vs.
Denver Broncos
Match scheduled:
Last updated: 03-01-2010 from 22:15 until 01:45
31-12-2009 on 20:17
Week 17 :: NFL Regular Season 2009/2010
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League (AFL). In 1963, the team relocated to Kansas City, Missouri and were renamed the Kansas City Chiefs. The team is legally and corporately registered as Kansas City Chiefs Football Club, Incorporated and according to Forbes is valued at just over USD $1 billion.[2]
From 1960 to 1969, the Chiefs were a successful franchise in the AFL, winning three league championships (1962, 1966, 1969) and having an all-time AFL record of 92–50–5.[3] The Chiefs were the second AFL team (after the New York Jets) to defeat an NFL franchise in an AFL–NFL World Championship Game when they defeated the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV. The team's victory on January 11, 1970 remains the club's last championship to date.
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) Western Division in the National Football League (NFL). The Broncos began play in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League and joined the NFL as part of the AFL-NFL Merger. They play at Invesco Field at Mile High.
After losing their first game, 34–10, to the Miami Dolphins on September 11, the Broncos won five straight games, defeating the San Diego Chargers, 20–17, the Kansas City Chiefs, 30–10, the Jacksonville Jaguars, 20–7, the Washington Redskins, 21–19, and the two-time defending champion New England Patriots, 28–20, on October 16. Denver lost the next game to the New York Giants on October 23 by a final score of 24–23. The following week, the Broncos beat the defending NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles, 49–21, on October 30. In that game, the Broncos became the first team in NFL history to have two players, Mike Anderson and Tatum Bell, rush for over 100 yards and another player, Jake Plummer, pass for over 300 yards in a single game. Denver then beat the Oakland Raiders on November 13, 31–17. The next game, the Broncos defeated the New York Jets in Denver on November 20, 27–0. It was the first time the Broncos had shut out a team at home since the Carolina Panthers on November 9, 1997. Denver then went on to beat the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving day, November 24, winning in overtime, 24–21, on a Jason Elam 24-yard game-winning field goal. One of the key plays prior to the field goal was a 55-yard run by Ron Dayne, who filled in for the injured Tatum Bell. Denver lost to the Chiefs in the next game, 31–27, on December 4, but won against the Baltimore Ravens the following week, 12–10. On December 17, the Broncos defeated the Buffalo Bills, 28–17. On Christmas Eve 2005, the Broncos clinched the AFC West division title, as they finished with a record 8–0 at Invesco Field by defeating the Oakland Raiders, 22–3. On December 31, 2005, the Broncos got season-win number 13 in a season-sweeping on the road against their division rivals, the Chargers, with a final score of 23–7.
The Broncos entered the playoffs for the third consecutive year with the momentum of a four-game winning streak. Denver finished the regular season with a record of 13–3, tying them with the Seattle Seahawks for second best overall record in the league, behind the 14–2 Indianapolis Colts. Denver was seeded number two in the AFC behind the Colts. On January 14, 2006, the Broncos defeated the two-time defending champion New England Patriots, 27–13, in the divisional round - ending the Patriots chance of becoming the first NFL team ever to win three consecutive Super Bowl championships. The last team with a chance of winning three consecutive Super Bowls before the Patriots were the Broncos themselves. The Broncos' playoff run came to an end after losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship, 34–17, on January 22, 2006. Denver turned the ball over four times and were outscored in the first half, 24–3. The Steelers went on to win Super Bowl XL.
[edit] 2006
In 2006, the Denver Broncos had high hopes among the league in being able to compete for the Super Bowl title. The Broncos defense started off the first five games of the season allowing only one touchdown, an NFL record, but struggled down the season stretch. Jake Plummer, the starting quarterback at the season's inception, led the team to a 7–2 record only to lose 2 straight and be replaced by rookie quarterback Jay Cutler, drafted in the first round out of Vanderbilt.
Cutler's first game as a starter was a home game against the Seattle Seahawks on December 3, 2006.[12] He threw for 143 yards, along with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions in a loss. Cutler would go on to lead Denver to two victories and three losses as a starter in the season. The most impressive win was in an away game over the Arizona Cardinals on December 17, 2006.[13] During the game, Cutler launched a 68-yard touchdown to Javon Walker on the third play from scrimmage.
