the coverage units again did a very good job in keeping a couple of talented returners (Antwaan Randle El and Santana Moss) under control.

Only punter Dustin Colquitt was off a bit, as he averaged just 39 yards a punt and the chiefs had a 33.4 net average. But he had quite a few field-position punts, where he was kicking on a short field.

But the Chiefs punt coverage team was able to finally down a punt. In the fourth quarter, Colquitt got off a field position punt that bounced in play but was headed for the end zone for a touchback. Terrence Cooper came flying in and flipped the ball back towards the field of play where Maurice Leggett grabbed it at the three-yard line.

It was a big play, because it turned the field position table and when the Redskins punted away four plays later, the Chiefs offense started a possession at the Washington 36-yard line. That led to the Succop FG that proved to be the winning points.

Special Teams Makes Mark & Notes from Bob Gretz

Another ugly game for Washington ended with a just as brutal safety to give Kansas City a 14-6 win, the third Redskins loss this season to a previously winless team.

It's a grim outlook for Washington following yet another putrid offensive performance in which the Redskins offense scored just six points - despite the benching of starting quarterback Jason Campbell for veteran backup Todd Collins.

Another ugly loss for Redskins from The Washington Post

Quarterback Jason Campbell declined to speak with reporters after Sunday's dreary 14-6 loss to the formerly winless Kansas City Chiefs at FedEx Field. In a phone interview Sunday night, Campbell commented on his benching after halftime, Coach Jim Zorn being stripped of play-calling duties and the plight of the Washington Redskins.

Q: What did Zorn say to you at halftime about his decision to go with backup Todd Collins in the second half?

A: "He told me he was going to put Todd in the game so he could just see if he could give us a spark. He said to me, 'I've got to try to find a way to give us a spark.' It was his decision.

"I'm just going to take it stride. Everyone always wants to point the finger at me, and that's why I always say you have to keep your head up, keep going, keep moving because you know what's going on. You know what's really happening. You can't let it get you down and you can't let it distract you...

Campbell discusses benching, future from The Washington Post

With less than four minutes to play at FedEx Field, the sparse remains of the Redskins crowd stood as one. And they did nothing.

They did not cheer. They did not exhort their team to block a long field goal by a Kansas City rookie named Ryan Succop, the final player picked in the last NFL draft, which would put the awful Chiefs, losers of 28 of their previous 30 games, ahead 9-6.

The crowd did not boo, either. Instead, in a sight I can never remember at a sporting event, the fans spontaneously shared a moment of silence, a communal mortification, as they stood witness to the bleakest moment -- all factors considered -- in the history of the Redskins franchise.

Rock bottomless from The Washington Post

The Kansas City Chiefs broke through for their first win of the season Sunday, dumping the Washington Redskins 14-6.

"It's going to be a very hard week. Last week, I thought that was as hard as it can get," Washington coach Jim Zorn said. "It just got harder."

The week may be more difficult, but Zorn's duties will be lighter. The Redskins removed his play-calling duties and were expected to name a new play-caller today, according to the Associated Press.

Generally upbeat and optimistic, Zorn was neither after his team provided an opponent with its first victory for the fourth time this season.

Chiefs Get First Win Vs. 'Skins from American Chronicle

Well, it was ugly. Really ugly. Butt-ugly, but it was a win. In a complete turnaround from last week when the team could feel pretty good about their loss to the Dallas Cowboys, the offense can't find much to smile about today.

Matt Cassel looked like a young quarterback today with a couple of key mental errors. He wasted a timeout early in the second half that drew the ire of head coach Todd Haley and wasn't quite as sharp with his throws today. Of course, the Redskins defensive front seven is about as good as there is in football, and tackle Albert Haynesworth showed why the Redskins made him the highest paid player in the game. Haynesworth spent about as much time in the Chiefs backfield as running back Larry Johnson did.  Overall, Cassel was pretty efficient and most importantly did not turn the ball over.

