Andy Reid’s Kansas City Chiefs rely on defense for 6-0 start
The following are final updates on area athletes and coaches in the National Football League for the 2013 season.
REID’S CHIEFS
STILL PERFECT
Six weeks and six wins into the season, it’s now clear what the Kansas City Chiefs’ identity is under first-year coach Andy Reid, a former Glendale Community College football player.
Defense remained the Chiefs’ backbone in a 24-7 victory over the Oakland Raiders Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium, in front of a crowd determined and victorious in setting a Guinness World Record for loudest crowd at an outdoor stadium, with a 137.5 decibel sound level according to NFL.com.
“Every win is a big win. When you can win with a crowd like this, it makes it even better,” Reid said in his post-game press conference. “I know we were striving to beat the noise record, the decibel record and we got it up to 137.5. That’s pretty incredible and it was loud, I mean real loud, ground-shaking loud.”
Kansas City is now one of the final two unbeaten teams left in the NFL, the other being fellow AFC West Division team Denver Broncos.
Offensively, Kansas City produced 216 total yards and was led by Jamaal Charles’ 78 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries. On the other end of the ball, the Chiefs forced three interceptions.
It came with relentless pressure applied to Oakland quarterback Terrelle Pryor, as the Chiefs tied the second-best franchise mark for sacks in a game with 10, a standard they hadn’t hit since 1998. Linebacker Tamba Hali set his career-high for sacks in a game for the Chiefs with 3.5 for a total loss of 30.5 yards.
Reid also credited the crowd for assisting in the win, as the Raiders committed three false starts and were guilty of three delay-of-game penalties.
While the scoreboard suggests a lopsided victory, it was anything but.
With the game tied at 7 in the third quarter, Kansas City recorded its first interception with safety Quintin Demps coming up with a pick that set up a four-play touchdown drive capped by a two-yard Charles run 2:01 before the fourth quarter.
While late, the Raiders had plenty of time to tie game when they took over at their own 20-yard line with 4:29 left in the game. Oakland threw another interception into the hands of Marcus Cooper, which led to 33-yard field goal form Kansas City kicker Ryan Succop for a 17-7 lead with 2:09 remaining.
Husain Abdullah capped the scoring emphatically, picking off Pryor and returning it 44 yards for a touchdown with 1:35 to play. Fittingly, the game ended with Pryor being sacked by Chiefs defensive end Mike Catapano.
“All in all, (it was a) good team win. We don’t take any wins for granted, that’s not how we operate,” said Reid, whose team hosts the Houston Texans Sunday. “We are going to enjoy every one of these that we have a chance to enjoy. The guys will do that tonight. Then, we’ll get back and get ready to go against a good Houston team, coming up.”
BENGALS BRING HOME
OVERTIME VICTORY
It may have taken longer than expected, but the Cincinnati Bengals picked up an overtime victory, 27-24, on the road Sunday against the Buffalo Bills. It puts Cincinnati in sole possession of first place in the AFC North with a 4-2 record.
It saved the Bengals, who have former Glendale Community College player Hue Jackson as their running back coach, from a heartbreaking loss after Buffalo went on a 14-0 run in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 24 with 1:08 left in regulation.
After forcing a Bills punt in overtime, a 29-yard return from Cincinnati’s Brandon Tate set the Bengals 33 yards out from a score and near field-goal range. When kicker Mike Nugent got his chance he hit a 43-yarder to end the game in the Bengals’ favor after missing a 34-yard kick late in the third quarter that would have given his team a 27-10 lead.
Offensively, Cincinnati was led by quarterback Andy Daulton, who completed 26 of 40 passes and posted season-highs in yards (337), passing touchdowns (three) and one interception.
The Bengals ran for 165 yards on 41 carries for an average of four yards a rush. A pair of Jackson’s backs enjoyed quality games. Veteran BenJarvus Green-Ellis ran for 86 yards on 18 carries and rookie Giovani Bernard went off in the passing game with six catches for 72 yards and a score and adding 28 yards on 15 carries.
BRITTON GETS
FIRST START
Eben Britton picked up his first start with the Chicago Bears in a win over the New York Giants Thursday night.
While it marked the third game in a row the Burroughs High graduate had seen game action in Chicago, after sitting the first three contests, it was his first time in the starting lineup. The guard-tackle hybrid on the offensive line played 24 snaps in Chicago’s 27-21 home win over the winless Giants and saw all of them as a blocking tight end in short-yardage situations.
Listed at 6-foot-6 and 308 pounds, Britton signed with Chicago on April 16. He’d spent his first four seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars after being drafted in the second round of the 2009 draft. The oft-injured former Indian started 30 of 38 games — five of 11 in 2012.
Britton, 26, has seen playing time as an extra blocker since No. 1 tight end Martellus Bennett injured his shoulder.
“Part of it was we were trying to take a little bit of the load off of Martellus’ shoulder and move him outside-they have great pass rushers outside-and I thought Eben did a more than sufficient job in taking care of the outside lanes,” first-year Chicago Coach Marc Trestman told ChicagoBears.com of the move. “That’s part of the reason why we did it, and we added to the running game.”
With Britton on the line, Bears quarterback Jay Cutler wasn’t sacked against the Giants and completed 24 of 36 passes for 262 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Chicago also averaged 3.8 yards per rush (110 yards on 29 carries).
Chicago is tied for first in the NFC North with the Detroit Lions with a 4-2 record. It will travel to face the Washington Redskins Sunday.