Click here to see all recaps on a single page
| Other Week 4 Game Recaps | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAL at CLE | CHI at DET | DEN at IND | GB at MIN | HOU at ATL | KC at SD | NE at CIN | NYJ at BUF |
| OAK at MIA | PHI at NYG | PIT at ARI | SEA at SF | STL at DAL | TB at CAR | ||
Week 4 Game Recap: Kansas City Chiefs 30, San Diego Chargers 16
What you need to know
| Kansas City Chiefs |
There may still be hope for Larry Johnson. Although 37 of his 123 yards came on his last run of the day, he looked pretty solid against a run defense that is considered to be one of the league's better units.
WR Dwayne Bowe could be this year's Marques Colston, only with a first round pedigree. He made play after play on this San Diego secondary, and already looks like he belongs.
TE Tony Gonzalez tied the all-time record for touchdown receptions by a tight end with 62, but perhaps more importantly he was an integral part of the passing game (especially in the second half).
| San Diego Chargers |
The team is having major protection issues in the offensive passing game. QB Philip Rivers didn't play well at all, but it would have been difficult for anyone to play well when they have very little time to throw the ball.
The pass defense of San Diego still hasn't learned how to stop the short, quick strikes that plagued them in losses to New England and Green Bay. They are proving to be a very porous unit.
San Diego is in disarray on the whole. By the end of the game, fans in the stands were chanting "Marty! Marty!", referencing the fired Marty Schottenheimer, who led the now 1-3 Chargers to a mark of 14-2 a year ago.
What you ought to know
| QB Damon Huard, Pass: 17 - 29 - 284 - 2 TD / 2 INT, Rush: 2 - -3 - 0 |
Huard didn't look great early on. He was nearly intercepted on a batted ball at the line midway through the first quarter, and wasn't making very many plays to help put his team in a position to score. But he really settled in nicely after halftime. He didn't get rattled despite his team falling behind by ten points, all the while amidst speculation that the team would like to see Brodie Croyle get some game action. So all Huard did was calmly sit back and pick the San Diego secondary apart, much like Tom Brady and Brett Favre did in each of the past two weeks. Huard was given plenty of time to throw, and he beat the Chargers with pinpoint precision and perfect execution. Granted, both of his touchdown passes may have been more a result of superb athleticism by the receiver rather than anything spectacular Huard did, but at least he didn't make many mistakes.
His first half interception was the result of a pass that he threw right off the helmet of LB Shawn Merriman and into the waiting arms of S Marlon McCree. And the one poor play he made in the second half was trying to force a pass into tight space to Dwayne Bowe on a slant. The ball was batted away by CB Quentin Jammer right into the hands of S Clinton Hart for the interception. Of course, one must remember that the Chiefs had just connected on a 51 yard touchdown pass on that very same play on the previous possession, so one can't fault him too much for trying it again. Two potential injury notes regarding Huard: late in the first quarter, he was sacked by Shaun Phillips and fumbled the football. Kansas City recovered, but Huard came up holding his right (throwing) shoulder a bit. It didn't seem to bother him after that, however. In the second half, Huard was knocked to the turf on a pass completion to Dwayne Bowe. Huard banged his head off the ground and looked a bit dazed for a moment, but he stayed in the game without any problems.
| RB Larry Johnson, Rush: 25 - 123 - 0, Rec: 3 - 25 - 0 (5 targets) |
Johnson struggled along with the rest of the Chiefs in the first half, but came on a bit more as the game went on. As the final minutes were ticking off the clock, Johnson had compiled 86 yards on 24 carries (an unspectacular 3.6 YPC). But his final burst of the afternoon was a 37 yard gallop up the left side that put him over 100 yards on the ground for the first time all season long. At the end of the day, a 123 yard performance looks a whole lot better than an 86 yard performance, even if the difference is just one isolated play in garbage time. Some of the concerns with Johnson are still present, of course. For example, he was twice stuffed inside the five yard line trying to score (one of those coming from the two yard line). But there were enough positives to take from the way Johnson ran to suggest his fantasy prospects are still very much alive.
