Notes & Stuff – Arrowhead Almost Dark

From Arrowhead Stadium

At one point Friday evening in the first half of the Rams-Chiefs game, there were ongoing discussions involving NFL officials of playing the game on half of the Arrowhead Stadium field.

Two of the four giant banks of lights at the top of the stadium went down sometime in the first hour of the game. It was the bank of lights on the west side of the north and south stands.

Meaning the western half of the field was lit only by Mother Nature’s fading light after sunset. The on-field lead official, referee Jerome Boger was in conversations with the NFL’s press box observer Gary Slaughter, who was on the horn with league officials in New York’s game center.

The plan was this – if it became too dark on that end of the field, Boger was going to speak with the head coaches and give them a choice. They could suspend the game, or they could play the game on half of the field. Say a running play pushed the Chiefs offense to the 35-yard line on the west half of the field. Officials would stop play and have the team change sides and move the ball to the 35-yard line on the east half of the field.

First time in the NFL? No, league officials said it happened many years ago at old Municipal Stadium in Cleveland.

Ultimately, though repairs were made and the lights went back on, first on the south stands, and then on the north stands.

Now, if somebody could just turn on the power to the Chiefs when their on the field.

PERSONNEL MATTERS GALORE

Despite tweaking his left knee on Wednesday evening, RB Jamaal Charles played on Friday night against the Rams. The Chiefs wanted to make sure he wasn’t overworked, and he carried twice for four yards, but had a 7-yard TD run wiped out by a holding call.

CB Brandon Flowers was bothered all week by an unknown leg injury. He warmed up before the game, but then did not play in the game. Javier Arenas started at LCB.

It’s unknown why starting LG Ryan Lilja was in shorts on the sideline and did not play in the game. There was no obvious indication of an injury. His absence pushed second-round draft choice Rodney Hudson into the starting lineup at LG. Hudson then played the entire second half at center.

OT Jared Gaither played early in the second half at left tackle. It was his first game appearance for the Chiefs. He gave up a sack to rookie DE Robert Quinn, but otherwise protected the left side.

Rookie CB Jalil Brown suffered what appeared to be a right hand injury during the game. He did not return after he was taken for x-rays.

Not playing Friday night for the Chiefs were: WR Chandler Williams, DB Mario Russell, FB Tervaris Johnson, OLB Gabe Miller, OLB Eric Bakhtiari, C/G Darryl Harris, TE Jake O’Connell, WR Jonathan Baldwin, OLB Pierre Walters and NT Anthony Toribio.

NICE NIGHT FOR D.J.

ILB Derrick Johnson had a nice first half, with an interception of QB Sam Bradford and then a sack of Bradford that went for minus-8 yards. He finished with 8 total tackles.

“We didn’t get going like we wanted too tonight,” Johnson said. “I like being in a position to make big plays and on defense that’s what we pride ourselves on and we made a few in the first half.”

On the K.C. defense, ILB Justin Cole, CB Javier Arenas, FS Jon McGraw, SS Eric Berry and CB Jalil Brown all had four tackles.

Johnson had the only Chiefs sack and Johnson and CB Travis Daniels had interceptions.

PENALTY REPORT

Boger’s crew lit up the Chiefs in this game, especially for offensive holding. Here’s the list of K.C. penalties:

MORE ON KICKOFFS

There were six kickoffs in Friday night’s game, with five landing in the end zone and two going for touchbacks.

Four kickoffs were returned for a total of 100 yards.

MISC. STUFF OF ALL SORTS

The Chiefs announced a paid attendance of 67,837, with an actual count somewhere in the 40,000s … a fumble by RB Jackie Battle was overturned on a replay challenge by Haley. He was down by contact … P Dustin Colquitt had another busy night, with seven punts with a 41.3 gross average and a 40-yard net average.