League Forums

Mark Prendergast had a combined 138 rushing and receiving yards and Daniel Pearson found himself alone for a 48-yard touchdown reception as the Kansas City Arrowheads gave a middle finger to the bookies in Vegas and slipped out of Boston 10-9 victors in a game where they were 11-point underdogs.

Chester Singleton once again wasnʻt flashy, but he got the job done under center by protecting the football, something New England was unable to do with the game in the balance. The Pats fired a pair of second half interceptions to help Kansas City dodge scoreboard damage that could have tipped the outcome of the game. Rookie Horace Lamons came up with the biggest of those picks to turn away a New England drive in the red zone. The pick also set up a 7-play, 73-yard field goal drive for the Arrowheads to stretch a 7-6 lead into a 10-6 lead.

Fans in Boston will have plenty to talk about. Facing 4th-and-4 at the Arrowhead 9 with 3:20 remaining, the Pats opted to kick a field goal rather than gamble with the field position and a full contingency of time outs still available. While the team was able to get the ball back with just over a minute to play, New Englandʻs final gasp at victory fell short as the team was unable to convert on 4th-and-10 just across midfield.

The Arrowheads improve to 4-8 on the season. The team returns home to face 3-9 Seattle in ite next action.

The Kansas City Arrowheads snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in falling 12-10 to Seattle last night. After thrilling fans with a go-ahead touchdown with just 31 seconds to play, the Arrowheads watched as kicker Karl Barb had to make a possible touchdown-saving tackle on the ensuing kickoff return. The team then surrendered a 62-yard pass completion despite being in a nickel package to enable Seattle to kick a chip shot field goal as time expired.

As far as losses go, this one was both boring and crushing. How boring? Enough to have fans double checking to make sure the 0.4.4. rules hadnʻt accidentally been implemented mid-season.

Kansas City managed just 204 yards of offense in the game, more than a third of which came on the Arrowheadsʻ final possession as the team, in need of a touchdown to take the lead, marched 75 yards in 11 plays to get the go-ahead score on a 1-yard pass from Chester Singleton to Corey Tremaine. It was a drive that left Kansas City fans openly asking where that playcalling had been the rest of the game.

Itʻs a valid question, too. Singleton was on, connecting on 20 of his 22 passing attempts, but rarely getting a chance to try and stretch the field. Head-coach-for-now John Torres bashed the ball into the interior of the defensive line over and over again in the game, generally getting nothing to show for the effort. The Arrowheads had modest success on the fringes, but those calls came few and far between. Mark Prendergast finished the night with 78 rushing yards.

The Arrowheads host New York (A) for their next action. Kansas City is a 3-point dog in that contest.

Billy Ross kicked a 34-yard field goal with 1:44 to play to lift New York to a 13-10 victory over the Arrowheads on a cold and snowy Sunday in Kansas City. The official temperature at kickoff was a toasty 14 degrees with a wind chill that made it feel closer to 6 degrees.

As anyone will tell you, the key in cold weather is to keep moving, and early on the New York ground game did just that. Willie Callis ran over, around and through the Kansas City defense for 113 yards in the game, but early on he was averaging close to 10 yards per pop for the visitors from the Big Apple. Nevertheless, the contest remained scoreless until Benjamin Williams found Daniel McLin for a 12-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter.

Kansas City countered with two minutes to play in the first half. Chester Singleton found Corey Tremaine out of the backfield for a 7-yard touchdown completion. The drive was made possible by Albert Greenʻs second interception of the half, which he returned to the New York 35 to set the Arrowheads up with a short field.

Karl Barb gave Kansas City its first lead of the contest just after the midway point of the third quarter. The Arrowheads manufactured a good drive, but stalled inside the New York 10 and had to settle for a chip-shot 25 yard kick. New York tied the contest with a 37-yard kick on the first play of the fourth quarter before winning it with another kick late.

