In the wake of tragic events that occurred early Saturday morning involving Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Javon Belcher, the Chiefs were able to pull out an emotional victory over the Carolina Panthers 27-21 Sunday afternoon at Arrowhead stadium. The victory gave the Chiefs only their second win of the season, but the game meant much more than a W.
Before the game, there were rumblings the contest between the Chiefs and Panthers could possibly be postponed. But Chiefs head coach Romeo Crennel felt that football was the right remedy to heal his emotional squad.
“As far as playing the game, I felt that was the best thing for us to do because that’s what we do – we are football players, we are football coaches and we play and coach on Sunday,” Crennel said. ” That’s why I wanted to play the game. After talking with the captains, they also felt like it was best that we played, if for no other reason, it takes our mind off our misery for a few hours.”
Quarterback Brady Quinn, making his second start of the season, threw for 200 yards completing 19 of 23 passes. The Chiefs scored on their opening drive when Quinn connected with John Baldwin on a 34-yard pass play that set up a touchdown run from Peyton Hillis, putting the Chiefs up 7-0. The Chiefs played one of their best games of the season, and Quinn believed the win redefined the team.
“I think in moments, in tragedies like this, they can either define you or redefine you and I think this team was able to take an event and allow it to redefine us as a team,” Quinn said after the game. “We were battling through a lot of emotion, we were battling through a lot of difficulties on the field, you know there were a lot of injuries too and guys stepped up and played a heck of a game.”
The Panthers took the lead in the second quarter when Cam Newton hooked up with veteran wide receiver Steve Smith on 23-yard touchdown pass to notch the score 14-10. After the game, Newton reflected on playing in circumstances no one could have imagined.
“Obviously, I’m aware of what happened,” Newton said. “No one could have told anyone that this was going to happen, but playing in the league, you have to be able to adapt to different circumstances and this was as hard as it gets.”
The Chiefs regained the lead as time expired in the second quarter when Brady Quinn found Tony Moeaki in the back of the end zone on fourth and goal, taking a 17-10 lead into halftime. The Chiefs attempted and converted three fourth downs in the contest which ties for third in team history for most fourth-down conversions in a single game.
Romeo Crennel said after the game he appreciated the crowd’s involvement, but said it wasn’t the driving force behind going for it on fourth down.
“It didn’t influence me to go for it,” Crennel stated. “I appreciated the involvement of the crowd, and I think our players knew that the crowd was supporting them and was behind them and wanted them to do well.”
Tony Moeaki pulled in a 25-yard pass from Brady Quinn late in the third quarter which led to an eventual score by Jon Baldwin to extend the Chiefs lead to 24-14. Moeaki said the team was able to focus on the task at hand given the situation.
“It’s tough to get over what happened,” Moeaki said in a post game interview. “It’s tough not to think about it. For most of the game, we were able to focus on the task at hand. It was nice to not have that hanging over our heads.”
Cam Newton connected on a touchdown pass to Lewis Murphy in the fourth quarter to bring the Panthers within one score. Linebacker Justin Houston record a sack and three tackles in the game, and emphasized needing big stops to finish.
“We knew we needed to make some big plays to get off the field”, Houston said. “Our offense did great today. They were moving the ball. The defense got off to a slow start. But, we knew we need to make some stops to win the game.”
Running back Jamaal Charles ran for 127 yards on 27 carries and setup a field goal to put the Chiefs up 27-21. closing out a victory that was more than just a football game.
“It was a great feeling today; you saw players with focus, with passion and players that would not take no for an answer,” wide receiver Dexter McCluster said. “I’m really proud of everybody, from the bottom to the top, everybody gave it everything that they had. It was a great team win.”
