How Kansas City Chiefs ended at the bottom of the AFC West division? (Part I)
The Kansas City Chiefs will be remembered for their noticeable performance in the National Football League 2011-12 season’s game against Green Bay Packers in which the Chiefs ended Packers’ long winning run, which was started in the last season when they had won the Super Bowl.
That game did bring the Chiefs in the limelight, but was not enough to cover the flaws they had made earlier.
At the end of the regular season, the Chiefs did not qualify for the playoffs and ended at the bottom of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, becoming the only team in the division to win as low as seven games.
Very rarely did it happen that Chiefs’ offensive unit performed well and this could be stated as one of the major reasons for the team’s failure.
In this space, we will review Chiefs’ overall performance in the season and the statistics they registered during the games.
Let’s start from the first game.
Against Buffalo Bills
The Chiefs started the season on their home field hosting Buffalo Bills.
The start was as pathetic as could get. The Chiefs failed miserably both on the offence and defence and faced their worst home loss in around 35 years.
The Bills were dominant throughout the game. They scored two touchdowns in the first quarter and managed two field goals in the second before the Chiefs could manage their first and only scoring drive.
Near the end of the second quarter, Chiefs’ quarterback, Matt Cassel, sent a six-yard touchdown pass to Jamaal Charles. The halftime score settled at 20-7.
The Bills exposed Chiefs’ defence in the second half as well and scored two touchdowns in the third quarter and one in the final to end the game at 41-7.
Cassel completed 22 of 36 attempted passes for only 119 yards while throwing a touchdown and an interception.
At Detroit
After being humiliated in front of the home crowd, the Chiefs travelled to play against Detroit Lions, and they really did not know what was waiting for them.
It was one of the most disgraceful games the Chiefs played in which the offence and defence once again failed to perform.
Lions took the lead in the first quarter after scoring a touchdown after which Chiefs managed a field goal.
When the first quarter ended with Lions having just a three-point lead, many assumed that Chiefs had learnt from their previous game, but they were terribly wrong.
Lions got a touchdown and two field goals in the second quarter, while Chiefs struggled to gain possession.
Lions scored a touchdown in the third quarter and dominated the final by scoring three more.
The final score settled at 48-3.
Cassel’s performance was below par again. He completed 15 of 22 attempted passes for 133 yards. He threw three interceptions, made a fumble and received a passer rating of 44.5.
Chiefs’ coach, Todd Haley, however, was still optimistic and hoped for better performance in the games to come.
He said after the defeat:
"The season will not be cancelled as far as I know. What we have to do is we have to stop doing those things that are costing us dearly, and putting us in very difficult positions."
To be continued...
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