On a day when the Kansas City Chiefs rushed for the 3rd - most yards in franchise history and the defense played well for 55 minutes of the game , the Chiefs lost to the Indianapolis Colts , 20 - 13 , and kept their grip on the #1 pick in the 2013 NFL Draft .
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day kansas city chiefs rush 3rd yard franchise history defense play 55 minute game chiefs lose indianapolis colts 20 13 keep grip #1 pick 2013 nfl draft
On a day when the Kansas City Chiefs rushed for the 3rd - most <m> yards </m> in franchise history and the defense played well for 55 minutes of the game , the Chiefs lost to the Indianapolis Colts , 20 - 13 , and kept their grip on the #1 pick in the 2013 NFL Draft .
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Chiefs lose 20 - 13 to Colts despite Charles ’ 226 yards rushing
December 23 , 2012
On a day when the Kansas City Chiefs rushed for the 3rd - most <m> yards </m> in franchise history and the defense played well for 55 minutes of the game , the Chiefs lost to the Indianapolis Colts , 20 - 13 , and kept their grip on the #1 pick in the 2013 NFL Draft .
By beating the Chiefs , Indianapolis ’ record rose to 9 - 5 and they locked up a playoff spot just one season after posting the worst record in the NFL in 2011 – a Chiefs - like 2 - 14 mark .
Meanwhile , the Chiefs lost their 13th game of the season and could tie the franchise mark of 14 losses next week in Denver against Peyton Manning and the Broncos .
The 2008 Chiefs ended the season with a 2 - 14 record .
On the only positive note for the game , the Chiefs had two players rush for over 100 yards apiece –something that hasn ’ t happened to the franchise since 1991 .
Jamaal Charles ( 226 yards ) and Peyton Hillis ( 101 yards ) led a powerful attack that , for any team other than the 2012 Chiefs , would have nearly guaranteed a victory .
KC ended the game with 352 net yards rushing .
The 1961 Dallas Texans rushed for 398 yards against Houston ( 10 / 1 / 61 ) and the ’ 66 squad gained 380 yards rushing against Denver ( 10 / 23 / 66 ) .
But this year ’ s team was undone again by three turnovers , a missed field goal , and untimely penalties that wiped out scoring drives .
Brady Quinn threw two interceptions , both of which had a devastating effect on the Chiefs .
The first occurred on Kansas City ’ s opening drive when Quinn threw behind receiver Dexter McCluster and Colts cornerback , Darius Butler , picked it off and returned it 32 yards for a touchdown , putting Indy up 7 - 0 .
Quinn ’ s second interception of the game came at a crucial point in the 4th quarter with the team trailing 13 - 10 and with the ball at the Indy 14 - yard line .
Quinn underthrew a pass in the end zone to receiver Jon Baldwin and was picked off by Vontae Davis for an Indianapolis touchback .
Yet another potential scoring opportunity blown for the Chiefs .
Quinn threw a third interception – and his second to Davis in consecutive series – but it was overturned when Davis was called for pass interference .
Any honest Chiefs fan would say that it was the most “ phantom ” interference penalty ever as Davis never appeared to touch KC receiver Jamar Newsome .
Kicker Ryan Succop showed his Jekyll / Hyde nature in the first quarter by nailing a 47 - yard field goal that looked good the moment he kicked it , but then missing a 43 - yarder that would have made the score 7 - 6 .
Towards the end of the first half , Charles made his only mistake of the day by fumbling at the Indianapolis 16 - yard line , snuffing out another scoring opportunity with the Chiefs behind 10 - 3 .
The Colts turned the fumble into another field goal and went into halftime leading KC , 13 - 3 .
As the second half opened , the Chiefs looked like they were going to go into self - destruct mode again when return man , Devon Wylie , inexplicably tried to return the second - half kickoff from deep in his own end zone and was swarmed under at the 14 - yard line by Indy .
The few Chiefs fans remaining in the stands undoubtedly thought about going home early and getting a head start on dinner .
( Personal note : Somebody on the special teams ’ coaching staff needs to put leg chains on Wylie , who apparently thinks he is former All - Pro return man , Dante Hall .
Wylie brings out EVERY kick and more often than not , doesn ’ t get the ball back to the 20 - yard line . )
But , showing why he is the best player on the team , Charles took a handoff around the left end and with some terrific downfield blocking by Baldwin , romped 86 yards for the Chiefs first touchdown in nine quarters of football – ironically since Charles ’ 80 - yard TD run on the opening play of the Cleveland game two weeks ago .
Colts – 13 , Chiefs – 10 and a new ballgame .
Both defenses tightened up in the second half , but the key play of the game came with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter and the score tied 13 - 13 .
The Chiefs faced a 4th - and - inches at the Indy 27 - yd line , but despite having Hillis and Charles in the backfield , coaches Romeo Crennel and offensive coordinator Brian Daboll decided to have Quinn try a quarterback sneak .
Quinn was stopped short and the Colts took the ball over on downs .
It was here that Chiefs fans could see what might have been had they had this awful season LAST YEAR when Colts QB Andrew Luck was the top prize of the draft .
Luck had struggled all day long under pressure from the Chiefs defense and the rookie looked very ordinary .
However , when it counted , he looked like Joe Montana .
Luck calmly led the Colts on a 13 - play drive that culminated in a laser - like TD throw to Reggie Wayne that put the Colts up 20 - 13 .
I say that Chiefs fans could only dream of having Luck because if there was ever an indictment of the Chiefs QB situation , it came on the next series of downs .
With four minutes left in the game , Wylie AGAIN brought the kick - off out of the end zone and was tackled at the 10 - yard line .
( Seriously … somebody cut him now . )
With 90 yards to go and two time outs ( plus the two - minute warning ) in their pocket the Chiefs put a big red ribbon on this turd of a season for fans by running the following “ game - winning ” plays :
1st - and - 10 – Quinn pass incomplete short right to Steve Maneri
2nd - and - 10 – Jamaal Charles up middle for 2 yards
3rd - and - 8 – ( Shotgun formation ) Peyton Hillis around right end for - 2 yards
4th - and - 10 – Dustin Colquitt punt
So on a day when at least nine NFL quarterbacks threw for 300 yards or more ( and three threw for 400+ ) , the Chiefs wouldn ’ t let their #1 quarterback attempt to win a game with his arm .
One could only assume it ’ s because the odds of Jamaal Charles ripping off another 90 - yard run was more likely than any of the stiffs playing QB for the Chiefs leading a game - winning drive .
Then , like the Grinch that really wanted to screw the fans' holidays , the defense couldn ’ t stop the Colts offense as Indy easily picked up a first down and ran out the clock .
Luckily for KC fans , the final indignities of the season will end next week when the free agent QB that infamously spurned the Chiefs , Peyton Manning , leads his 12 - 3 Broncos against KC in what may be Romeo Crennel and Scott Pioli ’ s last games with the Chiefs .
Manning and the Broncos have a legitimate shot at getting the #1 seed in the AFC for the playoffs , so they won't be resting anyone for the last game .
Well , at least not until Denver is up by four touchdowns , which may be halftime .