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Re: Kansas City Koverage

By RedNU
9/24/2018 3:41 am
Maurice Ramirez's 40-yard field goal in the waning seconds delivered Los Angeles to a 19-17 victory. For Kansas City fans, it was a whole new level of heartbreak as the team dropped to 0-5 this season.

To even be in a position to win seemed unthinkable in the first half as Los Angeles built a rapid 16-0 lead, courtesy of two KC fumbles that transformed into 10 of LA's 16 points. Ramirez was true on kicks of 42, 21 and 37 yards and Johnny Macdonald added LA"s only touchdown of the night on a short dive across the goal line.

That seemed like more than enough points at the time as Kansas City's offense had been completely bottled up to that point in the game. That abruptly changed as Chester Singleton hooked up with Evan Bush on the first play of the Arrowheads' next possession for an instant 75-yard single play scoring drive. Put KC on the board at 16-7.

The teams traded missed field goals to carry that score into the second half. That's when Kansas City's defense came to life. John Wright's pressure forced LA quarterback Jeffrey Crockett to hurry a throw. It found the big ol' mitts of defensive tackle Warren Bogan, setting up Kansas City inside the LA 30.

The Arrowheads blew a picture-perfect touchdown chance as Joseph Altman dropped Singleton's third-and-goal pass from the 9 despite literally being the only player on his side of the hash marks at the time of the drop. I've said it before and I'll say it again -- maybe that's why he went undrafted initially.

Karl Barb came on to mop up after the unforced error, splitting the uprights with a 31-yard field goal to pull KC within 16-10. The boot also stopped a streak of four consecutive missed field goals by Barb.

Middle linebacker Jerry Daniel registered Kansas City's second interception of the night on LA's next offensive series, but KC couldn't capitalize. After a 52-yard miss from Ramirez, Singleton went to work again, this time finding Ryan Paxton, who did a brilliant job of running through an LA defender for a 25-yard touchdown reception, giving Kansas City its first lead in the second half this season with 14:14 to play.

Los Angeles missed an opportunity to regain the lead as Ramirez's 57-yard effort landed short of the crossbar. Kansas City unleashed, dare we say it, a ground game to methodically work the ball down field and eat time off the clock. The drive came up empty though as Barb returned to his off-target ways, whiffing wide to the right from 43 yards out and denying KC a chance to pad its margin.

Kansas City's defense forced a 3-and-out, allowing the offense to work the clock to the two minute warning. On a night of so many special teams disasters, it was Los Angeles that came up with the night's biggest special teams play. Greg Lively fielded Jason Greene's angling punt and tiptoed 28 yards down the sideline, transforming what appeared destined to be a long field into something far more manageable for LA's offense. Crockett's third-and-4 completion to a tightly covered Jose Gardner moved the team into range for the last-second dagger.

Kansas City will lick its wounds, much like I'm licking the salt off the glass of my third sympathy margarita, and travel to Minnesota (4-1) next. Vikings are a 12 point favorite in the contest.



Last edited at 9/24/2018 3:43 am

Re: Kansas City Koverage

By RedNU
9/26/2018 3:23 am
Winless no more!

Your Kansas City Arrowheads made the impossible possible tonight, grinding out a 13-10 road victory over Minnesota to bask in the glow of the season's first win. In a microcosm, the game was everything Kansas City's first five contests of the year were not.

Consider this -- the KC ground game, which struggled to just 330 rushing yards in its first five games, uncorked a 188-yard performance against Minnesota. The front seven, carved like a Thanksgiving turkey for three consecutive weeks, surrendered just 96 yards on the ground and 216 overall yards. Kicker Karl Barb, mired in a 1-for-6 kicking streak, connected true on two attempts and narrowly missed adding a 56-yard effort.

Evidence that this was going to be an abnormal night came early. Chester Singleton hooked up with Daniel Pearson for 57 yards on the second play of the game to move the ball deep into Minnesota territory. Two plays later, Earl Belote burst into the endzone from six yards out, only to have the play nullified on a holding penalty and KC settled for an easy field goal instead.

KC was back in business on its next possession. Mark Prendergast broke off the Arrowheads' longest run of the season -- 27 yards -- to work the ball into Minnesota territory. Singleton's first interception of the season shut down the drive in the red zone. KC's next possession also came to an end via turnover as Joseph "The Undrafted" Altman coughed up the football near midfield.

