Chiefs Drive Of The Decade Steals Our Hearts Again
With 8:30 left in the game Sunday, something changed at Arrowhead. I am a bit of a romantic but it felt special to me when Matt Cassel engineered a 92-yard drive into the teeth of the fearsome Pittsburgh Steelers defense to tie the game at 24. Here is a play-by-play log of the drive that I believe to be one of the most important of this young century for our Kansas City Chiefs.
8:29 / 1st & 10 / Chiefs on own 8 yard line / Pitt 24 KC 17: Inc. pass to fullback Mike Cox
It’s a check-down pass, a two-yard hook pass to Mike Cox, that Cassel throws wide of his reach and never has a chance. Ian Eagle mistakes Cox for Castille, the Chiefs other fullback. Gannon bemoans the “lack of separation” between the Chiefs’ receivers and Steelers’ defensive backs. Come on, Rich! How much separation can you expect from a fullback running a two-yard hook pattern just off right tackle?
8:24 / 2nd & 10 / Chiefs on own 8 yard line / Pitt 24 KC 17: 1-yard completion to Chris Chambers.
Cassel throws a quick stop pattern to Chambers as he’s split out wide right. Cassel gets rid of the pass so quickly it is almost in the same motion as he catches the shotgun snap. Chambers is only a yard off the line of scrimmage and gets hit immediately by four Steelers defenders. He is buried just short of the Chiefs’ 10-yard line. Cassel steals a look at the video board replay and it is apparent from his face he is not happy with the result of the play.
7:47 / 3rd & 9 / Chiefs on own 9 yard line / Pitt 24 KC 17: Cassel looks over the Pittsburgh defense and motions for Wade to split out a bit farther. Wade looks confused. Cassel turns to the referee and signals for a time out. Things have not looked bleaker for our Chiefs as Cassel walks to the sideline.
7:37/ 3rd & 9 / Chiefs on own 9 yard line / Pitt 24 KC 17:
Steelers fans are swinging their Terrible Towels and making it difficult for Cassel to change the play. A CBS camera zooms in on a Steelers fans wearing a Troy Palamalu wig, helmet and jersey. An even more annoying Steelers nerd is spotlighted wearing shoulder pads, a Hines Ward jersey, eye black and Steelers ear rings. Larry Johnson has a name for guys like this and it ain’t “bro.”
Cassel takes the shotgun snap and retreats to where his right heel grazes the opponent’s goal line. At this moment, the Chiefs are 100 yards away from tying this game. But this time his offensive line gives him excellent protection against the Steelers’ three-man rush. He steps up and into the pocket and throws an ugly wobbling pass to the post that hits the much-maligned Lance Long in stride, just as he crosses the Chiefs’ 35-yard line. Three Steelers defenders quickly converge and bounce Long to the Arrowhead turf like he was playing a part in one of KC Wolf’s pregame skits. A must-have first down is ours! Gannon reminds us that Long made his first NFL start last week against Oakland. “They bring in guys off the street and they wind up making big plays in the game,” said Gannon.
Long is shown on the Chiefs sideline following his catch with his machine-perfect eye black and a look of confidence that belies his inexperience. This guy just might really be a poor-man’s Wes Welker – he’s already got the alliteration going for him. Eagle reminds viewers that Long is out of Mississippi State by way of the University of Toledo and was on Arizona’s practice squad when the Chiefs recycled him. In other words, just your average Pioli-bred Chiefs player.
7:05/ 1st & 10 / Chiefs on own 40 yard line / Pitt 24 KC 17:
Cassel drops back to pass again from the shotgun and again his O-line gives him ample time against the Steelers’ four-man rush. Cassel looks calmer. He looks, dare I say, confident. He does his best imitation of a Ben Roethlisberger pump-fake and it does the job on the Steelers DB, Ryan Clark. Gannon screams out in mid-play, “Oh, a double-move! He’s got ‘em!” (If I didn’t know better, I’d think Gannon was rooting for his old team, with the way his voice rises with each Cassel completion.)
