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Week 2 Game Recap: Kansas City Chiefs 10, Chicago Bears 20
What you need to know
| Kansas City Chiefs |
Kansas City came out trying to control the clock and keep the Bears defense on the field. They attempted to control the game by keeping the ball on the ground and completing short passes. The inability to consistently move the ball on the ground led to four consecutive three and outs in the first half. They were able to move the ball in the air on the next to last drive of the half, scoring a touchdown to make the score 17-7 before halftime.
The second half saw Kansas City attempting to capitalize on Bears' turnovers. They were able to convert one Rex Grossman interception in Chicago territory to a field goal to make it 20-10 in the third quarter. Another Grossman interception almost led to a Kansas City touchdown in the fourth quarter, but Damon Huard threw an interception in the end zone, ending one scoring threat. The last Kansas City threat ended late in the fourth quarter on a Michal Bennett fumble when he was trying to gain extra yardage.
Kansas City was able to move the ball through the air, despite the absence of Eddie Kennison, their leading receiver. Kennison's absence led to an increased role for Sammie Parker and Dwayne Bowe in the offense. Bowe was able to catch three passes for 22 yards, including a 16 yard touchdown in the first half. Parker finished with three catches for 20 yards and was the target of the Huard interception in the end zone. The Bears defense was able to wear down the Chiefs offensive line in the fourth quarter, getting consistent pressure on the quarterback and managing 3 sacks in the final period.
| Chicago Bears |
Chicago established the running game early, using a combination of Cedric Benson and Adrian Peterson to move the ball and control the clock. However, the lack of a consistent passing attack and turnovers would haunt the Bears. Rex Grossman threw two interceptions in Chicago territory that led to three Kansas City points, and almost led to seven more, but an interception in the end zone negated a touchdown.
Chicago was only able to gain 132 yards through the air. Most of the pass attempts were on short to medium routes and the few times that a deep ball was attempted the pass was not accurate. A good indication of the Bears game plan was that Desmond Clark and Bernard Berrian saw the most targets with seven a piece, with Berrian only seeing two deep balls the entire game. Grossman did spread the ball around, targeting ten different receivers during the game.
What you ought to know
| QB Damon Huard, Pass: 19 - 28 - 175 - 1 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 1 - 1 - 0 |
Huard was accurate on the day, completing most of his passes on swing passes to his running backs or throwing quick strikes to his receivers. He looked good on the Chief scoring drive close to the end of the first half when the team went 83 yards in four plays against a soft Bears defense. His lone interception came in the fourth quarter and was the result of an excellent defensive play by Charles Tillman in the end zone to knock away a sure touchdown pass to Sammie Parker. Huard also had a long touchdown pass to Bowe called back due to an illegal shift penalty.
| QB Brodie Croyle, Pass: 4 - 4 - 55 - 0 TD / 0 INT |
Croyle entered the game on the last Kansas City series of the game. He was leading the team into scoring range by going four for four on the final drive. The drive ended with a Michael Bennett fumble on the Chicago 16. Croyle did show off his strong arm by completing a deep pass while throwing off of his back foot to Jeff Webb on the drive.
| RB Larry Johnson, Rush: 16 - 55 - 0, Rec: 3 - 32 - 0 (5 targets) |
Johnson had very little room to run against the stout Bear defense. The majority of Johnson's runs were in the range of two to four yards as Kansas City was unable to establish any type of rushing offense throughout the game. Johnson's long runs of the game came on draw plays out of the shotgun against a soft Bear defense. He did miss some time in the fourth quarter while the trainers looked at his thigh, but came back in the game and did not show any ill effects of an injury.
| RB Michael Bennett, Rush: 7 - 14 - 0, Rec: 3 - 20 - 0 (4 targets) |
Bennett saw time in relief of Larry Johnson throughout the game. Bennett did see significant action in the fourth quarter while the Chief trainers were attending to what appeared to be an issue with Johnson's thigh during the fourth quarter. Bennett had one fumble in the red zone, ending the last Chiefs scoring threat of the game.
| WR Jeff Webb, Rec: 4 - 59 - 0 (5 targets) |
Webb was the leading receiver on the Chiefs for the day, catching four of his five targets. His main contribution was on a 34 yard pass from Croyle on the last Chiefs drive of the game.
| WR Samie Parker, Rec: 3 - 20 - 0 (5 targets) |
Parker was the deep target in the Chiefs offense. He was targeted once in the end zone on a well thrown ball that was tipped and intercepted by the Bears defense.