The Broncos' season ended with an unexpected loss to the San Francisco 49ers, which eliminated the team from playoff contention. Cutler was knocked out of part of the game from a blow he took from a 49er defender, giving him a concussion. Hours after the season ending loss, on January 1, 2007, Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams was shot around 2:10 a.m. on West 11th Avenue and Speer Boulevard in downtown Denver and died at 2:30 a.m. He was in a Hummer H2 limousine. Former Broncos wide receiver Javon Walker was also in the limousine, but he was not injured. A mere 50 days after the fatal shooting, running back Damien Nash collapsed and died suddenly on February 24, 2007, following a charity basketball game in his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri.
[edit] 2007
The Broncos traded running back Tatum Bell and offensive tackle George Foster to the Detroit Lions for former Pro Bowl cornerback Dre' Bly to compensate for the unfortunate loss of Williams. In addition to the trade for Bly, the Broncos had made a trade to the Miami Dolphins for Dan Wilkinson, only to have that trade voided because Wilkinson did not show up to Denver for his scheduled physical.
Denver added running back Travis Henry, wide receiver Brandon Stokley, and tight end Daniel Graham through free agency. The team released linebacker Al Wilson during the month of April for health and salary cap reasons. Simeon Rice was also added to their roster with a one-year deal. The Broncos also resigned punter Todd Sauerbrun to help their special teams.
The first game of the season was on the road against the Buffalo Bills, which they won with a last second field goal kick by Jason Elam that put them up 15-14 as time expired.
In game two, the Oakland Raiders seemed to claim victory on a Sebastian Janikowski field goal in overtime, but a last second time-out called by coach Mike Shanahan negated that kick, and the subsequent kick hit the field-goal post. Jay Cutler then marched the Broncos down the field, and Jason Elam kicked the game winning field goal for the second week in a row.
In the seventh game of the season, the Broncos played and lost a Monday Night Football home game against the Green Bay Packers. There were 77,160 tickets distributed for the game, which is a franchise record.[14][15] 76,645 fans attended the game.
Suffering through several injuries to players such as Rod Smith, Tom Nalen, Ben Hamilton, Javon Walker, Jarvis Moss and Ebenezer Ekuban, the Broncos finished the season with a 7-9 record and missed the playoffs.
[edit] 2008: The Shanahan era ends
The Broncos won their first 3 games of the season against the Oakland Raiders, 41-14, San Diego Chargers, 39-38, and New Orleans Saints, 34-32, before losing to the Kansas City Chiefs, 33-19, in week 4. They went on to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 16-13, before losing to the Jacksonville Jaguars, 24-17, the New England Patriots, 41-7, and after their bye week the Miami Dolphins, 26-17. Week 10 and 11 brought the Broncos 2 wins against the Cleveland Browns, 34-30, and the Atlanta Falcons, 24-20. However they lost against the Oakland Raiders, 31-10, the following week. They beat the New York Jets, 34-17, and the Kansas City Chiefs, 24-17. Week 15 started the disappointing string of losses that ended the Broncos attempts at the 2008 playoffs. They lost to the Carolina Panthers, 30-10, and then to the Buffalo Bills, 30-23. By week 17 the Broncos were still leading the AFC West, with a 8-7 record, and had promises of beating the San Diego Chargers, who had a 7-8 record. However on December 28, 2008 the Broncos lost to the San Diego Chargers leaving both teams at 8-8. They would be the first team in NFL history to enter the final quarter of a regular season with a three-game lead and lose all three games. Based on the San Diego Chargers AFC West record of 5-1 to the Broncos 3-3, the San Diego Chargers clinched the AFC West.