Cassel cuts this bomb loose with everything he has (which by NFL standards ain’t a whole lot) from his own 37-yard line. This 46-yard pass is also barking loudly as it descends into Chambers waiting hands at the Steelers 17-yard line. He falls forward to the 13 but has the wind knocked out of him on the play. CBS shows a slow-mo replay of Chambers post-corner cut and it is a thing of beauty. His plant foot turns the DB into an MIA. This guy still has some game left in him and I’m glad Pioli went and got him. The Chiefs have moved 76 yards in their last two plays. Cassel is seen talking calmly to Haley as they use Chambers’ injury timeout to discuss their play-calling options. It is reassuring to know Haley can speak calmly on game day.
6:30 / 1st& 10 / Chiefs on Steelers 17 / Pitt 24 KC 17:
We get to see what Haley and Cassel were discussing. Cassel lines up under center and turns to his right showing play action to the lone running back, Charles. He pulls the ball from the lead back’s belly and instead inserts it into the midsection of Bobby Wade on an end around. The play is set up beautifully by the play-action fake and blocked even better by man-on-man hits by Branden Albert, Brian Waters, Wade Smith, Mike Cox and Jamaal Charles. The left side of the field is wide open for Wade’s speed. He bolts to just short of the five-yard line as Arrowhead begins to remember it is famous for being known as the home of the Chiefs.
5:46 / 2nd& 2 / Chiefs on Steelers 6 / Pitt 24 KC 17:
Cassel sets up in the shotgun and sees no one open. He fires one of his best spirals of the day over the head of Mark Bradley and out of the end zone. Bradley thought he was breaking open but Cassel had no time or intention to try and fit it into the corner of the end zone. Burn a down to live another three. Cassel is starting to learn how to play with a team that features Lance Long instead of his former New England teammate, Wes Welker.
5:41 / 3rd& 2 / Chiefs on Steelers 6 / Pitt 24 KC 17:
A huge down. Fail and you have to settle for a field goal. Haley puts Cassel in the gun and he’s flanked in the backfield by Charles to his right and Tim Castille to his left. Cassel shows pass and then deftly hands the ball to Charles on the draw play. Castille powers forward to blow a hole in the left side of the line but Charles uses his speed to skirt the left corner to pick up the crucial first down with a yard to spare.
4:58 / 1st& Goal / Chiefs on Steelers 2 / Pitt 24 KC 17:
Cassel again goes under center for the snap. His offensive set shows tight trips right with Chambers split wide left. Charles is the lone back, seven yards deep. Cassel takes the snap and turns to his left to fake a handoff to Charles off left tackle. Charles heads for the ass of the left tackle but as Cassel withdraws the pig, Charles plants his left spike and cuts hard toward the middle of the offensive line. Charles glides past the onrushing defenders as Cassel floats right looking into the corner of the end zone. Just as quickly as Charles changed direction, Cassel swivels his head from the flat back to where Charles has drifted, almost directly in front of the quarterback. Cassel flips a low, lifeless pass into a diving Charles’ arms as he catapults his body into the end zone.
I have never seen the Chiefs run the shovel-pass play in this manner. Succop’s kick is good and the game is now tied. And it didn’t take a kick return, an interception return or some desperation two-minute-drill kind of scrambling offense. It was a well-structured and well-executed 92-yard drive that had big plays, small plays, innovative plays, clutch plays, no name players, has-beens and hope-to-be players. It was a thing of beauty. It was the start of something that just might grow into something real. It was bona fide NFL football on a Sunday afternoon inside Arrowhead Stadium on a day where it appeared all was lost, even the shouting.
Charles rose from the painted turf and jogged toward the fans in the end zone and deposited his prize with some fans in the front row. No diamond gesture with his hands, no look-at-me jump into a teammates arms. Just a souvenir for the people who have suffered the most. Those “real fans” who still care enough to spend their Sundays with their team no matter how bad or who happens to show up on the roster.
