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Kansas City Chiefs Rewatch: 2011 Week 13 vs Bears

By Leigh Oleszczak

CHICAGO, IL - DECEMBER 4: Brian Urlacher (54) of the Chicago Bears and teammate Chris Conte (47) knock a Hail Mary pass into the hands of Dexter McCluster (22) of the Kansas City Chiefs for a touchdown at the end of the first half at Soldier Field on December 4, 2011 in Chicago, Illinois. The Chiefs defeated the bears 10-3. (Photo by Brian D. Kersey/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL - DECEMBER 4: Brian Urlacher (54) of the Chicago Bears and teammate Chris Conte (47) knock a Hail Mary pass into the hands of Dexter McCluster (22) of the Kansas City Chiefs for a touchdown at the end of the first half at Soldier Field on December 4, 2011 in Chicago, Illinois. The Chiefs defeated the bears 10-3. (Photo by Brian D. Kersey/Getty Images) /
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The 2011 Kansas City Chiefs were in the midst of a downward spiral and would try to turn things around against the Bears.

After getting back to .500 in week eight of the 2011 season, the Kansas City Chiefs imploded quickly. They got to 4-3 after starting the season at 0-3 and then proceeded to lose the next four games.

Part of the problem with their implosion was that they lost starting quarterback Matt Cassel to injury and he ended up missing the rest of the season. This forced them into throwing Tyler Palko out there and um – Well, that experiment didn’t go well to say the least. The Chiefs clearly didn’t believe in Palko, as they claimed Kyle Orton off of waivers the week prior to this game.

Todd Haley was hanging onto his head coaching job by a thread, but a win against the Bears could probably save his job, at least for another week. So, what would happen in this one?

Kansas City Chiefs Rewatch: Week 11 vs Bears – December 4, 2011

It had been over a month since the Chiefs last had a win and they were hoping to get their first win since Hallowen against a Bears team who was sitting at 7-4. This game was also on the road and Bears fans are always loud, so this wouldn’t be an easy feat.

This game didn’t have much action to it at all, but what do you expect when the starting quarterbacks are Tyler Palko and Caleb Hanie? The end result was exactly what one would expect in a game with those two signal callers going toe to toe.

The first points came in the second quarter via a Robbie Gould field goal from 32 yards out. It seemed like that could be the winning score with the way the game was going, but Palko had the best play of his career when he connected with Dexter McCluster on a 38-yard pass at the end of the first half. It was 7-3 Chiefs.

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The only other points scored were by Ryan Succop in the third quarter to make it a 10-3 game, which would ultimately be the final score. This was a brutal game to watch, but the Palko to McCluster throw was impressive and is still a fun gem to watch to this day.

The Bears had been having a good season, but this was an ugly outing for them. Hanie was largely to blame, as he threw three picks and was sacked seven times (though the sacks weren’t all on him). The defense did everything they could to hold off KC’s struggling offense, but the lone touchdown scored on a Hail Mary ended up being the winning score.

With the win, the Chiefs moved to 5-7 while the Bears dropped to 7-5, but still had a good chance to make the playoffs. The Chiefs were fortunate that their division was bad, allowing them to hang around in the AFC West.

Key Stats

  • Tyler Palko – 17/30, 157 yards, TD
  • Kyle Orton – 0/1, Injured after the lone pass attempt
  • Dexter McCluster – 9 rushes, 61 yards; 4 receptions, 46 yards, TD
  • Justin Houston – 3 sacks
  • Caleb Hanie – 11/24, 133 yards, 3 INT
  • Marion Barber – 4 carries, 44 yards
  • Johnny Knox – 5 receptions, 53 yards

This wasn’t a fun game to rewatch even though the Chiefs won it. When only 13 points are scored, that’s not exactly a good win. The Chiefs defense played well, but the Bears offense shot themselves in the foot time and time again.

As bad as this game was, however, it’s still one most Chiefs fans remember because of how bad the quarterback play was in it. Tyler Palko is considered to be one of the worst quarterbacks to ever take snaps for the Kansas City Chiefs, but the Hail Mary at the end of the first quarter was a sight to behold for sure. McCluster also deserves heavy props for coming down with the ball despite being draped by defenders in the end zone.

This also very well could have been Justin Houston’s coming out party, as the third round rookie notched three sacks on Hanie in this game. He was on fire!

This will be the final game in the 2011 rewatch series where Todd Haley is the head coach because the week 14 loss to the Jets was all she wrote when it came to his time as the KC Chiefs’ head coach.

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