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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, October 18, 2009

NFL: Chiefs get 1st win of season, beat Redskins 14-6


JOSEPH WHITE
AP Sports Writer

LANDOVER, Md. — A dreary game between two dreary teams on a dreary day produced two simple truths: The Kansas City Chiefs won't go 0-16, and the Washington Redskins can't get in the end zone regardless of who is playing quarterback.

Ryan Succop's four field goals, including the go-ahead 46-yarder with 3:36 to play, plus a last-minute safety were all the Chiefs needed to beat the Redskins 14-6 Sunday. They earned rookie coach Todd Haley his first win and Jim Zorn another week of extreme questioning about the future of his job and the Washington franchise.

The Chiefs (1-5) had lost 28 of their last 30 and hadn't won since last November. The win avoided the first 0-6 start in team history.

The Chiefs followed the path paved by the Detroit Lions and Carolina Panthers, who also ended winless streaks against the Redskins (2-4) this year. Once again, Washington was booed off the field, the only life all afternoon coming when Zorn benched quarterback Jason Campbell at halftime and replaced him with Todd Collins.

Collins immediately led two drives for field goals, but that was the only scoring for the Redskins, who didn't get a touchdown at home for the second time this season.

Nobody was expecting a classic, and it sure wasn't one. The first half produced three points, four sacks and 12 first downs, the only score coming on Succop's field goal late in the second quarter on a drive aided by a roughing the passer penalty on defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth. Campbell was 9 for 16 for 89 yards in the half, including an interception on a downfield heave on the final play of the half.

With a big zero on the board, Zorn opted for Collins, who hadn't played since the first-round playoff loss at the end of the 2007 season. The move energized the crowd, with stadium-wide cheers greeting No. 15 as he ran onto the field.

Collins' first pass was a 42-yard completion deep over the middle to Santana Moss. A holding penalty on Mike Sellers essentially killed the drive, so the Redskins settled for Shaun Suisham's 40-yard field goal that tied the game at 3.

The first play of Washington's next drive had an even longer result from Clinton Portis, who had sat out the previous series with a sprained ankle. Portis found space off left tackle for a 78-yard scamper to Kansas City's 10-yard line. It was the longest run of Portis' career, and it led to Suisham's 28-yarder that gave the Redskins the lead.

But the Chiefs were also competing in this field goal duel. Cassel hit Dwayne Bowe for completions of 20 and 16 yards, setting up a 46-yarder from Succop to tie the game late in the third quarter.

A personal foul on Washington's Rock Cartwright during a Kansas City punt return gave the Chiefs good field position for the go-ahead score. Starting at Washington's 36, the Chiefs picked up one first down before Succop's third field goal.

The Redskins went nowhere after that. The Chiefs got one more field goal from Succop and the safety by Tamba Hali to finish off the win.