If something did change Sunday inside Arrowhead, remember this drive. The defense came off the sideline after that drive and after giving up nearly 500 yards for most of the day, looked like a completely different team. They harassed and sacked Big Ben, igniting the crowd into Schottenheimer-like hysteria.
The bull-rush Mewelde Moore salami sandwich sack by Derrick Johnson with less than two minutes to play might be one of the single most athletic defensive feats ever performed inside Arrowhead. This is not the Derrick Johnson we know. This is the one we thought we were getting out of Texas but never showed up. Has he now arrived courtesy of The Drive?
As for the game, you know what happened next.
This drive may be forgotten next week. But it also may be the one that we recall where Haley, Cassel, Pioli and even Lance Long grew up and became part of the answer instead of simply the questionable. It felt like we took back not only our team but we took back our stadium and…dare I say our NFL pride.
greghall24@yahoo.com and Twitter/greghall24
November 22nd, 2009 at 11:25 pm
Nice work Greg. I still don’t think that Haley is the right guy to be the head coach, but today he deserves his propers. This will probably be that bittersweet win that keeps Haley in town and keeps the Chiefs from making any long-term progress, but what do I know? I figured the Chiefs would crap the bed today and they had a strring victory.
November 22nd, 2009 at 11:30 pm
Oh, and we’ve had this discussion before, Greg. It’s a shovel pass, not a shuttle pass. All passes are shuttle passes, if you think about it.
November 22nd, 2009 at 11:47 pm
Gavin,
I must have some mind fart blockage when it comes to the shovel/shuttle do-hickey thing-a-ma-bob. Fixed.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:00 am
“Those players in the locker room think (Matt Cassel) has been ram-rodded down their throats. They talk about it amongst themselves but they’ll never show it publicly. They don’t have his back so to say. He’s not your field general. He’s not the guy everybody wants to rally around.”
Bill Maas, 610 AM
I think that ended about 3:30 Sunday…
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:25 am
So they finally put together half a game (the 2nd half) and pulled out a win against a good team, and now everyone wants to start sucking their d*cks.
Let’s just all get a hold of ourselves here.
If they lay a big fat egg against San Diego next week you’ll all be right back on the bashing wagon. Just try to keep your giddyness in check people.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:49 am
Easy there Dex. No one is going gaga for Scotttod’s cock or or anything. I still want Haley gone and I still think this team is a big piece of filth and will draft in the top five at the end of the season. But you can’t deny this was an impresive an unexpected victory. No one, and I mean no one outside Arrowhead, thought this was a winnable game. It’s a hell of a feat. Sorta like Zack Greinke wiing the Cy Young: Very unlikely given the way the season has gone and probably the biggest story of the season as well as the biggest accomplishment of the year.
November 23rd, 2009 at 8:11 am
Holy shit am I eatin’ crow on Thanksgiving! These Inglorious Basturds could run the table and win six which at some point involves me offering to perform fellatio on Scott/Todd on I-70 during rush hour. It was the ugliest defensive meltdown at Arrowhead since KU beat MU last year. Let’s see how Todd handles his presser. Does he show some hubris or does he thump his chest?
November 23rd, 2009 at 8:16 am
Easy there Dex. No one is going gaga for Scotttod’s cock or or anything.
—————————————
You must not have listened to any of the post-game callers on 810. It was like Will Smith had waved a flashy thing in front of their eyes and they’d magically forgotten the first 9 games of the season.
Don’t get me wrong, I was just as happy as anyone else to see us gut out that win against the Steelers. I think Charles’ return to start the game was a huge factor in setting the tone more than anything else and for once we had an Arrowhead crowd that wasn’t half asleep with a PA announcer trying to defibrillate everyone into excitement. It was cool.
My point is to just remember the fickle mature of ourselves as football fans and how quickly we’ll turn on Haley and this team again if they come out and stink it up against San Diego. As quickly as the win yesterday made so many forget about all the losing, a steaming turd performance next week will erase all that in a flash.
