[ Sports Front ]

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Sep 16, 2002 by Capital-Journal

KANSAS CITY, Mo. --- It was all there. Outstanding personal achievement, high drama and hilarity. All in one play.

Tony Gonzalez, the Kansas City Chiefs' $31.5 million hybrid tight end, did just what they're paying him to do. He ran to the corner of the end zone, outleapt two Jacksonville Jaguars and hauled in the touchdown pass.

Initially, Gonzalez was ruled out of bounds by field judge Boris Cheek. A chorus of boos and a video review later, referee Tom White turned on his microphone and, in a blow-by-blow description that sparked laughter throughout the stadium, reversed his crewmate's ruling.

Touchdown Kan-za City. Touchdown Tony Gonzalez.

Only it didn't matter.

The Chiefs had played so poorly for so long, the game already was over. The Chiefs were so boring that, once they fell behind by a touchdown, half of the crowd made for the exits.

Gonzalez, the world's best tight end, wound up catching three passes. Prorated, that touchdown cost $92,000 and change.

"I'm sure their tight end was open a few times and they didn't spot him, too," coach Dick Vermeil said.

Yeah, Dick, but the Jags didn't give their tight end the biggest signing bonus in the history of the franchise.

And the Jags didn't lose.

The Chiefs lost Sunday, 23-16, and they lost dull. They played 53 minutes to get to a 9-all tie, then they gave up back-to-back touchdown plays of 79 and 63 yards, and that was all she wrote.

It's the Chiefs' money. They're paying Gonzalez, so I guess they can do what they want with him. If they want to use him as a decoy and a blocker on reverses, that's their prerogative.

If they're doing that, at least they're doing something.

Vermeil said they got away from their game plan, which actually stands to reason.

At first it looked like the team that opened with a 40-39 win at Cleveland had come home to Arrowhead. Ten of KC's first 20 plays were double-digit gains. They ran end-arounds and shovel passes and dive plays.

They wound up with two field goals, but so what?

"The way we were moving the ball," quarterback Trent Green said, "we thought we would have plenty of opportunities."

Before long, those drives were collector's items. By the end of the day, Green had completed all of six passes to Chiefs wide receivers, which was only four more than he completed to Jaguar defenders. By the second half, the ground game had ground to a halt as well.

The defense ... well, it played well for a while, but not a long enough. Those two big fourth-quarter plays meant that, for the second time in two weeks, Kansas City had allowed more than 300 passing yards and that, this time, it had allowed a 100-yard rusher to boot.

Is it too early to write off the Chiefs? Probably. Funny things happen in the NFL.

But if you give up on them now you'll beat the Halloween rush. Jacksonville was beatable on Sunday. New England isn't, and it's the defending Super Bowl champion Patriots that the Chiefs must visit this coming Sunday. Then there's Miami and trips to the New York Jets and San Diego Chargers.

By their third home game, the Chiefs could be 1-5.

Funny things happen in the NFL. The Chiefs could very well show up in late October and beat divisional rivals Denver and Oakland. But by then, like Tony Gonzalez's high-priced touchdown on Sunday, the point may be moot.

Kurt Caywood can be reached at (785) 295-1288 or kcaywood@cjonline.com.