William Marriott rushed for a pair of touchdowns and, outside of a 49-yard field goal on their first possession, the Browns managed precious little against another determined Arrowheads defensive effort as Kansas City took a 21-3 win on the home turf.

Marriott's 16-yard run on Kansas City's first possession capped a 77-yard drive to give KC all the points it would need for the night. The Arrowheads returned to the end zone late in the second quarter on an 8-yard TD pass from Dave Cox to Ryan Paxton that made the score 14-3 at intermission.

That score would persist until late in the fourth quarter when the Browns, desperate for action, chose to go it on 4th down near their own 30. The move failed, and Marriott ran in from 8 yards out just before the two minute warning for the final score.

Cox finished 18-for-22 for 142 yards. Mark Prendergast had a combined 100 yards rushing and receiving. Donald Fuller notched his second interception of the season for the defense.

The Arrowheads (3-1) travel to New York (N) (1-3) for their next action.

On a night when they didn't have their best defense, the Kansas City Arrowheads still managed to step up strong when necessary and received a spark from rookie QB Dave Cox in a 17-6 road victory in the Big Apple.

Cox threw second half touchdown passes of 5 and 25 yards in the second half to help the Arrowheads break free from a 3-3 halftime tie. Cox finished 26-for-30 in the contest for 244 yards. William Marriott, shouldering a greater part of the workload in the rushing game, responded with 105 combined rushing and receiving yards.

Defensively, KC allowed just 208 yards, but surrendered a pair of lengthy drives to New York that fans of the Arrowheads have rarely seen produced this season. But the defensive unit clamped down inside the red zone to limit things to field goals on both occasions.

Kansas City improves to 4-1 this season. The team hosts Philadelphia (1-4) for its next action.

Kansas City raced out to a 10-0 lead, then turned matters over to its defense for a 10-3 victory over Philadelphia to improve to 5-1 this season. Mark Prendergast's 1-yard run just 11 minutes into the game provided all the points necessary as KC's defensive unit held another opponent to fewer than 200 yards from scrimmage.

Dave Cox finally looked like a rookie under center for the Arrowheads, tossing a pair of interceptions to go along with his 201 passing yards. The second of those misfires set Philadelphia up for a field goal and the Eagles' only points of the night with 7:11 remaining in the first half.

That would also be Philadelphia's final trip into Kansas City territory until barely crossing over on its final possession. Kansas City sealed the game with an interception on the next snap to kneel out the clock for win No. 5.

Gregory Thompson pulled in five passes for 75 yards for the offense. Donald Fuller pulled down his third interception of the season, demonstrating why the Arrowheads were happy to pick him up from Los Angeles in the off-season. Thomas Hall, another off-season acquisition, finished with two of the Arrowheads' uncharacteristically high four sacks in the contest.

Kansas City hosts Denver (0-5-1) for its next action.

The Kansas City Arrowheads set a new franchise record for points scored in a game in a 36-17 thrashing of rival Denver last night. William Marriott carried the ball for a trio of touchdowns as the offense clicked on all cylinders.

Kansas City struck first on an 18 yard reception by Gregory Thompson but blew the extra point. Denver answered right back for a 7-6 lead, only to see KC go back in front on the opening play of the second quarter on Roderick Burns' 25-yard field goal.

The touchdown by Denver was the first one scored against the KC defense in more than 3 games.

Denver regained the lead as quarterback Dave Cox was stripped of the football trying to run for his life from a sack. Leonard Hart carried the loose football in for the score. Denver would hold its 14-9 lead until seconds before intermission. That's when Cox hooked up with Darryl Bracco for a 10-yard score to take the lead for good.

The second half belonged to Marriott. He bulldozed his way in for a pair of short TD runs in the third quarter to push the KC lead out to 30-14. Denver kicked a 50-yard field goal to answer the second of those scores and pull within 13, but they would also be the Broncos' last points.
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Following a turnover on downs, Marriott added a late 14-yard gallop to the end zone for the game's final points and established the new high water mark for Kansas City scoring. The previous record of 27 points had been set at home during the 2018 season against, yep, these same Broncos.

Cox finished 23-for-27 for 209 yards. Mark Prendergast led the way with 117 yards rushing on 24 carries. Bracco ended his night with 84 yards receiving. Defensively, William Weaver set up the Arrowheads' first score with an interception while Albert Green finished with nine tackles.

Kansas City (6-1) hosts Indianapolis (3-4) in their next action.