But it sure was nice to see how good football can still send a charge through that stadium.
November 23rd, 2009 at 9:26 am
Nice post Greg.
Who’d a thunk a 3rd victory by a bad 2-7 team could make me so elated?!
Things are changing for the better. The past couple weeks there appears to be an overall gutty effort and confidence by the team. The Chiefs still aren’t very good, but they appear more energetic and are playing smart, sound and tough.
Cassel is STILL a mystery. He did NOT play well at all the first half. And sometimes I seriously doubt if he can be a great NFL QB. But I give him credit for hanging in there and figuring it out in the 2nd half.
And how great is it that, as the Chiefs get a little better, the Broncos are taking a major nosedive?!
November 23rd, 2009 at 9:59 am
I told you this team has talent, ALL PLAYERS, ON EVERY NFL TEAM, HAVE TALENT.
Did anyone else see/hear how pussy boy haley has backed off his fucking high horse? but this will be short lived,,,,he will go back to his drug crazed rants….it is his nature…he is a daddy’s boy…he is a stupid douchebag who has been handed everything….FK HIM. HE HAS TO GO…….he is NOT real coach…he is a golfing bitch.
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:13 am
Wow, talk about a bunch of folks who just can’t quite accept some good news…hey I was on board for Todd,Scott and especially Matt, and have recently had strong doubts…this was truely a big win and yes we still have many doubts about the future…But we do finally have a good reciever in Chambers and maybe a decent back in Charles…they made a big difference and maybe just maybe Long will be a short yard hitter for Matt….at least we won two in a row for the first time in three seasons…no its not a turn yet…but now there is some hope…by the way I was strong on Steelers/Cinn….two huge upsets in one day…
So give Todd his due…lets not jump up and down, but lets not dismiss this major upset…maybe they win two more and the season is moving forward and they are coaching some new guys up…lets no see….don’t all of us stand on our original ‘we hate you’ bandwagon either…in light of this win, that isnn’t fair either.
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:30 am
You want me to give her her du??
I will give haley girl her due..I WILL KICK HER SQUARE IN THE NUTS!!!
One win??….WHO CARES???…and it was not really a win, it was over time, they made mistakes,,they underestimated NFL talent, they handed us tghis win, this means/changes nothing, FK HALEY, ND FK HLARK CUNT!!! His plan to move the team is still in place.
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:32 am
I don’t care who the head coach is, I don’t care who the quarterback is, I don’t care who owns the team. I care about winning. Period. I am going to enjoy the heck out of this one for a little while longer.
It is also good to know that we are 2-0 without LJ and the Bengals are 0-1 with him.
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:27 am
C’mon guys and gals, to quote Denny Greene, they are who we think they are. The STALERS f’d up. Don’t get excited. It’s like grandma gettin’ a hole in one on a 90 yard par three. Shit happens. That’s why they play the game. A broken clock is right twice a day.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:14 pm
screw all you negative pieces of sh*t.
glazier: constant negativism
gre hall: no idea what he’s talking about
rick/dexter/maas/kk/wright wrong and the rest of you morons…check the past posts.
I WAS RIGHT. IF HUNT SPENDS MONEY ON THIS TEAM
THEY COULD REALLY DO SOMETHING. BUT WITHOUT
TALENT THEY HAVE A WAY TO GO.
HOW MANY OF YOU A$$HOLES WERE THERE AT ARROWHEAD
PUTTING YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS.
NOT ONE OF YOU.
I WAS THERE…3RD GAME THIS YEAR..CHEERTING
FOR THE TEAM ….WANTING TO PISS ON CLARK
FOR SHORTCHANING THIS TEAM.
Noone can tellm me this wasn’t big.
All you loseers who have never done a freaking
thing in your life shoul.d have been therte.
This rag tag/off the street/beaten down/
struggling/blue collar/mentally abused groupo
of players pulled off a huge huge win.