Speaking honestly, itʻs a small miracle the Arrowheads were even in a position to possibly win the game. Kansas City was outgained 320-179 in the contest as the offense largely abandoned the team once more. Singleton, who has been masterful at managing games since earning the starting nod at QB, was clearly affected by the cold conditions, finishing 13-for-26 for just 120 yards, a touchdown and three interceptions, including on the gameʻs final play as Kansas City was trying desperately to get in range for a potential game-tying attempt for Barb.

Horace Lamons finished with 10 tackles for KC. The Minister, Dan Parson, added nine stops while Gregory Flaherty added eight as rookies dominated the teamʻs defensive efforts.

The loss drops Kansas City to 4-10 this season. The team travels to Buffalo (10-4) for its next action. Vegas calls Buffalo an 11-point favorite.

A Kansas City team with little to play for pushed a Buffalo team with everything still to play for to the wire before succumbing 16-13 last night. For Arrowhead fans who might have felt theyʻve experienced every possible way to lose a football game, the team showed for the third consecutive contest a new heartbreaking way to crush their souls.

Karl Barb had field goals of 51 and 41 yards in the first half, but wasnʻt able to get on the field in time to attempt a potential game-tying 53-yarder before time expired. That disaster only happened after the Arrowheads had taken their fans on a roller-coaster ride of seeing the team fall behind by 10 points in the fourth quarter, only to charge down the field for a 45-yard Chester Singleton-to-Benjamin Gore touchdown pass with less than 3 minutes to play and then recover the ensuing onside kick.

But the Arrowheads werenʻt able to convert on a fourth-and-5 play just across midfield and Buffalo was able to burn all but about 70 seconds from the clock. Starting from its own 9, Kansas City was able to advance the ball to the Buffalo 36, but could not get the special teams unit on the field in time.

Singleton finished 29-for-43 for 301 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Larry Sias finished with nine tackles as the Arrowheads slid to 4-11 this season.

Kansas City hosts Denver to close out the season in a game the team needs to win in order to match last seasonʻs record. It will also be the last opportunity for several Arrowhead players to demonstrate they deserve a spot on the teamʻs roster after this season, when a rash of free agents are predicted to hit the market.

The Kansas City Arrowheads saved the best for last, treating the 58,858 faithful souls in the stadium to a 22-3 thrashing of divisional rival Denver. It was the most points scored by the Arrowheads in a contest this season.

Playing in possibly his final game as an Arrowhead, kicker Karl Barb went 5-for-5, lacing kicks from 30, 47, 47, 30 and 28 yards out. Barb's contract has not, as of this time, been renewed for next season. When asked about the status, team officials merely said it would be handled in the off-season.

Kansas City also scored on a 13-yard pass play from Chester Singleton to Ryan Paxton. The touchdown throw marked just the 10th passing touchdown by the Arrowheads this season and only the second career score for Paxton, despite his being the team-leader in receiving yardage each of the past two seasons.

Denver's lone score in the game came on an early second half field goal. The Broncos were given prime field position following an Arrowhead fumble at the KC 36.

Mark Prendergast and Earl Belote combined to rush for 147 yards on 35 carries for Kansas City. Singleton was 10-for-17 for 111 yards and the score. Defensively, the Arrowheads picked up an interception from Albert Green, his sixth of the year, as the off-season acquisition did exactly what the Arrowheads were hoping for when they signed him to a 5-year deal.

The victory wraps up Kansas City's second consecutive 5-11 campaign. After a much-ballyhooed off-season involving adjustments to the team's defense, very little seemed to click offensively for this year's team. Fred Juarez was a disaster to start the season as KC lost its first six games. Singleton tagged in and directed the team to a 5-5 mark over the final 10 games (all five losses were by 6 or fewer points), but did little to jumpstart the offense. The Arrowheads saw their offensive output dip from 281.8 ypg in 2018 to 272.6 ypg this season, a slide from 23rd to 28th in the league. Of bigger concern, however, was the scoring output. Kansas City struggled to tally just 181 points this season, compared to 220 a season ago. Only Denver, Seattle and Kevin Spacey scored less than Kansas City this season.

