Defense Struggles Again & Notes

From Arrowhead Stadium

So now we know that the Chiefs defensive performance last week against Washington had more to do with the struggling Redskins than it did with the struggling red and gold.

“You can’t come out and play like that and think you’re going to win,” said DE Glenn Dorsey.

Defensively, the Chiefs could not handle WR Vincent Jackson in the first half, or RB Darren Sproles in the second half. Each one of those guys had a TD catch from QB Philip Rivers, who was not sacked and the Chiefs did not produce an interception.

Jackson caught five passes for 142 yards, including a pair of 51-yard gains, and all that was in the first half. He didn’t catch a pass in the second half, but then he didn’t have too.

The second half  TD went to Sproles, who was wide open in the right flat and caught a 10-yard pass from Rivers and then raced to the end zone. FS Jon McGraw had no chance of tackling him as Sproles was too quick and a late dive by CB Brandon Flowers couldn’t slow him down. The 58-yard play was one of the three that San Diego had that went over 50 yards.

“He’s a great player, no doubt about it,” Chiefs coach Todd Haley said of Sproles. “On that particular play we’ve got to have somebody assigned to him. We did, but we didn’t have him covered. That’s disappointing.”

About the only thing the Chiefs defense was able to do was keep the San Diego running game bottled up. After LaDainian Tomlinson gashed them for a 36-yard run in the first quarter, L.T. had just 35 yards on his 22 other carries. The Chiefs defense really played well in goal line situations, as Tomlinson ran nine times for a total of 10 yards.

Goal line stands one series, big plays allowed the next. Can we say inconsistent?

“We’ve got to be consistent,” said Dorsey. “Coach Haley preaches that every day, being consistent, don’t be on a roller coaster, don’t be an up and down player. We didn’t do that today.”

WELCOME TO KANSAS CITY LANCE LONG

Sunday morning, Lance Long was promoted from the Chiefs practice squad to the 53-man roster. Then, Long was active for Sunday’s game against San Diego, his first in Kansas City and only the second regular season game of his career.

Then, he ran down to cover the game’s opening kickoff and got into the tackle of Sproles along with LB David Herron. Sproles got just 18 yards on the return. Given the chance to play in the Chiefs’ offense, Long had a pair of catches. On that second one, he took a big shot to the head from Chargers LB Tim Dobbins.

That ended Long’s day, as he did not return to the game as a precautionary measure.

“I’m fine,” Long said after the game. “I was fine right afterwards. I think I could have gone back in.”

It’s been that kind of season for the Chiefs, where a guy comes off the street and before long they are on the field, trying to contribute. DT Kenny Smith was signed on Tuesday and he played in his first NFL game in six years on Sunday.

But Long was the most active with plays on special teams and on offense.

“He’s a kid who has worked really hard and makes plays every day in practice,” said Haley. “We were looking for a spark offensively. He has unique skill as an inside slot receiver.

“I’ll take a bunch of Lance Logs on my team any day.”

ZEBRA REPORT

The crew of Pete Morelli was not much of a factor in this game. They threw a total of flags and walked off yards against both teams.

• The Chiefs were hit with seven penalties for 41 yards. Here were the culprits:
• ILB Corey Mays 15-yard personal foul for unnecessary roughness
• TE Sean Ryan 10 yards for holding
• DE Tyson Jackson 1-yard for pass interference
• LT Barry Richardson 5 yards for a false start
• C Wade Smith 5 yards for being ineligible man downfield on a pass play
• LG Brian Waters 10-yard holding call
• Offense was hit with a 5-yard delay of game penalty.

There was one coach’s challenge, as San Diego’s Norv Turner threw the red flag on a pass from Rivers to WR Chris Chambers in the up corner of the end zone. The officials ruled he did not catch the ball in bounds, and that decision was upheld on review.

PERSONNEL MATTERS

To get Long on the active roster, the Chiefs made a roster move before the game, releasing sixth-round draft choice WR Quinten Lawrence. There’s a chance Lawrence could be re-signed and added to the practice squad, but his release was an admission by Pioli/Haley that drafting him was a mistake. Lawrence was selected because of his top-notch speed, but he proved to have unreliable hands and he was not always in the spots where he was expected on pass routes.

The inactive players for the Chiefs on Sunday were CB Donald Washington, FS Jarrad Page, OT Branden Albert, WR Bobby Engram, TE Jake O’Connell, TE Brad Cottam and LB Pierre Walters. The inactive third quarterback was Matt Gutierrez.

Starting for Albert at left tackle for the second straight week was Wade Smith. At free safety, Jon McGraw opened and the starting job now appears to belong to him.

The Chargers inactive players were RB Michael Bennett, FS C.J. Spillman, C Nick Hardwick, G Tyronne Green, WR Buster Davis, DL Vaughn Martin and LB Kevin Burnett. The inactive third quarterback was Charlie Whitehurst.

OTHER STUFF & QUOTES

Steady rain in the second half got the ball a bit slippery at times. “You have to be able to handle them as a player,” Cassel said of the elements. “We had practiced in the elements this week and it wasn’t something that was overwhelming.” … NFL officials were prepared to pull the teams off the field if lightning became a problem. But after a couple of bolts raced across the sky and about three minutes of thunder, the only thing that came down was rain … Everybody active for the Chiefs got into the action except No. 2 QB Brodie Croyle. Third QB Matt Gutierrez came in for the final series of mop up work … the announced paid attendance was 69,337, but the game started with a lot of empty seats and after half-time it looked like at least 50 percent of the crowd never returned to their seats … TE Sean Ryan should get credit for Cassel’s first INT, as the pass landed right in his hands, but then popped up in the air where it was grabbed by LB Tim Dobbins … post-game stats gave Dobbins 11 tackles in the game … Leading the Chiefs were ILBs Corey Mays and Demorrio Williams with seven each … sacks for the Chargers came from OLB Shaun Phillips who got two, FS Eric Weddle and SS Steve Gregory.