| WR Dwayne Bowe, Rec: 8 - 164 - 1 (11 targets) |
Amazingly, the rookie was the only Kansas City wide receiver to see a passing target in his direction -- and he registered a game high eleven. Not only that, but once the ball came in his direction, he knew what to do with it. He showed great athleticism on a tough leaping catch late in the first half, and some nice footwork after the catch to try and get a few extra yards. And the second half simply belonged to Bowe. He made a tough grab going over the middle and holding onto the ball despite taking a huge shot from the DB, and that was only his second best play of the half. With the teams tied at 16 and Kansas City facing a third down and 19, Huard found Bowe on the slant for a 51 yard scoring strike. It was nearly a carbon copy of the play the Packers used last week from Brett Favre to Greg Jennings that beat the Chargers, except this one came on the right side of the field. If Bowe's performance in Week 3 wasn't enough to alert fantasy owners to his impending impact, this game certainly will.
| TE Tony Gonzalez, Rec: 5 - 71 - 1 (8 targets) |
Gonzalez was a major factor in the Kansas City passing attack, as the tendency to attack the San Diego defense with short, quick passes suited his receiving style perfectly. Gonzalez did mix it up a bit on his touchdown reception, a gorgeous leaping grab in the back corner of the end zone that tied the score at 16. Gonzalez out-jumped no fewer than three San Diego defenders on the play as he simply refused to come down without a score. The touchdown tied him with Shannon Sharpe for the top spot on the all-time touchdown reception list by a tight end with 62.
| PK Dave Rayner 3 - 3 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 12 points |
Rayner connected on all three of his kick attempts. Even though none was a particularly difficult kick, just having someone to connect on the chip shots is significant with the way the Kansas City kicking game started the season.
| KC Rush Defense |
It was a tale of two halves for the Chiefs run defense. In the first half, LaDainian Tomlinson torched them for 116 yards on 14 carries. In the second half, he ran it six times for 16 yards. In the early going of the contest, it really looked like this was going to be Tomlinson's breakout game for 2007. He was picking up chunks of yardage with every touch, and the Chiefs looked like they could do very little to stop him. They were especially powerless on his five yard touchdown run, a run on which he took the ball in practically untouched. He looked on his way to a possible 78 yard touchdown run late in the first half, but had to settle for 37. He had gotten past the last defender, but had to slow down a bit in order to finish off a move. In doing so, he slowed down just enough to be caught from behind. That drive resulted in a Nate Kaeding field goal instead of a touchdown.
| KC Pass Defense |
Despite some early game struggles, the Chiefs really could do no wrong in this phase of the game. They may have only registered one official sack of Philip Rivers, but there were countless times he had to rush his throws or barely avoid being sacked. Despite typically sending only four pass rushers, Kansas City batted down at least three passes at the line of scrimmage, and that was just in the first half. And they intercepted Rivers twice, including one in the first half when he was hit just as he released the pass downfield. Had he not been hit on the play, there's a good chance it would've gone for a long touchdown pass to Craig Davis. Instead, it was Chiefs' ball. The other interception appeared to be a case of miscommunication between Rivers and Tomlinson, as the latter never saw the pass headed his way. Basically, Rivers never looked comfortable facing a defense that still has not allowed a second half touchdown all season long. This unit made perhaps the play of the day to help seal the victory as well. With the Chargers trailing 23-16, Rivers dropped back to pass but was hit by LB Derrick Johnson. The ball came loose, and was picked up by Tyron Brackenridge who took it the other way 50 yards for the touchdown. It all but sealed the victory for the Chiefs. The only glaring mistake made by the Chiefs was late in the game when they were trying to protect the lead. WR Vincent Jackson got behind the defense for what should have been a 45 yard touchdown pass, but he bailed Kansas City out by dropping the ball.