The defense also fared slightly worse in yards surrendered, going from allowing 295.7 to 299.0, but improved as a unit from 11th to 10th in the league in that category. The Arrowheads saw significant improvement in points allowed though, going from giving up 298 last year to just 251 this season, an improvement from 26th to 14th in the league.

The biggest concern, however, might be the gate revenue. Average attendance crashed this season from 70,741/game last season to 53,951/game this year, leading many to speculate that head coach John Torres is toast come what could be a very active off-season for the Arrowheads. Stay tuned for further details.

The draft is done. Training camp is done. Kansas City fans have a roster filled with new talent to memorize the names of. And training camp seems to have gone incredibly well for the most part. A breakdown...

QB - Dave Cox...the second round selection with amazing accuracy and arm strength was even more impressive in camp than he'd looked at the combine, coming in at +7/+3 in camp. Cox will be handed the football on Day 1 and a new era will begin for the Arrowheads.

TE -- Michael Hill...Kansas City needed another tight end after losing battles in free agency here. Hill was always looked at as a backup rather than a starter this season, but at +5/+1 he makes it easier to place him on the field.

WR -- Horace Hardy...he was drafted because of elite speed still being available in a lower draft round. He is now elite speed on the free agency market after showing to camp at +3/-6. Kansas City officials didn't even wait for the preseason games to start before hitting the eject button.

RG -- John Flynn...Kansas City didn't really need offensive linemen in the draft, but couldn't find anyone else when they picked up Flynn. They're not shedding any tears as Flynn comes in at +7/+2 and is now possibly in the mix for a starting or key backup position on the O-line.

LDE -- Nathanael Patten...The Arrowheads desperately needed help on the edge. They got it. "General" Patten came to camp ready to do business at +11/+2 and should set the edge nicely for the defense this season.

CB -- William Weaver and Eddie McAllister both entered camp with the hope of making the Arrowheads' roster. Weaver (+11/+2) still has that opportunity. McAllister (+1/-17) must have missed the memo that this is professional football and we work for a living. McAllister, like Hardy, was dropkicked out of training camp and won't even see the preseason for Kansas City.

FS -- James Chamberlain...another pickup who will jostle for playing time in the secondary. Chamberlain was a borderline selection that may have performed himself into the fray after going +6/+1 in camp.

So six of the eight rookies did right by management in training camp. Even better, seven returning players gained 2 or more points during training camp for the Arrowheads, showcasing that this is a team on a mission to improve after back-to-back 5-win seasons.

Bring on the preseason and lets see how this goes. Head coach John Torres, whose seat is practically combusting already, will have no excuses if there's not a notable upward trend in Arrowhead fortunes.

The preseason gives Arrowhead fans slightly more reason for optimism this season, but there are still questions as to whether a Kansas City squad that has stumbled to back-to-back 5-11 seasons will be able to crest the .500 plateau. Failure to reach at least that level will virtually ensure John Torres' firing this year as word out of KC HQ is the Torres is on a VERY short leash this fall.

There are a lot of changes for Kansas City fans this season, so here's to getting everyone caught up:

QB -- The Dave Cox era will officially begin from Day 1. Cox completed 82.5 percent of his passes in the preseason and will get the start under center. Chester Singleton, who had thrown for 4,300 yards over the last two seasons will serve as backup.

RB/FB -- Mark Prendergast has been the picture of consistency for the past two seasons, rushing for a reliable 850-900 yards and receiving for another 250ish. The Arrowheads will again look to him to provide the ground attack this season. A good sign would be seeing him become a better finisher with his legs as he has just 3 rushing TD's to show for his two seasons. Scott Willis has just one catch in two seasons, but he will get the nod at FB this year. If preseason is any indication, look for Willis to be used as a blocker and as a swing threat out of the backfield.

