Offenses Ignore Cold; Second Half Kills Chiefs Again

From Arrowhead Stadium

One of the coldest days Arrowhead Stadium has ever seen produced a couple of hot offenses. It was the Miami Dolphins who brought more heat than the Chiefs and walked off with a 38-31 victory.

For most of the game, the offenses chased the defenses up and down the field, producing 895 yards in total offense and nine touchdowns. The Dolphins scored touchdowns in every quarter and finished the day with 403 yards, their second best offensive performance of the season.

A year after going 1-15, Miami is now 10-5 and one victory away from making the playoffs and possibly winning the AFC East. They will finish the season next Sunday against the Jets in the Meadowlands.

“That’s a good football team,” Herm Edwards said of the Dolphins. “They’ve got a pretty good offense and the quarterback (Chad Pennington) is a good player. I was fortunate enough to coach him for five years and he doesn’t make a lot of mistakes, he’s very accurate and they’ve got a pretty good running game.”

The Chiefs finished the game with 492 yards, their best offensive output of the season. They had their longest pass play of the season and a host of other big plays; seven plays produced 262 yards. They also got their running game going as RB Larry Johnson ran for 108 yards and the team finished with 180 yards.

But once again the Kansas City offense had second half problems. After scoring four touchdowns in the first half, the Chiefs managed only a field goal in the second half and blew another scoring opportunity in the third quarter when QB Tyler Thigpen threw his second of three interceptions in the game. They had only 145 offensive yards in the third and fourth quarters, after gaining 347 yards in the first half.

“The second half was our Achilles Heel and it has been all year,” said Edwards. “We only scored three points in the second half. They scored 14. They win.”

At the opening kickoff the temperature was 10 degrees with a wind-chill factor of minus-12, making it the second coldest game in Arrowhead Stadium history. But the deep freeze didn’t seem to affect the visiting Dolphins as they had 10 points on the scoreboard in less than four minutes.

The Chiefs won the coin toss but elected to defer their choice until the second half. Miami took the kickoff and RB Patrick Cobbs broke off a 60-yard return to the Kansas City 31-yard line. On the Dolphins first offensive play, WR Ted Ginn, Jr. took a handoff from QB Chad Pennington on an end-around play and went untouched into the end zone. The entire right side of the Chiefs defense was suckered on the play and was out of position. Ginn had blockers in front of him, but really didn’t need them as he scored. K Dan Carpenter’s PAT kick gave Miami a 7-0 lead with just 18 seconds off the clock.

“It’s never good when you have just buckled your chin strap and they get a long kick return and a TD before you know what happened,” said FS Jarrad Page. “That rocked us a bit.”

The Dolphins added three more points after CB Andre Goodman picked off a Thigpen pass intended for TE Tony Gonzalez and returned it 55 yards to the Chiefs 18-yard line. The Kansas City defense stiffened and eventually forced Carpenter to kick a 34-yard FG giving the Dolphins a 10-0 lead.

Given the circumstances, it seemed like this might be the moment when the will of this young Chiefs team was finally broken. Down 10 points early, at home in a lost season, in bone chilling weather and playing for a coach who may be out of a job in a few weeks was recipe for a football massacre.

But as they’ve done all season, the Chiefs did not quit. Not in the least. They’ve been trained too well to give it all up after less than five minutes has run off the clock.

“This game didn’t start off real well but the way they fought back says a lot about who they are and their character,” Edwards said of his team.

Given their second chance with the football, the Chiefs offense put points on the board. Thigpen hit WR Dwayne Bowe for a seven-yard gain, then Johnson ripped off a pretty 25-yard run. On first-and-10 on the Miami 33-yard line, Thigpen faked a handoff to Johnson, then ran a bootleg to his right and threw the ball up in the end zone where WR Devard Darling out jumped two Miami defenders for the ball and a touchdown. K Connor Barth added the PAT kick and Miami’s lead was sliced to 10-7.