It didn't matter though. Kansas City's defense proved up to the task throughout the first half, holding Minnesota to a measly 46 yards of offense, half of which came on the team's final possession of the half. It was finally that defense that helped the Arrowheads extend their lead as Jerry Daniel's interception set up Barb's second field goal of the night, providing KC with a 6-0 halftime lead.

The Vikings immediately halved that margin in the second half thanks to FIlberto Forester's 55-yard boot. From there, things settled in to a field position battle as fans got the sense that one big break would deliver the game in either direction. For once this season, KC came up with that break as Timothy Shaw came up with a fourth quarter pick at the Minnesota 34. A handful of plays later, Singleton connected with Prendergast from 18 yards out and Kansas City fans, after a couple near misses, began to wonder if this victory thing might really be possible.

Prendergast was definitely the hero of the night for Kansas City, finishing with 163 combined rushing and receiving yards. That was more than half of the team's offensive total.

Minnesota tried to make life interesting. The Vikings executed the 2-minute drill to score a touchdown with 36 seconds remaining and increase a few pulse rates throughout the heartland. Benjamin Gore fell on the ensuing onside kick however, ending Kansas City's frustrations.

For all the happiness in the locker room, lets make no mistake about it. This certainly wasn't a pretty game for large chunks of it, but the end result was absolutely beautiful. Raise your glasses Kansas City fans and give a toast to victory.

Kansas City continues its epic 4-game road trip with a swing to Florida to face Jacksonville. Vegas is calling the Jags 14-point favorites, but who cares. We just won a game -- we're going to DIsneyworld!

Re: Kansas City Koverage

By RedNU
9/28/2018 3:04 am
Kansas City wrapped up its month-long "We Hate You" road trip courtesy of the league front office with a 23-3 loss to Jacksonville. For being so close to Disney World, this was certainly no Magic Kingdom.

The Arrowheads showed every bit of a hangover from both the celebration of their first victory and a road trip that sent the team from KC to Oakland to Los Angeles to Minneapolis and finally here to Florida. It is questionable whether the offensive playbook got misrouted by the airlines.

Kansas City struggled to a season-low 181 yards of total offense in the game. After countering the Jags' 43-yard first quarter field goal with a chip shot of their own early in the second quarter after David Shover was ruled to have gone down just shy of the goal line, the team never came close to sniffing the scoreboard again.

Jacksonville relied on the big play to seize control of the game. A 51-yard Daniel Armstrong-to-Jean Paz shot just before intermission gave the Jags the lead for good. The two would hook up again for 38 yards to steer Jacksonville into Kansas City territory for another field goal in the third quarter. Early in the fourth it was the same connection netting 87 yards and the Jaguars final touchdown. The Floridians tacked on a garbage time field goal to give the game its final margin.

Chester Singleton completed 26 of 38 passes for 169 yards and was picked once. He also finished as the team's leading rusher after scrambling for 9 yards in the second half. Yes, the running game was truly that pathetic.

Kansas City will try to remember what the home team locker room looks like when the Arrowheads (1-6) welcome Green Bay (3-4) to town for the Game of the Week.

Say what??!? Game of the Week? This is someone's idea of a joke, right? And they say the major networks don't have a sense of humor. Maybe it's a typo and its the Game of the Weak?

Whatever it is, make sure your season ticket seats haven't moved and come out and welcome the Cheeseheads to town. If we can't win the game, you'll at least have plenty of fine folks to drink beer with afterwards.

Re: Kansas City Koverage

By RedNU
10/01/2018 3:41 am
There's no place like home! There's no place like home!

After a month-long road trip, the Kansas City Arrowheads celebrated being back home by shutting out Green Bay 26-0 in the Game of the Week to improve to 2-6 on the season. Look fans, there's really no other way to put in -- your Arrowheads put foot squarely to *** in this one.

Kansas City's defense held the visitors to 80 total yards of offense for the night. Packers QB Joe Callahan didn't complete his first pass of the game until 3:49 remained in the third quarter and finished with a negative-3 net yards passing. The defense that has been shaky at times against the rush this season withstood every Green Bay effort to beat it into submission, allowing fewer than two and a half yards per carry.