TE/WR -- Daryl Bracco comes to town from Cincinnati where he was seldom used. In the preseason, he caught 12 ***** for the Arrowheads, averaging nearly 10 yards a reception. Bracco looks to be an integral part of the offense in KC. Out wide, Ryan Paxton's numbers dropped from 66 to 46 receptions last season, but he will be out there as the No. 1 wideout for another season. Former Bengals Gregory Thompson and Jeffrey Cannon will serve as the Arrowheads' No. 2 and 3 wide outs, respectively. Benjamin Gore, owner of another hot preseason, will try to carry that spark into the regular season for the first time in his career as the No. 4.

And in case you're a little nervous by all these new Bengal names on the roster, we'll just add to that anxiety by noting that Cincy went 4-12 last season with the No. 24 offense in the league. That said, the Arrowheads were No. 28 last year, so technically we ARE raiding a more successful program.

OL -- Cano, McEachern, Barnard, Flynn, Bass...the Arrowheads' offensive line has a career 69 starts between them. Cano and Bass account for 55 of those starts on the outside edges. Flynn is a brute strong rookie out of Stanford who will be a fixture along the front line for many seasons most likely. Barnard comes in to KC from Arizona after being a third-round pick in the 2019 draft.

DL -- Nathanael "General" Patten will be a rookie at LDE while Baltimore pick-up Billy "The Nuge" Nugent was expected to nail down the RDE slot, but will instead start the season on the injury list and is likely to miss at least a couple games to start things off. Up the middle DT's Levi Jolly and Joel Wall are a pair of new faces who can hopefully save an Arrowhead defense that was just downright bad a year ago against the run (29th in the league, 141.6 ypg against)

LB -- Thomas Hall (SLB) started nine games for the Arrowheads last season, amassing 75 tackles, 2 INT and a sack. Dan "The Minister" Parson only threw up 96 tackles as a rookie last season while also earning a sack and 2 INT's. Will Dover (WLB) is another first-round selection in the linebacking crew that is hoping to have even more room to roam with the help that was signed in front of them.

DB -- Donald Fuller has had nine interceptions for Los Angeles (A) over the past two seasons. Kansas City fans are hoping he'll continue that trend in an Arrowhead uniform. If so, that will leave Albert Green and his 6 interceptions from a season ago to roam free once again and force opposing QB's into a terrible decision for which CB to challenge. The last defensive slots will be nailed down by the Chamberlain brothers. Older brother Joel (SS) joins the backfield after being signed from Carolina in the off-season. The Arrowheads went the same route with Green a year earlier that that appears to have worked out in their favor. Younger brother James (FS) was a 4th-round selection out of Holy Cross who has just developed enough in the preseason to move him in front of Martin Owings, a half-time starter for the past two seasons who many thought would get the full time starting nod this season.

OVERALL: Well, we thought Kansas City would improve last season, but then came the offensive collapse. Hopefully the scoring will see an uptick so that an energized defense can relax a little and not feel like every score they surrender is life-or-death. That said, there were still concerns in the preseason as the Arrowheads were only 2-2 overall. The call here is for an 8-8 record...management has shown patience with Jon Torres, but that patience is clearly wearing thin. It could be playoffs or Black Monday casualty after Week 16 for Torres.

For the first time in franchise history, the Kansas City Arrowheads opened the regular season on the winning side of the scoreboard after winning a downright ugly 9-3 divisional game in Denver. Seriously, I am hard-pressed to write anything good about this game.

I guess we could call it a defensive masterpiece since the two teams managed just 14 combined first downs and a total of 347 yards in the game?

Quarterback Dave Cox was eased into the starting role in his rookie debut, connecting on 10 of just 14 passing opportunities for a meager 91 yards passing. He also ate the ball on a pair of costly sacks, but followed the KC mantra of avoiding turnovers and managing the game.

Roderick Burns was 3-for-3 kicking field goals for KC, connecting from 35, 48 and 45 yards. The last of those kicks was the product of an unsuccessful fourth-down conversion try by Denver in the waning minutes of the game.