After 8 months of brutal mental and physical
conditioning…this team finally broke thru.
JOHNSONS TACKLE…from my seat in section 102..
it was incredible effort over the lineman.
STUDEBAKERS run: incredible…
DEFENSE: played well…but hung on and never
ever gave up.
CASSELL: despite all the shit he gets from
“fans” this guy is one hell of a fighter.
With receivers off the street/a unknown running
back/a beat up line/receivers w2ith almosty
no experience/this guy held tough.
charles: great run…he finally gets his
chance aqnd he is big time.
HALEY: his dad comes to town and they beat
the super bowl champs…
THIS TEAM MAY NOT HAVE ANYWHERE NEAR THE TOP
TALENT IN THIS LEAGUE.. THEY MAY NOT HAVE THE
BEST GAME PLAN…BUT THIS YEAR’S CHEIFS HAVE
PROVE4N ONE THING…NEVER…NEVER GIVE UP.
I watched in awe as the team left the field.
the players came by and high fived the
fans who showed up and cheered them on.
Any real fan of this team was out there sunday.
All you worthless hacks who sat at home…
writing shit about this team from your basements
…should never be allowed to post again.
If you were there you would have seen something
none of you losers have ever seen…that this
team…even though they were down never gave
up because they had faith in what they were doing.
WE’RE GOING TO BEAT SAN DIEGO…WE’RE GOING
TO BEAT DENVER..THEN ON TO CLEVELAND…BUFFALO…
this was really one of the funnest games I’ve
been to in years.
Surrounded by the enemy…having to watch them
wave their dollar store towels…listeing to
them cheap shot our team…
FUCK ALL YOU PESSIMISTS…GET ON THE BUS….
GOOD…BAD…WHATEVER…THEY ARE OUR TEAM AND
WE’RE GOING TO WIN.
Now…you p.o.s. clark…open that wallet and
get some more players to fill in….
THE CHIEFS HAVE HEART. MAYBE NOT THE BEST
TALENT BUT THESE GUYS HAVE SOMETHING NOT ONE
OF YOUR LOSERS HAS…THE WILL TO WIN!
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:20 pm
Nice performance by the Chiefs without a doubt. They seem to be improving FINALLY, though this game still had it’s share of the same bonehead plays we have seen all season – but all in all a much better showing.
…and Mangino is the world’s biggest Chiefs fan currently as the attention has been diverted from him and the soap opera unfolding on Mt. Oread.
Let’s see how we perform against San Diego!
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Congrats to the Chiefs on a big win. All these idiots are just pissed because Haley got his third win. It would be fantastic to beat the Bengals and drive LJ deep into the turf. We do not matchup well with San Diego but the Broncos, Browns, Bengals…maybe. Haley is now 2-0 in the third quarter of the season
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Kansas City is a bandwagon town….
One win does not make a season. People forget how bad they looked against the Raiders last week and the other week before that. If the Chiefs lay a egg against the Chargers….(and I think they will) then it’s back to Haley is a egomaniac talk.
All this win proves is that Chiefs fans…are the best bandwagon fans in the NFL
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Craig I think you also meant to add “Rick you were right.” I hope this win ends the following talk.
*The Chiefs are the worse team in the history of the NFL including last years Lions.
*The Chiefs are the worse team in the NFL this year.
The Chiefs are showing no signs of improvement. Said by many of the so called experts.
I said and made the bet months ago that this years team (And yes you are right check the past posts)was better then last years. We’ve already exceded that team and we have 5 games to go.
WE WON!!!! Without Tony, Larry, and Dwayne. We BEAT the freakin SUPER BOWL CHAMPS!!!!!
It was great seeing the smile on Todd’s face and the reporters clap when he entered the room. It was bizare seeing him fight off Mike Cox from giving him a hug.
I see L.J. has already cursed the Bengals.
