How Kansas City Chiefs ended at the bottom of the AFC West division? (Part V)
Continued from http://www.senore.com/How-Kansas-City-Chiefs-ended-at-the-bottom-of-the-AFC-West-division-Part-IV-a130751
Against Green Bay Packers
Chiefs’ management could not tolerate any more failures and head coach, Todd Haley, eventually became the scapegoat.
After Chiefs’ 13 games, out of which the team had only won five, Haley was fired and Romeo Crennel, who was serving as the defensive coordinator, was named Chiefs’ interim head coach.
The decision paid off as Crennel’s first game as the interim head coach ended Green Bay Packers 19-game winning streak.
Chiefs had claimed Kyle Orton off waivers and finally found a quarterback who could replace the injured Matt Cassel.
The defence that remained the key for Chiefs throughout the season made the life of Packers’ exploding offence severely difficult.
Packers’ quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, who went on to win the title of the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the year, faced problems and only sent one touchdown pass. He also scored a rushing touchdown.
Chiefs scored two field goals in the first quarter, another in the third and secured 10 points in the final to stun the Packers.
The final score settled at 19-14.
Chiefs’ linebacker, Derrick Johnson, said after the game:
“This is the great thing about football. You can't always look at the records, because you've got grown men out there who are all getting paid. You don't have to be better on paper.”
He added:
"If you're better on that given Sunday, you'll get the win.”
Against Oakland Raiders
Crennel’s second game as the interim coach had almost yielded fruitful results, but the Oakland Raiders proved to be a better side in the end by scoring a field goal in overtime.
Both the teams scored a field goal each in the first quarter and the score remained the same till the halftime.
Raiders managed a touchdown in the third quarter while Chiefs got a field goal.
Chiefs got a touchdown in the final quarter and Raiders scored a field goal as the regulation ended at 13-13.
Raiders’ field goal in the overtime ruined almost all the hopes and Chiefs knew that they were out of the playoff contention.
Their only goal then was to end the season on a positive note.
At Denver
Chiefs had earlier lost to Denver Broncos, but the team showed more commitment when it played its final game of the season.
Although the game was low scoring with Chiefs’ defence once again restricting the opposition’s offence, the result was in favour of Chiefs.
Chiefs scored a touchdown in the first quarter and defended well.
Broncos spent the first half without getting any scoring move and eventually managed a field goal in the third quarter to reduce the deficit to four points.
No scoring move was registered for the rest of the game and the final score, 7-3, settled in favour of Chiefs.
What next?
Chiefs finished the season with seven victories and nine defeats.
Following the firing of Todd Haley, Romeo Crennel served as interim coach for three games and won two of them.
He was later named as the permanent head coach of the team.
The new head coach announced that he would continue serving as defensive coordinator as well as performing his duties as the head coach.
The offseason will provide Chiefs ample time about pondering over different options and figuring out what went wrong.
One of the main aspects that the franchise would look for is to revamp the offensive unit and ensure more scoring drives on the field in the next season.
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