Chester Singleton gave Kansas City all the points it would need in the contest when he hooked up with Daniel Pearson for an 80-yard touchdown in the first quarter. Pearson's breakaway to the endzone was cleared by a fantastic downfield block. Mark Prendergast added a TD run of 5 yards capping a 7-play, 88-yard drive in the second quarter, sending KC into the locker room with a two touchdown advantage.

Kicker Karl Barb made sure the Arrowheads' lead only grew in the second half. Barb, who had his struggles on the road trip, finished a perfect 4-for-4 on the night. He proved true on kicks of 32 and 53 yards in the third quarter before making from 47 and 26 yards in the fourth quarter to give the game its final margin.

Green Bay never got closer than the Arrowheads' 39 on the night. Middle linebacker Jerry Daniel finished with 10 tackles to pace Kansas City's defense.

Pearson finished with 174 receiving yards on four receptions. In all, Kansas City's offense produced 360 yards worth of damage in the contest.

Enjoy the win while you can KC fans. I'd offer a toast, but I gave my alcohol stash to the visiting sportswriters. They needed it. Anyhow, Kansas City hosts undefeated Tennessee next. The Titans are 14 point favorites, but, hey, someone has to knock them off. Might as well be us, right?

Re: Kansas City Koverage

By RedNU
10/03/2018 3:33 am
Visiting Tennessee escaped the most unlikely of upset bids, getting out of Kansas City with a 20-13 victory to remain unbeaten. The bid was unlikely not only given the records of the two teams playing, but because of the absolutely disastrous first half performance by the Arrowheads' offense.

Kansas City finished with negative yardage on four of its five first-half possessions. Tennessee took more points to the halftime locker room (17) than the Arrowheads did total yards (13). Cleo Anderson began the Titans' scoring with a 35-yard field goal. Rick Lawrence hit Robert Molina from 18 yards midway through the second quarter for the game's first touchdown. John Moreno appeared to deliver a dagger just before the half ended when he broke loose for an 83-yard touchdown run on the heels of a Kansas City timeout.

Trailing 17-0 and unable to do anything, there was no reason to expect any good news from Kansas City. But the Arrowheads found a way to flip the script.

KC's defense, stampeded throughout the first half, allowed just 36 yards of offense after intermission, the bulk of which came on a single Tennessee possession. Meanwhile, the Arrowheads made a statement on their first possession of the second half as they threw together an 11-play, 75-yard drive that culminated in Chester Singleton's 5-yard pass to Daniel Pearson.

Karl Barb continued his homecoming celebration by booting a 55-yard field goal between the uprights on KC's next possession. Just like that it was a one-score game.

The Arrowheads' next possession ended prematurely on a fumble near midfield. That miscue appeared to take a little of the second half spice out of Kansas City's offensive unit, but the team found new life in the fourth quarter after Anderson missed a 52-yard try for Tennessee. The miss flipped the field position battle and allowed Barb to kick a 47 yarder to pull KC within 17-13 with just over 4 minutes remaining to play.

Kansas City's defense did its part by forcing a three-and-out but they could not defend against Anthony Causby's monster 65-yard punt that pinning Kansas City at its own 4 with little more than 2 minutes remaining. The miracle drive never had a chance. After completing a pass on his first play to Ryan Paxton, Singleton was sacked on two of KC's next three plays. Facing fourth and 17 to continue the drive, the Arrowheads called for a silly swing pass out of the backfield that saw David Shover chased down some 9 yards shy of the first down. Tennessee tacked on a garbage time FG on its final possession to give the game its final score.

Kansas City (2-7) travels to Chicago (2-7) for the Game of the W...oh, come on, here we go again. The Game of the Week? I mean, sure, we did great last time we were on national television, but America has better things to do than watch losing football teams jockeying for draft position. Seattle and Los Angeles are playing with at least a share of the NC West lead going to the victor. Surely that would be a much better Game of the Week. I think it's time to do the annual drug testing down at the network front offices. Pee cups for everyone!
Last edited at 10/03/2018 3:33 am

Re: Kansas City Koverage

By RedNU
10/05/2018 4:00 am
Chicago scored touchdowns on three of its first four possessions and Kansas City quarterback Chester Singleton couldn't figure out which team he played for as the Bears blew out KC 38-16 in the so-called Game of the Week.