| WR Dwayne Bowe, Rec: 2 - 22 - 1 (4 targets) |
Bowe got the start in the place of the injured Eddie Kennison and performed well. Bowe caught one touchdown pass and had a 36 yard touchdown called back in the third quarter on an illegal shift penalty.
| TE Tony Gonzalez, Rec: 4 - 43 - 0 (6 targets) |
Gonzalez was the most targeted receiver on the day, but with just six looks, it's not like the team really leaned on him. He was able to get open and catch passes that would put the offense in third and short situations, but the Chiefs were unable to gain first downs to keep the drives going.
| TE Kris Wilson, Rec: 4 - 34 - 0 (6 targets) |
Wilson provided a good compliment to Gonzalez during the game. He did have one three yard reception called back due to a penalty.
| PK Dave Rayner 1 - 2 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 4 points |
Rayner attempted two field goals during the game, making one from 45 yards and a 48 yard attempt was blocked.
| KC Rush Defense |
The Chief runs defense was not effective during the game, allowing the Bears to gain 3.7 yards per rush on the day.
| KC Pass Defense |
The Chiefs pass defense was very good, intercepting Grossman twice and sacking him three times. The defensive line was able to get consistent pressure up the middle against the Bears offense.
| QB Rex Grossman, Pass: 20 - 34 - 160 - 1 TD / 2 INT, Rush: 3 - -3 - 0 |
Grossman displayed both his good side and his bad side during the game. The good side was on display during the lone Bear touchdown drive as he led the team down the field and completing a touchdown pass on a tackle eligible play. His two interceptions were on poor throws off of his back foot, and he was off target on deep throws. He still is very up and down and much like some games last year, the Bears seem to win in spite of him.
| RB Cedric Benson, Rush: 24 - 101 - 0, Rec: 1 - 9 - 0 (1 targets) |
Benson was effective carrying the load for the Bears offense. He consistently found room to run, gaining good yardage to keep the chains moving and allowing the Bears to control the clock. He looked to be running tougher this week answering some critics that had questioned him there. Although some of that was the different defenses.
| RB Adrian Peterson, Rush: 2 - 9 - 0, Rec: 3 - 23 - 0 (5 targets) |
Peterson saw action in relief of Benson, and was the target of screen passes that were designed to keep the Chief defense off balance. He only saw two rushing attempts so the team pretty clearly felt Benson was the way they wanted to run the ball.
| WR Bernard Berrian, Rec: 5 - 65 - 0 (7 targets) |
Berrian was the primary deep threat of the Bears offense. He was targeted on one deep throw near the end zone that was badly underthown and almost intercepted. Berrian did fumble on the first Bears drive of the game, ending the possession in Bears territory. However, the Chiefs were unable to capitalize on the turnover.
| WR Muhsin Muhammad, Rec: 1 - 7 - 0 (4 targets) |
Muhammad was not very involved in the Bear passing game and was one of the main culprits of Grossman's inaccuracy. He did not help himself by dropping a sure reception in the fourth quarter on a drive that ended in a Grossman interception on the next play.
| WR Devin Hester (2 targets) |
Hester was targeted twice in the first half as the Bears tried to get him more involved in the offense. He did not catch either pass thrown in his direction. However, he was fantastic again on special teams with a punt return for a touchdown and a kickoff return for a touchdown that was called back due to a holding penalty.
| TE Desmond Clark, Rec: 4 - 29 - 0 (7 targets) |
Clark was heavily involved in the passing game, serving as Grossman's main target during the first three quarters as the Bears were content with moving the ball down the field in short chunks and taking time off of the clock.
| PK Robbie Gould 2 - 2 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 8 points |
Gould was successful on both of his field goal attempts. He did take over punting duties when Dirk Johnson was injured during the fourth quarter.
| CHI Rush Defense |
The Bears rushing defense was very stout against the run. Kansas City running backs had little room to run for most of the game, with their longest gains of the game coming on draw plays in passing situations.
| CHI Pass Defense |
The Bears pass defense was not effective as preventing Chiefs completions on deep routes or on quick slant patterns. Their only interception of the day came on an excellent play in which Charles Tillman tipped a sure touchdown into the hands of Ricky Manning. The pass rush was unable to get pressure on the quarterback until late in the second half, and the first two sacks came on blitzes up the middle.
