Kansas City Chiefs Rewatch: 2009 week 15 vs Browns

Three straight losses had the 2009 Kansas City Chiefs sitting at 3-10 on the year. Their week 15 opponent was somehow worse than they were and the end result was an offense-heavy game. Yes, you read that right.

Finally! An offensive explosion from the 2009 Kansas City Chiefs! This was something fans had been dying to see all year in 2009, but it took until week 15 for it to happen.

Unfortunately, the offensive explosion by KC was matched by their week 15 opponent – the Cleveland Browns, who had also been having a terrible season in 2009. They had won just two games through 13 games, but were coming off a win when they traveled to Kansas City.

Who would reign supreme in the “defense is optional” bowl of the 2009 season?

WEEK 15 VS CLEVELAND BROWNS: DECEMBER 20TH, 2009

Things didn’t get off to a good start when the Browns managed to march right down the field. The good news is that they had to settle for a field goal and the Chiefs then looked to match the Browns’ three points.

The Chiefs first drive was going well, but unfortunately, Tim Castille had a bizarre fumble and the call stood, so Cleveland got the ball back. Brandon Carr was able to pick off Brady Quinn and get the Chiefs the ball back. They were unable to score a touchdown in the first quarter once more, but Ryan Succop did connect on a field goal attempt.

The game was tied for maybe a minute when Joshua Cribbs ran the kickoff back all the way for a touchdown.  Just like that – Cleveland was ahead again and took a ten point lead with another field goal not long after.

That was where the Chiefs offense started to come alive, as Matt Cassel found Chris Chambers in the end zone for a nine-yard touchdown and we had a game again. The Chiefs had already matched their point total from the week prior and the offense looked to be moving the ball decently, something that couldn’t be said in their other games.

We continued to see the progression of Jamaal Charles, who broke through the Browns defensive line and rumbled 47 yards down the field for a touchdown to take the lead. It was his sixth straight game with a touchdown and seventh touchdown in as many games. He was on fire and finished the game with 154 yards and a touchdown.

We also saw a good game from Cassel, who went 22 of 40 for 331 yards and two touchdowns. After a four interception game the week prior, seeing Cassel not throw a single pick was a huge improvement. It helped that Chris Chambers had a good day as well, grabbing five catches for 114 yards and a touchdown.

The points continued to stack up for Kansas City after a fumbled snap by the Browns punter and Andy Studebaker fell on the football in the end zone to add another six points to the Chiefs total. Fans were not used to things going in their favor and it seemed like maybe – just MAYBE – this would be game KC could be destined to win.

Hahahaha not so fast my friends, as this is the 2009 Chiefs team we’re talking about here. SECONDS after their special teams touchdown, Cribbs had ANOTHER kickoff return for a touchdown and this was where things went back down hill for Kansas City.

Next: The Browns had a 71 yard touchdown run to go up 27-24 and the third quarter continued to be a tough time for the Chiefs, a trend that had occurred frequently over the last few games. Cleveland went up 34-24, but the Chiefs didn’t back down, eventually tying it up on a Cassel touchdown to Mark Bradley with 2:20 left in regulation.

Unfortunately, the Browns weren’t willing to take it overtime, scoring on a 28-yard touchdown run  with just 44 seconds to go in the game. A 2-11 team had just come into Arrowhead and won in the final minute to hand KC their 11th loss of the season. The Chiefs were 2-19 at Arrowhead in their last 21 games after this one and had lost three straight home games.

That’s embarrassing for any team.

REMEMBER THAT GUY?

• Chiefs fans wouldn’t forget Joshua Cribbs after this game, as he returned two kickoffs for touchdowns.
• Chiefs fans also wouldn’t forget Jerome Harrison, who had 286 yards and three touchdowns against Kansas City. 2009 fantasy football owners were likely kicking themselves for having Harrison on the bench this week. He surpassed Jim Brown‘s all-time rushing yards record in a game
• Brady Quinn was the Browns signal caller in this game and little did we all know he’d eventually be backing up Cassel in Kansas City just three years later. He didn’t do much in this game, but he didn’t have to since his run game was doing all of the heavy lifting. He had just 66 yards passing and two picks.
• Dwayne Bowe was back from a four-game suspension and had four catches for 56 yards. There was a cool play where Chambers couldn’t come up with the catch and the ball instead went into Bowe’s hands even further down the field. Whatever it takes!
• Chansi Stuckey led the Browns in receiving with 41 yards.

Unlike the last three games, this was actual a fun one to watch. The Kansas City Chiefs might have lost, but they put up the most points they had all season and for once, the offense wasn’t the main problem.

It was the defense who let Kansas City down in week 15, surrendering over 300 yards rushing. Had KC’s defense been able to slow down Harrison even just once, this could have been an entirely different game. This wasn’t a “good offense vs good offense” game, but rather a “which defense was worse” game.

Both teams sat at 3-11 after the final whistle blew and even though Cleveland won this game, the Chiefs would have the quicker overall turnaround.

Next up (hopefully): Week 16 vs Bengals (9-5)