OFFENSE: New Addition Clicks, But Too Late

From Jacksonville, Florida

Excuse Chris Chambers these days if sometimes he’s not quite sure where he’s at, or what time it might be.

The upheaval in his life continued on Sunday at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium.

Just ponder the itinerary that’s been Chambers life over the last eight days:

• Wearing a lightning bolt on his helmet, he helped the Chargers beat the Raiders in San Diego, making one of the key catches in the game.
• On Monday, he was called in and told he was being released.
• On Tuesday, he was claimed off the waiver wire by the Chiefs. He jumped a flight to the central time zone and got in around midnight as Tuesday was becoming Wednesday.
• Wednesday saw his first practice with the Chiefs, in an offensive scheme that he’s not seen before in his nine years in the NFL.
• Then on Sunday, Chambers started against the Jaguars and in the fourth quarter, he caught a pair of touchdown passes that allowed the Chiefs to make the score a little more respectable as they lost Jacksonville 24-21.

Yes, when it was crunch time and the Chiefs were trailing 24-6, QB Matt Cassel looked for and found Chambers for a 54-yard touchdown play and then a few moments later, a five-yard scoring pass.

“I’ve been in five or six systems now,” Chambers said after the game. “It all sounds the same at this point. We’re trying to find out what works for us here and find an identity. It was good that we started to pick it up at the end.

“We were able to make some big plays when the game was on the line. I’m glad we didn’t quit this game and I hope we can build from it.”

Chambers certainly found an ally very quickly in Cassel.

“You’ve got to take your hat off to the guy,” said Cassel. “It just goes to show what a professional he is. He’s been in the league for a long time and he’s been very successful.”

Todd Haley was already a fan, but gained even more respect for Chambers in the last few days.

“There were some situations we forced him into out there and some situations where we probably weren’t fair to him,” said Haley. “For having just a few days to get ready, he was able to make some plays. That’s a great thing for us and something we’ll use even more in the coming weeks.”

Offensively, the Chiefs continue to have their problems. The running game produced just 60 yards, they didn’t convert a third down until late in the fourth quarter and Cassel was sacked three times by what has been an anemic Jacksonville pass rush.

So anything Chambers can provide will be welcome, like what he did in the last minutes of the game.

First, was the 54-yard score, which is the longest pass play and scoring play of the season for the Chiefs. In fact, it’s the longest touchdown pass the Chiefs have thrown in five years, since RB Priest Holmes caught a 60-yard TD throw during the 2005 season from QB Trent Green.

“The safeties were playing pretty low and I beat the corner,” Chambers said. “There was no safety there and Matt threw a lovely ball. We practiced that play once last week and it’s nice to see a play that works in practice work in a game situation.”

After the Chiefs converted an onside kick, Cassel and Chambers hooked up again, this time for a five-yard score and a play that did not go down as it was designed as the quarterback got pressure from the Jaguars pass rush.

“I chalk that one up to experience,” said Chambers. “I just tried to bounce and keep my balance. I saw Matt do that play with Randy Moss a couple of times in New England. When I saw him scramble, I just tried to bounce to an open area. Fortunately, I’ve been able to do that a lot in my career. Matt put it on the money.”