Chiefs win offensive spectacle 14-6, get first victory of season from Examiner.com

Hunter Hillenmeyer has been out three weeks now with two fractured ribs and has yet to return to practice. Middle linebacker Brian Urlacher is out for the season following surgery on his right wrist. It could all add up to put general manager Jerry Angelo in a position to deal again. The Kansas City Chiefs are rumored to be willing to part with Derrick Johnson, who has fallen out of favor there. The trade deadline is Tuesday at 4 p.m.

There is no word yet on the nature of Tinoisamoa’s injury, but that should come soon. Angelo is already without his first- and second-round picks in 2010 because of the Jay Cutler and Adams’ trades. He might hesitate to thin his ’10 draft even more, but he’s starting to run out of bodies. The Bears have already used five different starters at linebacker, and if Tinoisamoa is out this coming Sunday at Cincinnati (that looks likely), Jamar Williams could be forced into duty. He would become the sixth starter the Bears have used.

Biggs: Could Bears be in market for a linebacker? from National Football Post

I thought Dan Snyder couldn’t top himself after selling Sept. 11 Commemorative Hats for profit.

Note to self: Never overestimate Dan Snyder. Never. Ever ever. Never never.

Folks at FedExField for yesterday’s game reported that Snyder’s vendors were selling beer to fans IN THE RESTROOMS!

And this isn’t the first time. The above photo was posted on Snyder’s message board, extremeskins.com, a year ago. A witness who goes by the board name of Gracelander wrote:

I’m in 418 and this one dude kept coming into our section peddling the beer and he was obviously in someone elses territory cuz there were alot of back and forth stuff said between them. Then what made me mad was when I went to the bathroom at the start of the 3rd quarter and this guy was in the BATHROOM selling beers to guy’s who waited for the urinals. I found this just wrong on so many accounts. I took a pic of him because i’m sure this isn’t typical “fed ex” rules for it’s employees.

Gracelander later posted that he had received apologies from FedExField management, who blamed the bathroom retailing on maverick vendors.

Cheap Seats Daily: Breaking News: Fans Say Redskins Selling Beer in FedExField Bathrooms! from The Washington City Paper

Player Tweets

ToonIcon Phrase of the day: Bout Time!!!! Lol

ToonIcon "I should of showed u. Better nights better days." - maxwell.

ToonIcon Fly wit me ladies! Let me see those pretty wings!!!!

superdj56 Chiefs 14:6 Redskins http://bit.ly/4Fs1JP

Media and Fans

atArrowhead safety seals it! way to go chiefs! it's been a long time coming.

JoshLooney Gatorade shower for Haley...congrats on the first win coach

ArrowheadPride Standing in front of the chiefs locker room. First time in a winning locker room

Adam_Schefter Kudos to Todd Haley on his first head coaching victory -- and what could turn out to be Jim Zorn's final loss.

kb_kcstar I have no idea how to write a winning game story. Anyone have any pointers?

PTIShow Um, it appears Tom Brady is feeling better.

mitchholthus Wheels down win a win...I almost forgot what it felt like...Succop was a stud today...nice last pick of the draft!

Jay_Glazer for those who haven't heard yet, zorn saved his job by agreeing to give up play-calling. he and cerato meet tomorrow to discuss who

northernva_news: RT @InsideNoVA: Again, fail to the Redskins: Chiefs pull 14-6 surprise: The Kansas City Chiefs are winless no more

kyyhigh: @dmilzer Mmmm, looks as good as that Chiefs win did today; lots of KC fans at FedEx Field... No pictures though :/

SsSteinmeier: the Chiefs actually won!!

the_brian_show: sleeping well after that sweet chiefs victory today :)

_dantastic: Thinking of what a great weekend this was...Kstate won, Chiefs won, cleaned out my colon at Paranormal Activity...good weekend!

ngranner: Ok, Chiefs won and beer was drunk. A happy Sunday indeed.

MNH99: What a great monday!!!! Chiefs Win; Fantasy Win..... Best monday in a year:-)