Earning Their Arrowheads
The Kansas City Chiefs took another important step toward securing their first AFC West title since 2006 by defeating interstate rival St. Louis 27-13 Sunday.
The win also guaranteed the Chiefs their first winning season since 2006, not a small feat considering the team had won a total of 10 games over the last 3 seasons.
After a miserable performance in San Diego just a week ago, the Chiefs returned to form in a total team effort lead my QB Matt Cassel.
We’re handing out Arrowheads after the jump.
Matt Cassel
What a
gutless
gutsy performance by Cassel. His numbers may not be overwhelming but a quick glance at the box score does not tell the whole story of this game.
Cassel was sensational in his return to action, throwing a number of beautiful passes at critical times in the game. He did have one pass intercepted and while it may not have been his smartest throw of the game, had rookie TE Tony Moeaki not ran into the intended receiver, I am not sure the pass would have been intercepted. It might not have been caught, but I think the receiver would have broken up the pass.
Cassel had some real nice tosses in this one, including a picture perfect pass to Dwayne Bowe that went for 28 yards and a spot on fade for a TD to TE Leonard Pope.
Cassel showed beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is indeed the leader of the Kansas City Chiefs football team. What a day for Cassel.
Jamaal Charles
Charles curiously seemed to be underutilized in this game, receiving only 11 carries to Thomas Jones’ 22. Still, Charles made the best of his limited touches and torched the St. Louis defense for an 80-yard one to help put the game on ice for KC.
I think Charles may be a little banged up and that is why the Chiefs are monitoring his touches so closely.
Thomas Jones
Congratulations to Mr. Jones for becoming only the 25th player in NFL history to rush for over 10,000 yards. He now has 828 yards on the season and needs to average 86 yards over the last two games to reach 1000 on the season.
Chris Chambers
chambers has been an absolute bum all season. Yesterday he decided to show up and catch 3 balls for 42 yards. He now has 174 yards on the season. It was nice of him to show up but I wouldn’t count on seeing him again any time soon. Still, begrudgingly, I give him an arrowhead for helping the team win and for making one hell of a catch.
Leonard Pope
Pope is under appreciated. He has come up big now twice for the Chiefs this season. He caught the team’s lone TD vs. the Broncos a couple of weeks ago and he came up big again yesterday. He is fairly sure handed and a decent blocker. Pope provides nice depth and veteran leadership for a team that needs both.
Jackie Battle
I love me some Jackie Battle time! You have to give the big man credit. He got a couple of short yardage carries in this one and he made them count.
Dwayne Bowe
Came up with a couple of nice catches when the Chiefs needed them. His ability to stretch the field a bit (and Cassel’s new found ability to get him the ball deep) opens things up for the running game.
Kendrick Lewis
Not bad for a 5th round pick, eh? Sure both his interceptions were early Christmas gifts but he still caught them and he was still in the right place at the right time. Can’t fault a guy for two picks in one game no matter how they came to him.
Lewis isn’t a beast yet but for a 5th round pick and for a rookie, I really like where he is starting from. Playing next to Eric Berrry, he’ll likely never need to be a pro bowler but he is developing nicely.
Derrick Johnson
Nice to have you back D.J.. If Johnson could play like he did yesterday every game, the Chiefs would already have 10 wins by now. Then again, if Johnson had ever been consistent in his entire career, he’d probably be a Hall of Famer some day. Alas. This is the Derrick we get. I love him anyway.
Eric Berry
Superman wears Eric Berry pajamas.
Wallace Gilberry
3 sacks? In limited snaps? Damn. Not bad at all.
Tyson Jackson
Tin Man defended a pass! Did you see that? Be careful there Tyson, you might just turn into a football player yet.
Verran Tucker
Tucker wasn’t used as a receiver yesterday…probably because Chambers promised he would actually get open, but he added two more special teams tackles.
Tucker has 10 special teams tackles in 9 games. Even if he never develops into a good receiver, this kid could be the next Terry Copper.
Glenn Dorsey
Glenn may not get a ton of pressure on the QB but the guy has been pretty good against the run. He has 57 tackles on the year. Not too shabby.
Colquitt/Succop
Good game by both.
Brandon Flowers
Flowers looked much better this week. Hopefully his injury issues are over.
Alright Addicts. Those are my arrowheads. It was fun to give out so many this week. Did I miss anyone?
Brian Waters and Casey Weigmann
Both had strong games, particularly on Jamaal’s goal line TD. Weigmann blocked two men on the play which was a big step forward after he got straight up handled by the Chargers defensive line last week.