Timothy Montgomery threw first-quarter touchdown passes of 53 and 63 yards for Chicago before Kansas City could get its offense in motion. Once the Arrowheads took it out of neutral, they were able to work into position for a 36-yard Karl Barb field goal to put KC on the board.

Barb would kick another field goal in the second quarter, this time from 53 yards out, but it was in answer to another Chicago touchdown as KC kept falling behind. Nicholas Garrett added a 48 yard field goal for Chicago to make it 24-6 Bears at the half.

That lead didn't hold long. Mark Prendergast gave Kansas City fans a treat scoring only the team's second rushing touchdown of the season on a 63-yard run in the first minute of the second half. The gallop was also KC's longest rushing play of the campaign.

Barb added a 49-yard kick later in the quarter to pull KC within 24-16, but that's where the comeback bid ended. Chicago threw together a 7-play, 61-yard touchdown drive capped by Andrew Cruz's second short touchdown run of the contest. Any hope of an Arrowheads' rally slammed to a halt as William Cox secured the second interception of Chester Singleton on the night and returned it 92 yards for the game's final touchdown with 4:25 remaining.

For the night, Singleton was a mere 18-for-37 for 134 yards and 2 interceptions. Throw that all together and it makes for a juicy 35.19 quarterback rating. Prendergast topped the century mark with 102 yards rushing on 15 carries.

The loss drops Kansas City to 2-8 this season and slimmed the team's hopes of mounting a late charge at the playoffs. As silly as that sounds, the Arrowheads face just one team with a winning record -- division leading Oakland at 5-4-1 -- the rest of the way. Four of those final six games will be home contests.

First up on that slate is Los Angeles (3-7). The Chargers zapped KC 19-17 on a final-play field goal the first time the two squads played. We'll see how the memory of that moment motivates the team as they take the field favored by 3.

Re: Kansas City Koverage

By RedNU
10/08/2018 3:52 am
Yong Mayer sacked LA quarterback Jeffrey Crockett in the endzone for a go-ahead safety with 2:31 to play and Karl Barb added an insurance 42-yard field goal less than 60 seconds later to lift Kansas City to a 14-9 victory. The Arrowheads improved to 3-8 on the season and avenged a last-second loss to Los Angeles in the teams' last meeting.

Defense and kicking were the stories of the night for Kansas City. Timothy Shaw stripped LA running back Jaime Camera on the first play of the the game. Strong safety Russell Pierce pounced on the bouncing football to immediately set up the Arrowheads in scoring position.

That proved to be a good thing since Chester Singleton threw incomplete on three straight passes. It sucks, but, hey, it sure beats his last game when he was throwing to the other team, right? Barb kicked the first of his four field goals in the game, placing KC in front early.

LA kicker Maurice Ramirez matched Barb's effort with just shy of 5 minutes to go in the first quarter to knot up the contest. Kansas City regained the lead roughly 10 minutes later as Barb proved true from 45 yards out in the second quarter.

Ramirez notched a 51-yarder with 3:23 remaining in the half to send the two teams to the locker room. Spectators admired the grass growing and drying paint in the concourse areas to maintain their excitement levels during intermission.

That level of thrill remained for much of the third period as the teams continued to battle for field position. The need for any sort of excitement came late in the quarter when Barb missed from 41 yards away. Crockett hooked up with Walter Lowell for Los Angeles' biggest play from scrimmage (54 yards in the contest). Not long after, the visitors were taking their first lead of the game with a 35-yard field goal to give LA its first lead of the night.

The lead didn't last for long. Kansas City pieced together an 11-play scoring drive. The Arrowheads appeared to be powering their way toward the end zone, but eventually stalled out inside the 5 and had to call upon Barb once more.

With the game in the balanced, LA and KC traded possessions before Jason Greene's 51-yard punt trickled to a stop a the Los Angeles 2 and set the stage for Mayer's safety tackle. Los Angeles attempted and failed to exercise an ensuing free kick onsides, setting up KC with an extremely short field in which to give Barb his fourth make in five attempts.