Thanks to the few other guys that were like me and instead of calling for firings believed that we just need to have patience. We still have a loongggggggggggg way to go but we are better then last year. GO CHIEFS!!!!!
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:20 pm
The Chiefs suck balls, and got lucky yesterday.
*The Chiefs are the worse team in the history of the NFL including last years Lions.
Hlark Cunt is a fucking piker cheapsksate who pay 40 million UNDER the cap, and when the cap comes off, this team will be worse.
*The Chiefs are the worse team in the NFL this year.
Haley is bitch, and needs to be fired.
The Chiefs are showing no signs of improvement.
Fuck the leadership of this NONteam.
November 23rd, 2009 at 2:03 pm
Hey Craig Glazer, my man in Vegas says a LOT of money came in late yesterday on the Chiefs to win outright. Sounds like some WWE scripting. Whadya think?
November 23rd, 2009 at 4:17 pm
smartman: “my man in vegas”…give me a
break. the only man is some b.s. you dreamed
up.
And how does glazer know? He’s some nfl
expert? Hardly.
Greg: my dog could pick more winners than you
and there’s no way you should be an “expert:
on anything except how to not be a professional
writer.
HALL is one big b.s. NO facts..no knowledge
except just like th rest of the sports media
he’s full of his own b.s.
What happened to keitman…did his hooker
wife get all that blood out of his brain last
week when he predicted huge things for
k state…another flop for kk.
And bill maas…whew..guys done more drugs than
anyone and his brains not working right.
The only thing this guys knows is hookers/
strippers and drugs..
grunhard…too many hits to trhe head from
defensive linemen..
best analyst in kc is baldinger…this guy
is so good he deserves to replace lenny
or mitch.
November 23rd, 2009 at 4:43 pm
I read the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s game story.
The Steelers were really embarrassed by their performance. The mistakes, missed plays, bad blocking, ringing Big Ben’s bell at an inopportune time.
Cassel played three quarters of abysmal football. And he pulled off a couple of impressive late-game drives. But even a blind pig sometimes finds an acorn.
November 23rd, 2009 at 5:48 pm
Jojo, go fuck yourself with a sawzall, Use a 7″ demo blade. A friend of mine from college has been a progessional gambler in Las Vegas since 1987. He knows where the money flows on game day. Eat shit you little ferret faced faggot.
November 23rd, 2009 at 8:21 pm
smartman…right…a progressional gambler…
where did you go to college?
truck driver college? medical assistant
college. You’re a big blowhard trying to act
like you’re some big shot.
Now…go fuck yourself and get out of your
basement hole and go get a real job.
Your guy knows where the money flows…sure…
he knows it flows out of your pocket you
you don’t know shit about shinola.
November 24th, 2009 at 9:18 am
Hey jojo, smartman works for me. Anytime you wanna throw down with him let me know. I got 10 grand and I’m sure his buddy in Mikey in Vegas, who is indeed a professional gambler, will match that or more. You whup him and it’s all yours. You don’t whup him and chances are you’re dead. He has a WICKED left hook.
November 24th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Smartman, I always wonder about that, and then Cinn. gets beat by Oakland…hmmm…you don’t want to think that, but you wonder…kinda like hey “in blackjack the house has a 38% advantage” really seems like a 98% doesn’t it? Why does the dealer always seem to draw out and the player rarely does…but we know the old saying “thats how they built the joint” most full time gamers lose even in hold ‘em a game I started playing in the 70’s with Larry Dale out in Belton with Merle Fink, those were the days, I got pretty good, still I’m sure overall down a bunch, I do seem to win in vegas on football and yes often betting against our kc chiefs..
RICK YOU WERE RIGHT…they do seem to be improving, but lets see a couple more games first..fair? Hey Jo Jo I have been negitive, but only cause the pain of our sports teams and this city falling down has hurt so much these ten plus years…didn’t have to be this way..did it…happy holiday
November 30th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Jojo never has raced Greg so you know he ain’t going to throw down with anyone. He is a COWARD and a mama’s bitch