Chiefs Surge Late, Beat Jaguars 42-20
The Kansas City Chiefs overcame some mental mistakes as well as some terrible officiating to beat down the Jacksonville Jaguars 42-20.
Matt Cassel completed 13 of 18 passes for 193 yards, including 2 touchdown passes to WR Dwayne Bowe yet the bulk of KC’s yards came on the ground. Thomas Jones, Jamaal Charles, Dexter McCluster and even Jackie Battle got in on the action as the Chiefs backs rushed for 236 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Thomas Jones lead all the Chiefs backs with 20 carries for 125 yards and a touchdown. Jones got over half of his yards on a 70 yard scamper, his longest run of the season.
Though the final score indicates a blowout, the Jaguars kept the game close until the middle of the 3rd quarter. They were led by a strong effort from free agent pickup Todd Bauman who was signed on Monday and started on Sunday because of injuries to David Garrard and Trent Edwards.
Bauman threw 222 yards and 2 touchdowns before throwing a couple of costly picks late in the game.
The Chiefs also continued their outstanding run defense, holding Maurice Jones Drew to 47 yards on 16 carries for a paltry average of 2.9 yards per carry. Jones-Drew did become a factor in the passing game, however, reeling in 5 passes for 74 yards and a touchdown.
The Jaguars were aided by 7 Chiefs penalties that cost Todd Haley’s team -92 yards. Two of the penalties are sure to be talked about throughout the week. Twice the Chiefs were flagged for defensive pass interference when it was evident that the call should have gone against the receiver.
The first came when Mike Sims-Walker grabbed CB Brandon Carr in the end zone and threw him down, yet the penalty was called on Carr. The Chiefs defense came how and stood tall, stopping the Jaguars on three straight plays on their own 1-yard-line, forcing a FG.
The second bogus penalty came in the 3rd quarter when Eric Berry was flagged for pretty much doing nothing at all. In fact later replays seemed to indicate that the Jaguars receiver interfered with Berry.
Still the Chiefs maintained their 1-point lead until the 3rd quarter when they broke things open.
The Chiefs were leading 21-20 when Derrick Johnson intercepted a Todd Bouman pass and returned it for a touchdown. From then on the route was on. The Chiefs scored touchdowns on their final two processions of the 4th quarter to bring home the 42-20 win.
Notes:
Eric Berry recorded the first interception f his young career, returning it 35 yards to set up the Chiefs final TD of the game.