As the second quarter began, the Chiefs finished off a long scoring drive. Thigpen took the offense for 80 yards on 17 plays with six first downs, finishing up with an eight-yard TD pass to Gonzalez on a fourth-and-one play. That was the second fourth down the Chiefs converted in the drive; on the first, Thigpen and Bowe hooked up on a 12-yard gain. Barth’s PAT kick gave the Chiefs a 14-10 lead.

Miami came right back and regained the lead as they needed just five plays to move the ball 72 yards for a touchdown. The score came on an 11-yard pass from Pennington to TE David Martin. Carpenter’s PAT kick put Miami back on top, 17-14.

Again, the Chiefs answered back, thanks to their longest pass play of the season. On first-and-10 at their own 23-yard line, Thigpen and RB Jamaal Charles connected on a bubble screen to the right side. Charles cracked the Miami defense and ran all the way to the Dolphins two-yard line. The 75-yard connection set up Johnson’s two-yard TD run on the next play. With Barth’s PAT kick, the Chiefs were back on top 21-17.

But Miami had its own answer, as Pennington led his team on a 66-yard drive in seven plays. The Dolphins quarterback was six-for-six in the possession, including the scoring play, a 14-yard pass to TE Anthony Fasano. With Carpenter’s PAT, the Dolphins held a 24-21 lead.

Finishing up a rock’em-sock’em first half, the Chiefs put another touchdown on the board and took the lead at half-time. Thigpen moved the offense on an eight-play, 95-yard drive finishing it off with his legs. He scrambled 27 yards to get the ball to the Miami eight-yard line and then ran a quarterback draw into the end zone for the score. With Barth’s PAT kick, the Chiefs held a 28-24 with 50 seconds to play in the first half.

Miami was intent on answering back, but Chiefs FS Jarrad Paige ended those thoughts with an interception of Pennington with 16 seconds to play.

The Chiefs opened the second half with the football and they were able to put points on the board. Thigpen drove the offense 69 yards on nine plays, picking up three first downs along the way. The big play in the possession was a 33-yard run by Johnson. Several plays later, Johnson followed up with a 13-yard run. But the offense stalled in scoring territory and Barth hit a 27-yard FG to give the Chiefs a seven-point margin, 31-24.

Miami got great field position on its first offensive possession when Barth’s kickoff went out of bounds. Starting at his own 40-yard line, Pennington needed only five plays to get the Dolphins in the end zone again. The big play came out of the Wildcat formation, with Brown taking a direct snap and then handing off to Cobbs who went 44 yards before he was knocked out of bounds at the Chiefs four-yard line. Williams hit the end zone untouched on the next play and after Carpenter’s PAT kick, the score was tied at 31-31.

It looked like the Chiefs were again on the way to returning the fire, driving the ball down to the Dolphins 26-yard line. But Thigpen threw his second interception of the day, as CB Nathan Jones picked off his throw and went out of bounds at the Miami six-yard line.

Both defenses forced punts, before Miami took over at its 15-yard line. Pennington methodically drove his offense down the field, picking up seven first downs and going 85 yards on 13 plays, with no gain longer than the score: a 14-yard pass from Pennington to Fasano. Carpenter’s PAT kick gave the Dolphins a 38-31 margin.

“Chad completed short passes and we had him a couple of times, but he got out,” said Edwards. “We brought pressure but we didn’t get to him. That’s what he can do. He’s n ot going to hit you with a bunch of big passes. He’s going to nickel and dime you and keep the chains moving.”

The Chiefs had their opportunity to answer back, but on a fourth-and-one play at his own 26-yard line, Thigpen slipped and fell on a bootleg run, turning the ball over on downs.

They got one more chance when Ricky Williams fumbled and Chiefs LB Demorrio Williams recovered. But Thigpen threw his third interception of the game, as CB Renaldo Hill stepped in front of a third down pass for Gonzalez with 52 seconds to play.

The Chiefs now head to Cincinnati to finish out the 2008 season with a game this coming Sunday against the Bengals.

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