Kansas City held Indianapolis to just six first downs and 105 total yards of offense en route to a 10-0 victory. The win puts the Arrowheads at 7-1 heading into the midpoint of the season, but second in the division behind unbeaten Oakland.

Mark Prendergast rushed in from 2 yards out on the first play after the 2-minute warning to give the Arrowheads all the points they would need. The Minister, Dan Parson, returned an interception 22 yards in the fourth quarter to set up Roderick Burns' 32-yard field goal for the only other score of the night.

For Kansas City fans, it was another page in the book for the season. The team did absolutely nothing flashy, took care of the football and was content to play field position until the defense came up with turnovers or the offense capitalized on a defensive mistake.

Dave Cox was a perfect 15-for-15 in the passing department.

After enjoying a three-game home stand, the Arrowheads will travel to Dallas (4-3-1) for their next action. After that, KC will be back at home for three straight once again, including what is looking like a critical showdown with Oakland.

William Marriott rushed for two touchdowns and the defensive unit of the Kansas City Arrowheads delivered a statement for the second half of the season. The result was KC's second consecutive shutout and a 21-0 victory in Dallas.

Talk about your Big D. The Arrowheads held Dallas to just two first downs and 52 total yards in the contest. Ronald Gonzalez was sacked three times, including once for a safety as Kansas City played its brand of positional control football to near-perfection. Dallas never started a possession in better field position than its own 33. Five of the Cowboys' drives began inside their own 12.

That left relatively little pressure on the offense. KC burned nearly 8 and a half minutes from the clock on its opening possession to set Roderick Burns up for a 30-yard field goal and all the points the team would need. Two possessions later, KC took another 7:45 from the clock as it threw together a 12-play, 80-yard drive capped by Marriott's touchdown run from inside the 1 for a 10-0 halftime lead.

KC added a safety to its side of the scoreboard in the third quarter as "The Nuge" Billy Nugent recorded one of his two sacks. Marriott added a 2-yard TD run in the early fourth quarter and Burns closed out the scoring with a 40-yard field goal.

Marriott finished with 114 combined yards rushing and receiving. Backfield mate Mark Prendergast added an addition 86 combined yards to fuel the Arrowheads' offense, which had one of its best nights of the season in terms of total offense. Dave Cox looked like anything but a rookie under center as he completed 30 of his 32 passes for 229 yards.

The win improves Kansas City to 8-1 on the season. The team has not surrendered a score since Denver connected for a 50-yard field goal nearly nine quarters ago. One needs to go back to the first quarter of that game to locate the last time a team scored a touchdown against the Arrowheads' defensive unit (a second quarter TD in that game was the result of a sack-and-strip Cox).

Kansas City will be back home for a conference game against Los Angeles (5-4). LA did the Arrowheads a great favor last night by delivering the first loss of the season to Oakland by a baseball-like 5-3 count.

Kansas City's defense ran its scoreless streak to 3 consecutive games with a 16-0 victory over Los Angeles. Like so many of the games before it this season, this one too turned into a war of attrition and defense.

After a missed 55-yard field goal attempt by LA on its first possession, the Arrowheads opened in great field position and took nine plays and 6+ minutes to give Roderick Burns an easy look from 28 yards out for all the points the team would need. Burns missed a 49-yarder on KC's next possession, which again held the ball for nine plays and more than five minutes.

After that, the Arrowheads were back in a field position battle as neither team scored until Kansas City bridged the third and fourth quarters with a 13-play, 80 yard drive that consumed 7:24 from the clock and culminated with William Marriott's 3-yard TD run. Kansas City would go on to add field goals of 51 and 39 yards off the toe of Burns.

Los Angeles' only chance to avert the shutout came short and wide on a 58-yard field goal attempt set up by an interception on an ill-advised third down throw by the Arrowheads.

For the game, Marriott, shouldering the bulk of the backfield duty with Mark Prendergast injured, rushed for 87 yards on 22 carries. Dave Cox was 28-for-32 passing.

The win improved Kansas City to 9-1 this season and, combined with Oakland's second consecutive loss, moved the Arrowheads into the top spot in the American Conference. KC hosts Cincinnati (3-6-1) for its next action. Despite the record, the Bengals bring the No. 7 scoring offense to town to challenge the Arrowheads' D.

A pair of streaks came crashing to a halt as Cincinnati pulled into Kansas City and escaped with a 9-6 victory last night. In doing so, the Bengals snapped a 14-quarter scoreless streak by the Arrowheads' defense and a franchise-best winning streak of seven games.