For the game, KC outgained LA by a 271-188 margin. After his early struggles, Singleton finished 21-for-40 for 214 yards passing. Mark Prendergast added 81 all-purpose yards with 31 yards rushing and another 50 receiving on five receptions.

The win keeps the Arrowheads' slim playoff hopes alive, but only barely. Kansas City trails Oakland by 3.5 games with five games remaining. The Raiders did not cooperate with KC fans by pulling out a 15-7 win over Cincy this week.

Kansas CIty (3-8) heads to Denver (2-8-1) for its next action. The Broncos are favored by 2 in the contest.

Re: Kansas City Koverage

By RedNU
10/10/2018 3:43 am
Denver's James Houser slung a 7-yard touchdown pass to Thomas Hegland with 1:18 to play to give the Donkeys a 24-21 victory over Kansas City. Happy F@#$%!!ing Mathematical Elimination Day Arrowheads fans.

The touchdown catch was just one of two game-saving receptions Denver managed to produce on its finally offensive possession. Two players earlier Houser connected with a well-covered Hegland for 31 yards on a 4th-and-14 play call to prevent Kansas City from getting the ball back, where the team likely could have run out the entire clock.

The late-game heroics spoiled a go-ahead pick-six by KC free safety Martin Owings, who returned the interception 33 yards for a score. The play was part of a back-and-forth second half that saw the two teams trade punch and counter punch over much of two quarters. Trailing 7-0 at the half, Kansas City marched 68 yards in 7 plays on its first possession with Chester Singleton catching Earl Belote on a seven yard flair route out of the backfield to tie the game. Denver regained the lead on a 46-yard field goal, but the lead was short-lived as Singleton hit Joseph Altman down the sideline for a 75-yard touchdown pass on KC's first play from scrimmage following the kick.

Houser and Hegland combined for an 8-yard score with 9:55 remaining to send the scoreboard back in Denver's favor 17-14. It stayed that way until Owings' pick-six with 7:10 remaining. Kansas City did have the opportunity to try driving for a potential tying field goal with 78 seconds and a full contingent of timeouts available, but the boneheaded play calling we've come to expect this season saw the Arrowheads call a series of underneath routes that never went for more than 9 yards quickly waste the time outs and leave the team stall out before reaching midfield.

As haunting as the ending might be for KC fans, it might be the missed and blown opportunities from the first half that spelled the difference. Kansas City outplayed Denver for the first 30 minutes, but trailed on the scoreboard.

The Arrowheads' misfortunes began on the team's first possession as it fumbled the ball away inside the red zone after marching there with ease. The team again appeared marching late in the quarter, but Singleton's hideous pitch behind Belote on 3rd-and-3 forced the team to punt. Karl Barb added a 36-yard miss late in the second quarter to add to KC's tally of failed opportunities.

Denver, meanwhile, lacked opportunities for the majority of the first half, but managed to catch a break late. Herbert King pulled away from a pair of Kansas City defenders to gallop 34 yards for a touchdown just before the half. It was part of a 176 all=purpose yard performance for King on the night.

Singleton finished 20-for-33 through the air for 277 passes and two TD's for Kansas City. Evan Bush was on the receiving end of five of those passes. William Dover finished with nine tackles on the defense as Kansas City fell to 2-5 this season in games decided by a touchdown or less.

Kansas City (3-9) begins its Just-Wait-'til-Next-Year tour with a home date against New York (A). We will see if the team makes any lineup changes these final four weeks with the postseason out of the question. Quarterback Danny Loftis and defensive tackle Donovan Basham are two younger inexperienced players who are the most likely candidates to find themselves slipped into late-season duty to prepare them for possible bigger roles with the team in the future.

Re: Kansas City Koverage

By RedNU
10/12/2018 3:28 am
Kansas City defeated New York 19-10 in a game that was three parts snooze fest mixed with one part high drama. The victory advanced the Arrowheads to 4-9 this season.

Karl Barb's early second quarter field goal for Kansas City represented the only points by either team during the first three quarters. As it turns out, the two teams were just pacing themselves.

New York tied the game on a 36-yard kick with 14:14 to play. Gary Simmons' 49 yard run helped to set up the score as the more than 70,000 fans in attendance wondered if the Arrowheads would again surrender the win in a close contest.

