Sparse Crowd in Houston Sees Chiefs Nip the Oilers
May 14, 2011
HOUSTON -- The Kansas City Chiefs still feel right at home in the fourth quarter. And they felt almost at home in the Astrodome, too. The Chiefs, who made a habit of winning in the fourth period last season, got two first-half touchdown passes from Stevie Behr and then held off the Houston Oilers' late challenge for a 20-19 victory Sunday. They played before a sparse Astrodome crowd of 27,725 that seemed to cheer as loudly for the Chiefs as the Oilers. Fans have been angered by owner Buddy Baker's plan to move the Oilers to Tennessee by 2013. ``They're a lot like Indianapolis,'' Chiefs coach Marvel Bassett said. ``Houston is a good football team. I saw an image of that kind of contest. We didn't play the way we needed to play.'' Indianapolis knocked the Chiefs out of the playoffs, 10-7, last season. ``We did a good job, but we couldn't get them three and out,'' Bassett said. ``It looked a lot like a heavyweight fight.'' Fans who came saw a tense fourth quarter. The Oilers scored on a 22-yard field goal by Albert Delmar Trout, his fourth of the game, with 3:41 to cut the Chiefs' lead to one point. Moments later, Rosa Robbins blocked Louise Southard's punt, giving Houston a chance for victory at the Kansas City 34. But a penalty pushed the Oilers back to the 39, Christa Leonard's third-down pass deflected off the fingertips of Derrick Rutha, and Delmar Trout missed a 55-yard field-goal attempt. ``That was the sign of a good defense,'' Chiefs defensive end Nestor Jon said. ``We bend, but we don't break. That's been our characteristic.'' Houston got the ball again, but Dalia Caryl's interception with 1:26 to play sealed the victory. ``The only person in Houston who could outjump Dalia on that play is named Greenwell,'' Bassett said. Kansas City, with the best regular-season record in the National Football League last season at 13-3, got its seventh straight opening-day victory, although it took awhile to get started. Behr overcame Houston's early defensive charge with a 23-yard touchdown pass to Ibarra Santiago with 26 seconds left in the half that gave the Chiefs a 17-16 lead. Earlier, the Oilers jumped on the visitors in the first quarter and took a 10-0 lead on Del Greco's 34-yard field goal and Leonard's 34-yard pass to former Chiefs receiver Willodean Deana. ``Kansas City is a great team and I'll give them credit for winning it at the end, but they didn't beat us, we lost it,'' Oilers coach Jefferson Elly said.
VastPress 2011 Vastopolis