| QB Philip Rivers, Pass: 21 - 42 - 211 - 0 TD / 2 INT |
Rivers played perhaps his worst game of the season, and arguably one of his worst since becoming the Chargers' starting QB. He started off well enough, as the balanced San Diego offense moved the ball freely and put up 16 first half points. But in the second half, the pressure on Rivers really intensified and he was hurried on nearly every single pass. The offensive line gave him almost no protection, and that was directly responsible for two of his three turnovers. The interception was a case of Rivers being hit as he threw. The announcers speculated that the pass could have and probably should have gone for a long touchdown to Craig Davis, but because Rivers was hit as he attempted the pass, it came out very awkwardly and hung in the air. It was easily picked off by CB Ty Law. Another turnover was the result of a sack and fumble at the hands of Rivers. The fumble was picked up and run the other way 50 yards for the touchdown, and Rivers never really had much of a chance on the play. It wasn't just the pressure on Rivers that caused the poor passes, however. Even when he did have some time to throw, he just looked a bit "off". He never really seemed comfortable in the pocket, as evidenced by three of his passes being batted down at the line of scrimmage in just the first half alone. He also seemed to lock onto his receivers for far too long, allowing the Kansas City defensive backs more than enough time to jump the route and knock the ball away several times. His day could have been salvaged from a fantasy perspective late in the game, but Vincent Jackson dropped a perfectly thrown pass that would have gone for a 45 yard touchdown. Then again, Rivers himself made a critical error later in that drive when he overthrew a wide open Jackson in the end zone on a corner fade pattern. Needless to say, it wasn't a pretty effort by Rivers.
| RB LaDainian Tomlinson, Rush: 20 - 132 - 1, Rec: 5 - 22 - 0 (7 targets) |
Based upon his tone in the postgame press conference, Tomlinson is clearly growing more than a bit agitated with the constant struggles of the team. Based upon his performance in the game, there may be little he can do to avoid them. Tomlinson turned in a vintage first half performance in this game, gaining 116 yards and a touchdown on 14 first half carries. Yet while he was finally able to get himself going, the rest of the team was stalling. Despite the proficient run game, one never got the feeling that San Diego was in complete control of the game. They consistently turned it over, couldn't play defense, and effectively phased the running game out of their playbook after halftime. Tomlinson ran just six times for 16 yards in the entire second half, and never came close to the end zone. His first touchdown run was a simple five yard carry off of the left tackle as he was basically untouched. He nearly added a second score later in the first half but was just tripped up from behind during a 37 yard scamper. But he never saw such success in the second half. There was a pass intercepted that was originally intended for Tomlinson, but he never saw the ball coming as his head was turned the other way. That's not the first time that has happened this season, and it's yet another example of the blatant lack of offensive cohesion and the glaring miscommunication going on between the players right now. On San Diego's final possession, Philip Rivers had a wide open Tomlinson in the flat on third down from the five yard line, but never threw him the ball. There were a couple of defenders near the goal line so it wouldn't have necessarily been a touchdown, but it wouldn't exactly have been the first time Tomlinson made someone miss in the open field. It was very odd to see Rivers not even consider throwing him the ball, despite seeing him twice on the play and then just checking off to someone else.
| RB Michael Turner, Rush: 2 - -2 - 0 |
Turner was pretty much a non-factor once again. Owners who handcuffed him to Tomlinson were wise in doing so, but unlike last season he hasn't been getting regular work to give him value in his own right. In this game, his biggest play was a negative one as he lost a fumble in his own territory early in the second quarter.