On December 30, 2008 Shanahan was fired as head coach and on January 11, Josh McDaniels was hired as the new Broncos coach.[16]
Ending a turbulent transition period from Mike Shanahan to Josh McDaniels, on April 2, 2009, the team resorted to trading Pro Bowl QB Jay Cutler and a fifth round draft pick from the Broncos to the Chicago Bears for Kyle Orton, 2 first-round draft picks, and a third round pick.[17]
[edit] 2009
In the 2009 NFL Draft the Denver Broncos drafted running back Knowshon Moreno and linebacker/defensive end Robert Ayers in the first round. Weeks 1 through 6 of the 2009 regular season saw the Broncos jump out to a surprising 6-0 with a 3.5 game lead in the AFC West Division. Led by the new quarterback Kyle Orton, the Broncos won the season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals 12-7 with an 87 yard touchdown pass dubbed the "Immaculate Deflection" to Brandon Stokley with only 11 seconds left in the game. The Broncos then won their second and third games with convincing 27-6 and 23-3 wins against the lowly Cleveland Browns and Oakland Raiders, respectively. In Week 4, the Broncos faced their second real test against the Dallas Cowboys. They mounted a fourth quarter comeback to take the game 17-10, with a touchdown catch and run of 51 yards made by Brandon Marshall and a goal line stand against the Cowboys in the closing seconds. Through four weeks, the Broncos defense gave up a league-best 8.5 points per game. In Week 5, the New England Patriots came to Denver, giving Head Coach Josh McDaniels has first chance to get the better of his mentor, Patriots coach Bill Belichick. The Broncos won 20-17 in overtime on a 41 yard field goal kicked by Matt Prater. In Week 6, the Broncos defeated the San Diego Chargers 34-23 in San Diego on Monday Night Football, on the strength of Eddie Royal returning both a punt and a kickoff for a touchdown. Heading into their Week 7 bye, the Broncos were 6-0 and their closest division competition was San Diego at 2-3. All that began to change, however, when the Baltimore Ravens handed the Broncos their first loss of the season in Week 8, defeating them 30-7. In Week 9, the Broncos played at home against the defending champions, the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football. The Steelers took a 7-3 halftime lead that the Broncos ultimately were unable to overcome and they went on to win 28-10, dropping the once-undefeated Broncos to 6-2. Week 10 brought what the Broncos were hoping would serve as a game to end their losing streak: a visit to Landover, Maryland, to play the lowly Washington Redskins. With two long touchdown passes to a wide-open Brandon Marshall, Kyle Orton led the Broncos to a 17-14 halftime lead, but on the second-to-last offensive play of the half, Orton went down with a left ankle sprain and he did not play the rest of the game. Back-up quarterback Chris Simms played the second half for the Broncos and went 3-for-13 passing for only 13 yards. The Redskins capitalized on the lack of offense from the Broncos and went on to win 27-17. With the loss to the Redskins, the Broncos fell to 6-3 and saw their lead in the AFC West completely evaporate as the Chargers improved to 6-3 to tie Denver going into their second and final match-up of the season at Invesco Field in Week 11. In that game, the Chargers completely dominated as the ineffective Chris Simms and injured Kyle Orton could not get the Broncos in gear. The Chargers won 32-3 to move to 7-3 and drop the Broncos to 6-4. On Thanksgiving night, the Broncos faced the New York Giants and got back to their winning ways with a decisive 26-6 victory, in which the revived defense only allowed 38 yards of offense in the first half. In week 13, the Broncos completely controlled the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium, routing them 44-13. Notable was Denver's defense, causing the Chiefs' starting quarterback, Matt Cassel, to be benched in the third quarter. In Week 14, the Broncos fell to the Indianapolis Colts 28-16 at Lucas Oil Stadium, despite Brandon Marshall setting an NFL-record for receptions in that game with 21 catches. In Week 15, the Broncos were victimized by an Oakland Raiders 4th quarter rally led by previously demoted quarterback JaMarcus Russell, losing 20-19 in the game's final minute. In Week 16, the Broncos were once again victimized by a late score in the final minute, this time at Philadelphia. The Broncos had battled back from a 17-point second half deficit to tie the game, only to have Eagles kicker David Akers nail a late field goal in the game's final seconds for a 30-27 Eagles win.
In Week 17, the Broncos will host the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2009 regular season finale, as the team needs a win and help from other teams to make the playoffs.
Kansas City Chiefs
vs.
Denver Broncos
Match scheduled:
Last updated: 03-01-2010 from 22:15 until 01:45
31-12-2009 on 20:17
Week 17 :: NFL Regular Season 2009/2010
No comments:
Post a Comment