Kansas City Chiefs Rewatch: 2010 Week 15 vs Rams

The Kansas City Chiefs were coming off a terrible loss to the Chargers in week 14, but they were hoping to turn things around. They’d try to do so against an opponent just down the highway from Kansas City.

You might not remember this, but before they were in Los Angeles, the Rams were in this town known as St. Louis located on the other side of the state of Missouri. The Kansas City Chiefs only play the Rams every four years, but 2010 was one of those years.

The Rams were coming off one of the worst seasons in franchise history, winning just one game in 2009. As a result, they held the number one overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft and with it, selected Sam Bradford out of Oklahoma.

The Chiefs were without Matt Cassel the week prior and Brodie Croyle did nothing for their offense. Fortunately, Cassel was back on the field for this game. How did things play out in the battle for the Governor’s Cup?

WEEK 15 VS ST. LOUIS RAMS: DECEMBER 19TH, 2010

The Rams got off to a nice start, marching down the field and scoring a field goal on a drive that took half of the first quarter. The Chiefs had to punt on their first play and after a big return from the Rams, it was looking like we might see a repeat of the Chiefs’ performance from the week prior.

Fortunately KC’s defense was able to limit St. Louis to two field goals, only making it a 6-0 Rams lead with just under five minutes in the first quarter. The Chiefs needed to get something going on their next drive and it initially looked as though they’d be going three and out, however, the Rams had a crucial penalty that gifted the Chiefs a fresh set of downs.

Unfortunately not long after, Cassel was picked off and this game was beginning to look like another stinker by the offense. They continued to struggle until Cassel with Dwayne Bowe down the field on a long pass that set KC up in the red zone.

From there, Cassel hit a wide open Leonard Pope in the end zone and took the lead off that touchdown. At this point of the game, they already had more yards offensively than they did all of the previous week’s game against the Chargers.

After that touchdown, Ian Eagle and Dan Fouts pointed out all of the red in the stands and that was definitely noticeable early on with the noise made any time the Chiefs did something positive. Every summer, Cardinals fans fill Kauffman Stadium with their ugly apparel, so it was always fun when Chiefs fans could do the same at Rams game even if it was only every eight years.

The Chiefs were able to punch the ball in for another touchdown right before the half, making it a 14-6 Kansas City lead in the battle of Missouri. Finally the offense appeared to have life again.

The second half wasn’t nearly as exciting as the first half. The Chiefs tacked on two field goals in the third quarter to make it a 20-6 ball game. One of those field goals was from 53 yards out, showcasing Ryan Succop‘s range.

It took St. Louis until 4:04 remaining in the game to find the end zone and it was then a 20-13 lead. Luckily, Kansas City didn’t let it be a close game for long with Thomas Jones finding the end zone quickly after to make it a 27-13 game, which ended up being the final score.

The Kansas City Chiefs won the Governor’s Cup and moved to 5-0 against the St. Louis Rams. The took played again in 2014 with the Chiefs winning again, meaning the Rams never defeated the Chiefs during their time in St. Louis. The Chiefs showed who the better city was in this one and even though the Rams had just six wins at this point, they were LEADING THE NFC WEST.

Yes, this was  the year where the 7-9 Seahawks won the division and knocked off the Saints in the first round of the playoffs. The Rams came very close to being the first team to win the division with a losing record, but they couldn’t quite pull it off.

The Rams played Nelly songs just about every time they could and I’m not even kidding. Nelly couldn’t help them win this game and the Chiefs continued their dominance over St. Louis once more.

REMEMBER THAT GUY?

• Steve Spagnuolo was the Rams head coach. He obviously joined the Chiefs in 2019 as their defensive coordinator and helped turn things around on that side of the ball. So much so that they were able to win the Super Bowl!
• Sam Bradford was a rookie in 2010. Despite having a pretty good rookie campaign, Bradford struggled in this game.
• Chris Chambers had 42 yards receiving and appeared to be back in Todd Haley’s good graces. He had mostly perused the sidelines in 2010.
• Steven Jackson had 67 yards and the lone Rams touchdown.
• Danny Amendola was electric in this game with 60 yards receiving and some impressive returns on special teams.
• Chris Long, the second overall pick in 2008, was everywhere on the field for St. Louis in this one, with a sack and three hits on Cassel.
• Wallace Gilberry had all three sacks on Bradford.

The Kansas City Chiefs moved to 9-5 after this game while the Rams were 6-8. As noted above, they’d end the year at 7-9 and somehow nearly won their division and made it to the playoffs.

This was the second to last time the Chiefs would face the Rams while they were in St. Louis and was the final time they played them in St. Louis during the regular season. If only we knew how monumental this game would be.

Matt Cassel wasn’t great in his return, but having him out there running things instead of Brodie Croyle was the difference maker. Never was there a time where Chiefs fans missed Cassel as much as they did the week before against San Diego.

With two games remaining, the Kansas City Chiefs still had a division title to win and it wouldn’t be a cake walk. Could they pull off their first AFC West title since 2003?

Next up: Week 16 vs Titans (6-8)