San Diego cashes in on Chiefs' mistakes
BY DAVE SKRETTA Associated Press
Monday, October 01, 2012
10/01/12 at 4:56 AM
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - There's been a sign outside the locker room in the Kansas City Chiefs' practice facility the past couple weeks offering a three-word dictum: "Eliminate Bad Football."
Romeo Crennel couldn't find better words to describe the Chiefs' performance Sunday.
"It was bad football," he conceded, minutes after watching Kansas City commit six turnovers and get blown out again at home, this time 37-20 by the San Diego Chargers.
"You could see it was bad football," Crennel continued, "but we have a game to be played next week, and we have to stay together and not point fingers."
There aren't enough fingers to go around.
Matt Cassel threw for 251 yards and two touchdowns, but he was intercepted three times in the first half, when San Diego built a 27-6 lead.
Jamaal Charles lost two fumbles to overshadow his touchdowns rushing and receiving. Shaun Draughn had a fumble, Eric Winston struggled all day at right tackle and Eric Berry couldn't keep up with Chargers tight end Antonio Gates.
Just about the only bright spot for Kansas City (1-3) was wide receiver Dwayne Bowe, who had seven catches for 108 yards and a touchdown that came far too late to matter.
"We've got to solve it and we've got to solve it quick," said Cassel, who was booed lustily all afternoon. "We talk about it, but we obviously have to go out there and do a better job."
Philip Rivers threw for 209 yards and two touchdowns for the AFC West-leading Chargers (3-1), who bounced back nicely from a 27-3 loss to the Atlanta Falcons last weekend and improved to 8-2 in their past 10 games against Kansas City.
Jackie Battle had a pair of scores against his former team, and Eddie Royal also caught a touchdown pass, helping the Chargers forget all about their debacle last season in Kansas City.
The teams were tied in the closing seconds when Rivers fumbled a snap, preventing San Diego from attempting the winning field goal. The game went to overtime and Kansas City prevailed.
"We made a big step today in terms of understanding when we have adversity, we have to handle it individually and collectively," Chargers coach Norv Turner said.
It's a lesson the Chiefs are still trying to learn.