Their fears didn't last long. On the first play after kickoff Chester Singleton connected with Daniel Pearson for 73 yards and a touchdown to reclaim the lead for Kansas City. Corner Kenneth Smith added to the optimism by picking off New York's Howard Morton and returning the ball to the 12. A fairly conservative series of play calls left KC settling for the field goal, but 13-3 was feeling pretty secure with 7:17 remaining.

New York must have felt the same way, opting to go for it on 4th-and-2 at its own 33 on the next possession. The gamble failed and moments later Barb was booting a 42-yard field goal to make the score 16-3 with 3:34 to play. Surely fans could relax and exhale, right?

Wrong. Daniel McLin hauled in a Morton pass and outran the entire Arrowheads defense for a 73 yard touchdown game, turning things back to a one score ballgame with 2:57, 16-10.

In another sign that they might be feeling the pressure, New York opted to try the onside kick, failing miserably. Kansas City advanced the ball to inside the 10, where Barb converted a chip-shot field goal for the final score of the contest. Free safety Vernon Cook iced the game two plays later by picking off Morton and enabling the victory formation to be run.

Kansas City hosts AC West champion Oakland (8-4-1) next. Oakland secured a narrow 24-21 victory in the teams' first clash of the season.
Last edited at 10/12/2018 3:28 am

Re: Kansas City Koverage

By RedNU
10/15/2018 3:40 am
With the postseason out of the question, the Kansas City Arrowheads had an opportunity to at least inflict a little damage upon AC West rival Oakland. And, in what was to be the theme of the night, the team failed to take advantage of that opportunity, falling by a 10-6 final margin.

Rodney Zachary made a brilliant diving catch of Lester Serrano's 28-yard toss to cap an 11-play, 79-yard touchdown drive on Oakland's first possession. The drive wasn't without its drama as Oakland put the ball on the ground twice, once while fielding the punt and the other coming the play prior to the touchdown when Serrano's toss pitch was well behind his running back, resulting in a 14-yard loss.

Free safety Gene Hare picked off Serrano on the first play of Oakland's next offensive possession. The Arrowheads advanced the ball inside the Raiders' 10, but lost two yards on a pair of running plays before tossing an underneath route that was tackled well short of the goal line. Karl Barb's chip shot field goal made sure KC didn't walk away empty handed.

The same could not be said on Kansas City's next scoring opportunity. After a long missed field goal by Oakland, the Arrowheads executed an admirable 2 minute drill before stalling out once more in the red zone. This time, Barb's try from 36 yards away drifted just left and the half ended with a 7-3 Oakland lead.

KC blew another opportunity on its first possession of the second half. After marching inside the Oakland 10, Chester Singleton's pass to the end zone was picked off by Michael Colunga, denying the Arrowheads yet again in the red zone.

Kansas City continued to move the ball admirably against Oakland, positioning Barb for a 39-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter and pulling the Arrowheads within one. Singleton threw his second pick of the game on Kansas City's next possession, setting the stage for a 43-yard RIchard Baptiste field goal to stretch Oakland's lead to four points.

KC could do nothing on its next offensive series, but Russell Pierce knocked the ball away from Charles Ovalle and Vernon Cook was there to pounce on it for the Arrowheads. The turnover gave Kansas City an opportunity with 6:16 to play, but you hardly would have known the Arrowheads were trailing. Kansas City called rushing plays on five of its first six snaps before throwing incomplete on a 4th-and-10 to give the ball back to Oakland with 2:30 to play.

Kansas City had one more opportunity, regaining the football at their own 20 with 59 seconds to play and no time outs. The play calls to try and get the game-winning score? A dump off to a back out of the backfield (loss of a yard), a sideline drag route (incomplete), a 13-yard completion down the right sideline and another dump off to the back coming out of the backfield (loss of 4 yards). Four plays with the game on the line, one pass that even attempted to push the sticks.

Head coach John Torres has some explaining to do as Kansas City falls to 4-10 for the season and 2-6 in games decided by a touchdown or less. The team travels to Indianapolis (4-10) for its next game. Indy is a touchdown favorite.
Last edited at 10/15/2018 3:40 am