Look, I'm as excited as anyone by starting a season 1-0 for a change. That said, there was little in tonight's game to cause excitement for the season ahead. The coaching staff is going to have to let the offense grow a little if it hopes to succeed over the long haul.

The Arrowheads travel east to Baltimore, a 20-0 shutout victim in Week 1, for its next action. Vegas remains skeptical was the Ravens are 2 point favorites in that contest.

Another week. Another boring-as-watching-paint-dry offensive performance. And, somehow, another Kansas City Arrowheads victory, this time by a 9-0 count on the road at Baltimore.

I've heard of killing people with kindness, but if these sorts of games are to become the norm this season, Kansas City might need to consider doing something appropriate for the fans. Like holding a 2-for-1 espresso shot special at halftime of home games. Or changing the team's mascot to the Tsetse fly.

Dave Cox saw a bit more action with the football, connecting on 19 of 22 passing opportunities, but again netting a fairly pedestrian 131 yards. As he had done in the opener, Cox managed the game and avoided turnovers as Kansas City, which only produced 221 yards of offense in the contest, was content to battle for field position against the Ravens, who were shut out for their second consecutive game.

Roderick Burns provided the scoring with field goals of 43, 33 and 31 yards in the contest. The last two of those kicks came in the fourth quarter after the Arrowheads' defense produced a pair of takeaways. Linebacker William Dover set up the 33-yard kick with an interception. The last of Burns' field goals followed Joel Chamberlain's fumble recovery after Thomas Hall ripped the ball away from Allan Brooks deep in Ravens territory.

Donald Fuller also registered an interception in the contest for Kansas City. In total, the Arrowheads' defensive unit held Baltimore to just 118 yards of offense in the contest and 4 first downs.

Kansas City, 2-0, battles Oakland, also 2-0, for its next action and also to determine early-season leadership of the AFC West. The Raiders have shut out each of their first two opponents, meaning the Arrowheads had better figure out a cure for their offensive malaise sometime this week during practice.

A late-game Arrowhead rally ran out of time 8 yards shy of a potential game-tying touchdown as Oakland held on for a 17-10 victory in AC West divisional play last night. For those looking to soothe the wound with something positive, consider this -- the Arrowheads scored their first touchdown of the season AND became the first team to score at all against Oakland.

After two games of being nursed along, rookie QB Dave Cox had the playbook thrown open and responded with a 28-for-35 performance that netted 246 passing yards and a TD -- better than the youngster's first two games combined. One could almost accuse head coach John Torres of hiding the rookie's talent if it wasn't for the fact that Torres rarely has looked so creative or thoughtful on the KC sideline.

After an early Oakland field goal, Kansas City responded with Cox's touchdown pass to Gregory Thompson from 11 yards away. After 126 minutes of football this season, Oakland finally felt what it was like to fall behind on the scoreboard.

And it appeared things might stay that way for a while. Once in front, the Arrowheads settled into what appears to be their modus operandi for the season and began playing field position football, settling for gaining a few yards on each exchange of punts and leaning on the defense to keep Oakland bottled up. The strategy seemed to be going well as the Arrowheads looked to drive into Raider territory for another score, but William Marriott's fumble while running free at the Oakland 39 flipped the field position and drained KC of its mojo for a spell. The Raiders were able to capitalize on both to score just before the half and regain the lead 10-7.

Oakland added a 75-yard Jacob Metcalf run in the third quarter to decisively take control of the game. The Raiders' defense kept KC in check until late in the fourth quarter. Roderick Burns' 31-yard field goal pulled the Arrowheads to within a touchdown. The team was able to get the ball back at its 20 with 1:35 remaining and no time outs. A 59-yard pass to Marriott gave Oakland fans a few nervous moments, but Kansas City ran the final 65 seconds off the clock without ever once attempting a throw into the end zone, despite being just 20 yards away. With the ball at the 8, the Arrowheads weren't able to line up and get another play off.

Marriott finished with 99 combined rushing and receiving yards.

The Arrowheads fall to 2-1 for the season. The team welcomes Cleveland (1-2) to town for its next action.