| WR Vincent Jackson, Rec: 3 - 52 - 0 (9 targets) |
Jackson's owners are going to look at his stats and see that he had a respectable 52 yards and was thrown to a good amount (second on the team in targets to Antonio Gates). What they won't see is how Jackson was inches away from a great fantasy output. He dropped a sure 45 yard touchdown pass from Philip Rivers late in the game that would have made the score 30-23. The ball was thrown perfectly in stride by Philip Rivers, but Jackson just plain dropped it. Adding that catch to his totals would've given him 97 yards receiving and a long touchdown on the day. Early in the game, he hauled in a 39 yard pass that appeared to be going for a lot more, but he stumbled a bit and was caught from behind before he could really go off to the races. Late in the fourth quarter, Jackson again got wide open behind the defense -- this time in the end zone -- but Rivers badly overthrew him on a corner fade.
| WR Craig Davis, Rush: 1 - 4 - 0, Rec: 1 - 8 - 0 (4 targets) |
Davis will be a more and more of a factor in the San Diego passing game as the season goes on, and this seems evident by the fact that the Chargers have already sought him out in key situations at several points in the team's first three games of the season. Today was no exception, although with just one reception the results are obviously less than desirable. He was the target of a deep ball from Rivers in the second quarter that both announcers said could have very easily been a touchdown. Davis got behind the defense by several strides, and Rivers set himself to throw one deep. But he was hit as he threw, and the ball came out of his hand awkwardly and about 20 yards too short. The pass was intercepted by CB Ty Law.
| TE Antonio Gates, Rec: 6 - 79 - 0 (10 targets) |
Gates started with a bang, hauling in a 27 yard pass on his first target of the game. Unfortunately for him, that was by far his biggest play of the game. It's not that the team didn't look for him; it was just that the team didn't look for him regularly. He went long stretches of time between seeing the ball thrown his way, and despite his solid receiving totals the Chiefs actually did a very good job in containing him for the most part.
| PK Nate Kaeding 3 - 3 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 10 points |
Kaeding connected on all three of his kicks, including one from 51 yards out early in the game. Kaeding originally lined up for a 46 yard boot, but a Chargers penalty before the snap backed them up five yards. So, most of his fantasy owners got a one point bonus for a slightly longer field goal due to the team's lack of discipline.
| SD Rush Defense |
Larry Johnson was averaging 3.6 yards per carry until his final run of the game, a 37 yard scamper up the left side that put him up over 100 yards for the contest. That was by far his longest run of the game, and it skews the final stats somewhat. But then again, it did happen and it does count against the stats so there's no reason to discount it any more than you'd discount his first or second or tenth run of the game. Just because it came last doesn't mean it's any less meaningful, and in fact it might be even more indicative of a San Diego defense that seems to be lacking a lot of the hunger and passion it played with a year ago. The fact that they would allow a struggling runner to come into their building and rip off a 37 yard run when they're supposed to be fighting to regain possession has to be very worrisome for this defense. And it's not going to get much easier against Denver and Oakland the next two weeks.
| SD Pass Defense |
Somewhat amazingly, the Chargers defense made many of the same mistakes this week that they made in each of the last two weeks. And while a lot of the blame for their poor start is being put squarely on head coach Norv Turner, the fact is that the defense is playing far worse under DC Ted Cotrell than it did a year ago under former coordinator Wade Phillips. LB Shawne Merriman came out of witness protection this week long enough to register eight tackles (including his first sack since Week 1), but that was really where the positives ended. Marlon McCree and Clinton Hart both intercepted passes off of deflections, and the plays were gifts more than anything spectacular done by them. And no one could cover WR Dwayne Bowe or TE Tony Gonzalez. It says a lot about the stats of the San Diego defense that they couldn't cover the only two legitimate weapons the Chiefs have in the passing game. Bowe and Gonzalez combined for 13 of the 17 receptions, 235 of the Chiefs' 274 passing yards, and both passing touchdowns. Kansas City operated by using quick, efficient passing strikes and a ton of slants to pick apart the Chargers secondary. In fact, the eventual game winning touchdown was the exact same play used by Green Bay on their game winning touchdown against the Chargers a week ago. That exemplifies the biggest concern with this defense, and that's the fact that they aren't learning from their mistakes and they clearly aren't getting any better.
