CHICAGO | They’ll hold off for now on making their reservations for Tampa and Super Bowl XLIII.
The Chiefs will face more difficult trials than the one they successfully met in their preseason opener, a 24-20 win over the quarterback-challenged Chicago Bears.
But for a team trying to fit together its many new pieces, the Chiefs had more than a few things to be encouraged about. One of the most significant was that they found a way to win after wasting a 14-3 halftime lead.
The Chiefs finished last season with a nine-game losing streak.
“The best thing that happened to us tonight was that we won the game,” coach Herm Edwards said. “We needed to win a game. We really did. It was really important for us to get that taste out of our mouth.
“We’re not where we’d like to be at this point, but that’s what the preseason is about.”
The Chiefs used many of their starters in the first half to earn their lead. The Bears rallied against the Kansas City reserves, taking a 20-17 lead with 3:19 left.
Backup quarterback Tyler Thigpen led the Chiefs on the game-winning drive. His 27-yard touchdown pass to Bobby Sippio with 1:08 remaining gave the Chiefs their winning points.
The Chiefs’ first offensive possession was a drive Edwards could love. It not only ended with a 5-yard Larry Johnson touchdown run, but it lasted for 16 plays, covered 81 yards and consumed almost 9 minutes.
The Chiefs converted all five of their third-down plays on the drive. Perhaps even more important, they had to overcome some mistakes.
Left tackle Herb Taylor was penalized for holding. Wide receiver Will Franklin slipped while turning for the ball, causing the Chiefs to lose what would have been a big gain.
Either one of those plays almost certainly would have killed the drive last year.
“It couldn’t have gone much better for us,” said quarterback Brodie Croyle, who played one more series and then retired for the night. “I think we converted five third downs. We got our running game going and hit some timely passes. That was what we wanted.
“We feel good about what the first group did. It’s something to build on. We can still correct a lot of things that we didn’t do right. Are we where we want to be? No. But we’re a lot farther along than we were last year.”
The Chiefs looked more familiar on their next three possessions, going three plays and out. Right tackle Damion McIntosh was penalized for holding on the last series quarterbacked by Croyle, and the Bears graciously declined two other fouls.
Damon Huard replaced Croyle and immediately guided two more failed drives.
Huard then took the Chiefs on their second touchdown drive in the final seconds of the first half.
He passed 25 yards to Maurice Price and 24 yards to Jeff Webb to get the Chiefs inside the Bears’ 10.
Huard and Price came close to connecting on an 8-yard touchdown, but Price couldn’t get his second foot down in-bounds after catching the fade pass. Huard went back to Price on the next play, and this time, the Chiefs got the score when Price ran over defenders to get into the end zone.
That gave the Chiefs their halftime lead.
“It took us almost three games to score 14 points last year,” Edwards said.
The Bears managed only Robbie Gould’s 42-yard field goal in the first half. The Chiefs got some help from the Bears, most notably when Chicago quarterback Kyle Orton dropped the ball without being touched on third down from the Chiefs’ 15 immediately before the field goal.
Thigpen helped the Bears get back in the game by forcing a third-quarter pass into coverage. Linebacker Rod Wilson intercepted, leading to a Chicago touchdown.
The Bears scored again, taking a 17-14 lead. After the teams traded field goals, Thigpen led the winning drive.
The Bears moved as far as the Chiefs’ 35 in the final minute, but a pass into the end zone on the final play was broken up.
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