With a pivotal conference clash with Oakland coming up next week, it appeared the Arrowheads may have been guilty of looking ahead.

Cincy struck first with a 46-yard field goal early in the second quarter. Kansas City, which certainly isn't used to trailing in games, responded immediately by throwing together a 10-play drive that ended with Roderick Burns knocking home a 45 yarder that would send the teams to a 3-3 tie at the half.

That first-half draw did not come without some drama, however, as the Bengals forced a fumble in the waning seconds of the first half. A last-second field goal attempt was pushed way to the right, however.

Cincy struck again late in the third quarter with a 43-yard field goal. Once again, Kansas City answered right back with a 37-yard field goal to tie the game again. A long pass on the first play of the ensuing possession sent the Bengals immediately down into field goal position again. It appeared Cincy had scored a touchdown, but a holding call took the points off the board and the subsequent field goal barely snuck inside the right goal post.

Kansas City, after an ill-advised attempt to return the kick out of the end zone that started them at their own 16, picked up just one first down before falling half a yard short on a 4th-and-7 conversion attempt. Even trailing on the scoreboard, the Arrowheads were content to run the football late in the contest, much to the chagrin of the fans.

Mark Prendergast accounted for 79 yards rushing and receiving. Dave Cox was 18-for-19 but managed just 127 yards in the passing department.

Kansas City falls to 9-2 on the season. The Arrowheads welcome Oakland, 8-3, for a contest that will decide ownership of the AC West. Oakland enters on a three-game skid after reeling off 8 wins to open the season, including a 17-10 win over the Arrowheads in California.

Kansas City sent Oakland spiraling to its fourth consecutive defeat with a 10-6 victory last night. In doing so, the Arrowheads took control of not only the AC West division and, by extension, threw the door wide open on the potential to claim home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

The Raiders struck early on a 55-yard Richard Baptiste field goal. That score held up until late in the second quarter when Kansas City threw together a 10-play, 94-yard touchdown drive that culminated with Dave Cox flipping the ball out wide to the right to Scott Willis, who could practically walk the ball the final yard into the end zone. Cox was responsible for almost all of the KC offense in the contest as he completed 27 of 35 passing attempts for 211 yards. Darryl Bracco, an off-season acquisition, pulled down seven passes for 108 yards as the pair inflicted heavy damage to the Raiders' D.

As a team, the Arrowheads managed just 226 yards of offense, so you do the math and decide what that meant for the ground attack.

Oakland took advantage of the game's only miscue, an interception near midfield, to trim the KC lead to 7-6 on another long-range Baptiste field goal. Roderick Burns countered early in the fourth quarter with a 53-yard boot for Kansas City to conclude the scoring. Oakland had three offensive series in the game, but never got the ball across midfield to threaten. The Raiders' final two possessions each started inside the team's own 10 as Kansas City played field position to near-perfection.

With the win, the Arrowheads improve to 10-2 and hold a 2-game lead over the Raiders for AC West honors. The team holds a one-game lead over Miami for best record in the American Conference. Three of the Arrowheads' remaining four opponents hold winning records at present, including the New England team (7-3-2) that they go to visit for their action.

Joel Wall paced a six-sack attack by the Kansas City Arrowhead defense and Donald Fuller's interception set up the only touchdown of the night as KC punched its ticket to the post-season with a 10-3 victory at New England last night. In doing so, KC maintains its one-game lead in the chase for home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

One a night where both teams squandered scoring opportunities. Arrowhead kicker Roderick Burns misfired on his first two kicks of the game before opening the scoring with a 47 yarder with one second to go before the half. Not to be outdone, the Patriots saw three points come off the board after being flagged for holding on a made field goal. The penalty took the team out of field goal range. New England also fell victim to a sack and strip as "The Nuge" Billy Nugent punched the ball free and Levi Jolly pounced on it to squash the Patriots' most promising drive of the night.

Overall, Wall (3 sacks), Nugent (2) and Jolly (1) menaced the New England backfield throughout the game. New England cracked the scoreboard with 3:01 remaining in the game to avert a shutout, but opted to kick the ball deep after scoring and never saw the Arrowheads' side of the field for the remainder of the contest.

Kansas City (11-2) heads to Pittsburgh (3-10) for its next action.

Incidentally, this post will likely result in some lucky soul being the 1,000th reader of this blog/commentary/whatever. It is nice to know that folks are following the action here at KCK through three seasons of Arrowhead football. So, to No. 1,000 and all the others who have enjoyed this, a big thank you for your visitation :)