Kansas City Chiefs reclaim top spot in AFC West with win over the Arizona Cardinals
The Kansas Chiefs regained top spot in the AFC West with a 31-13 win on Sunday 21 November over the hopeless Arizona Cardinals who have now lost five in a row.
How it happened
It was a record setting day for Chiefs receiver Dwayne Bowe who has now caught a touchdown in six consecutive games – a feat accomplished by no other Chiefs player before. Bowe caught his first of two touchdowns on the day to put the Chiefs up 7-3 early
in the second quarter on a 1-yard pass play. He got his second touchdown, the last of the game for the Chiefs, in the fourth on a 38-yard catch and run to put the Chiefs ahead 31-6.
Chiefs running back Thomas Jones also scored a pair of touchdowns on the day. Jones ran to the house once in each half, both occurring on short yardage plays.
Derek Anderson, who has taken over for Max Hall at quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, threw for almost 300 yards and didn't turn the ball over. However, despite managing the ball well, Anderson was unable to spark any real offence managing only a single
touchdown – a three-yard strike to Larry Fitzgerald – with the game already out of reach.
What they're saying
Bowe was quick to downplay the importance of the team record that he set and instead emphasized the importance of the team winning games. "Not yet, not until we win it all," he told reporters after the game. "When we win it all, I'll look back on this game
and say, `Wow! I did that.' But now my head is down and I'm going to keep going."
For the Cardinals it was another frustrating day as they continue to struggle. "We are not really a confident team right now," head coach Ken Whisenhunt said. "One of the things we have always been able to feed on is certain individuals, but I'm not specifying
individuals, players making plays. We had our chances to do that. We had more dropped balls today than I can remember with this football team. That is not something that we have ever done before."
What it all means
Even though the Cardinals play in one of the NFL's weakest divisions, the NFC West, they are still rapidly falling out of contention after losing five straight and falling to 3-7 on the season. They get set to take on the other 3-7 team in their division,
the San Francisco 49ers, at home next Monday 29 November.
With the Oakland Raiders loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Chiefs regained sole possession of top spot in the AFC West. They travel to Seattle next Sunday 28 November to take on the Seahawks.
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