Kansas City Chiefs Rewatch: 2009 week 14 vs Bills

The Kansas City Chiefs were coming off back-to-back blowout losses and were hoping to turn things around in week 14 against the Buffalo Bills.

Continuing on with our Kansas City Chiefs rewatch series, the 2009 team currently sat at 3-8 after 13 games. While it wasn’t the season Chiefs fans hoped for when the organization made the decision to hire Todd Haley and trade for Matt Cassel, but there were some glimmers of hope.

Their previous two losses might have been blowouts, but a lot of the opponent’s points came from crushing Chiefs mistakes such as turnovers or not converting on a fourth down attempt. Had those mistakes not happened, the game would have been much closer.

So, what did week 14 against the 4-8 Buffalo Bills teach us about the 2009 Kansas City Chiefs?

WEEK 14 VS BUFFALO BILLS: DECEMBER 13TH, 2009

A growing storyline for the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2009 season was how their offense had failed to score a touchdown in the first quarter all season. Not only that, but they had been outscored 76-19 in the first quarter per the broadcast, so they weren’t good at keeping their opponents out of the end zone either.

That trend continued against the Bills unfortunately, though they didn’t find the end zone until the final four seconds of quarter number one.

The 2009 Buffalo team was as bad as the 2009 Chiefs and it showed early on in this game. The end result was mostly a battle of the kickers, especially on Buffalo’s end with Rian Lindell scoring ten of the Bills’ 16 points.

Cassel aired the ball out more in this one, throwing for 224 yards, but what really killed the Chiefs were the four interceptions he threw including one in the final three minutes of the game. At that point, Kansas City had a chance to win the game, but Cassel’s fourth interception of the day sealed it for the Bills.

Cassel did, however, connect with Chris Chambers and it looked like the Chiefs would have the football on the Bills two-yard line with a solid chance to take the lead. Unfortunately, Chambers couldn’t hold onto the ball. The announcers made it known that the Chiefs led the league in dropped passes with Chambers’ drop being the 39th of the season for Kansas City.

While this game was much closer than the previous two, that’s because the Bills were as pitiful as the Chiefs offensively. They were able to run the ball much better due to KC’s horrid run defense, but when it came to quarterback play, this was tough to watch.

Jamaal Charles had a big game despite injuring his shoulder the week prior. He carried the ball 20 times for 143 yards and broke off a 76-yard touchdown run to make it a 13-10 ball game. This was Charles’ fifth straight game with a touchdown.

At the end of the day, the Chiefs were in it all game long, but turnovers once again sunk the team and the lack of run defense sunk this team and cost them a winnable game.

REMEMBER THAT GUY?

• The Bills quarterback was known other than Ryan Fitzpatrick, who was in his fifth year as an NFL starter. He was atrocious in this game, throwing for just 86 yards, a touchdown, and an interception.
• The Bills run game, however, was the only positive thing about their offense. Marshawn Lynch (yes he played for Buffalo at one point) rushed for 84 yards while Fred Jackson had 99 yards.
• The lone Bills touchdown was scored by Terrell Owens (I forgot he played for Buffalo) in what was a close game, but ultimately ruled a touchdown.
• Leonard Pope had 45 yards off of four catches.
• Brad Cottam only had one catch, but it was a nice one – a 26 yard catch that helped the Chiefs move the ball early on.

At 3-10 and sitting with double digit losses, it was evident that 2009 wasn’t the Kansas City Chiefs’ year. Fans didn’t necessarily expect them to contend for the playoffs in 2009, but they definitely didn’t expect to see them struggle to move the ball as much as they did.

Todd Haley did opt to go for it on fourth down a few times in this game, but it didn’t pan out. They were only able to muster ten points and without a long Charles touchdown run, they probably wouldn’t have even amassed double digit points.

With the season winding down, how would the KC Chiefs finish off the first year under Todd Haley?

Next up (hopefully): Week 15 vs Browns (2-11)