The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Indianapolis Colts today, 28-24, and there are a million things to talk about following this game but let me start it off with this:
Damn, it feels good to see the Chiefs win, especially on a day like this.
The Colts have hurt us far too many times and I'm glad the Chiefs were able to comeback today. After the 0-3 start, getting two in a row is so, so nice.
I kept some notes throughout the game so here are 21 things to remember about the game.
Chiefs start off slow, again. I was getting pretty angry at the Chiefs early in this game, which is a theme we're seeing this year. The Colts took a commanding 17-0 lead and Curtis Painter looked like Peyton Manning. Worse, the Chiefs were making a lot of silly mental errors. With the Chiefs offense, I thought to myself in the second quarter, there's no way they come back from this. No way. Well...I've never been happier to be wrong.
Brandon Flowers bit on a pump fake allowing Pierre Garcon to score. Painter gave a pump fake while Flowers was on Garcon, causing him to jump on the route and move to the middle of the field. Painter went deep to Garcon for the 67-yard touchdown.
Jackie Battle getting some action. In the first half he had six carries for 38 yards including one stretch where he carried it four straight plays for six, six, five and two yards. After he had some key carries in last week's victory over the Vikings, we figured he would see some more action. Little did we know in the first half just how important he would become throughout this game.
Bowe has to be one of the best yards after catch guys in the league. First, it was the touchdown pass where he slipped past two defenders and went 41 yards for a score. Second, it was a key 29-yard catch and run on the Chiefs final drive of the first half. Bowe caught the ball and got what looked like another seven yards despite two Colts players on him. Third, Bowe caught a short slant route on a third and one at the start of the second half and he would've been gone if he had beaten one man. But that wasn't even his best play of the day....
I don't have words for Bowe's second touchdown. He just....wow. Just watch the replay.
Cassel completed six consecutive passes to end the first half. Two of them went to Breaston on the final drive, and one to Bowe. He seems to be at his best when they're in the hurry-up offense. The Chiefs needed some momentum heading into the half and they got it as Breaston's score closed it to a 10-point game. Lucky for the Chiefs, Cassel and the offense's momentum held strong into the second half.
Chiefs tried to capitalize when Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis were out. They took a quick breather early in the second half and Cassel (or the playcaller) recognized that and dialed up a deep pass. It was incomplete but they have to take their chances when they can.
Huge play we won't remember. Keary Colbert caught a ball crossing the middle of the field and took several steps before being tackled. As he went down, he dropped the ball and it rolled a few feet away. Several players were standing around and Bowe pounced on the ball. It was ruled a fumble so it was a live ball at the time. If the Chiefs don't recover that, it's a killer. But since Bowe landed on it, we won't even remember this play.
Penalties kill a great chance for the Chiefs. KC was driving on their first second half possession and they had their first two penalties of the game -- holding on Barry Richardson and Leonard Pope. The second on Pope took away a Thomas Jones run that put them on the 28-yard line but the penalty moved them into a second and 16, which resulted in a sack and KC was left with no chance on third and 24. They had an opportunity to be in position for three points but blew it and had to punt.
KC's defense with a strong response to the blown drive on offense. Following the drive we described above, KC's defense held the Colts and was faced with a third and one. It was basically the Chiefs big dudes vs. the Colts big dudes and KC got enough push from the defensive line to stop them. Huge play as far as momentum goes.
Chiefs offense, and run game, starting to remind me of 2010. In the third quarter of the game, the Chiefs started a drive on their own seven and the plays went like this: 12-yard pass to Bowe, 11-yard run by Battle, 11-yard run by Battle, 21-yard run by Jones, 9-yard pass to Terrance Copper. Five Four straight plays of double digit yardage and KC's offense started to get into a groove.
FB Le'Ron McClain was injured. I'm not sure of the severity or even where the injury happened.
Dwayne Bowe gets screwed, and then gets a call. Interesting pair of plays for Bowe. He caught a pass from Cassel down the right sideline and stretched his hands out to get the first down as he went down. but the ref didn't give it to him. He spiked the ball after the play and got a delay of game penalty. On the next play, Bowe nearly caught another pass but got a pass interference call.
The comeback! Cassel lead the Chiefs down the field for the comeback, putting the Chiefs up 28-24 with 4:39 left. That's Breaston's second touchdown (along with Bowe's two).
Chiefs stop the Colts! The Colts lined up to punt on fourth and 11 and the ball went rolling out of bounds. But....there was a neutral zone infraction penalty on Jalil Brown. The Colts offense came back out on fourth and six and Painter tried to hit a receiver right at the first down marker in the middle of the field but Jon McGraw was there to get his hand on it. There was some questions as to whether McGraw made too much contact but no flags came down. This was one of the biggest plays of the game.
Jackie Battle goes over 100 yards as the Chiefs nearly finish off the Colts. Battle had a 24-yard run, passing 100 yards and giving the Chiefs a fresh set of downs with two minutes remaining. Suffice to say, we'll be talking about Battle a lot more this week.
Down goes Battle. Right after the 24-yard run, Battle comes back and finishes off a first down run. He hit the ground and stayed down as the trainers came out to tend to him. He stood back up and walked off the field.
Cassel finishes off the Colts. Fitting that, on Cassel's best day as a Kansas City Chief, he's the one who pushes them over the top. On third and one, Cassel leaps over the offensive line on a quarterback sneak and gets the first down. We'll also be talking more about Cassel this week because he played his best game as a Chief today. His final numbers: 21-of-29 for 257 yards and four touchdowns.
Killer B's dominate today. Jackie Battle had 19 carries for 119 yards, Dwayne Bowe had seven catches for 128 yards and two touchdowns and Steve Breaston had four catches for 50 yards and two touchdowns. We talked about the Killer B's before the season -- except it was Jonathan Baldwin, and not Battle, we talked about.
The Chiefs tie a franchise record for comebacks. Only three times in KC history have the Chiefs come back from more than 17 points down. This is the fourth time. The Chiefs score 21 unanswered for the win.
The Chiefs do something else they've never done -- win in Indy. This is the Chiefs second win against the Colts in the last 12 games, and their first victory ever in Indianapolis.