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 Newman Lowrance/Getty Images. Chiefs Edge Rams
Thursday, August 28, 2008 Text Size Text Size NFL.com - Gamecenter - Box Score - Play by Play - Drive Chart Rams - 3 7 0 7 -
17 By Nick Wagoner Senior Writer
But even when the lightning and thunder stopped, those players still were in a delay. By the time many began to play, it was too late as the Rams dropped a 21-17 decision to the Chiefs in the annual Governor’s Cup game.
The Rams finish the preseason at 2-2 and the Chiefs improved to the same mark to wrap up their exhibition season. Of course, the Rams
backups found themselves in a difficult situation against
The Rams made no pretenses about getting their starters on the field as they sat out all 22 starters with the exception of center Nick Leckey. Even a good portion of the backups sat out the game as Linehan gave the guys deep on his roster a good, long look. The Chiefs, who hadn’t played well at all with their opening group in any of the preseason contests, started all but three of their regulars.
Despite the stagnant start, the Rams ended up outplaying and outgaining (305-205) the Chiefs.
"We would have liked to have started faster," coach Scott Linehan said. "What I was happy with was we settled down and stopped them and really from the second half of the second quarter I think we played much better. I liked how our team played from then on."
That made for an early mismatch and the Chiefs spent most of the first half marching all over the Rams offensively.
After a fumble on the opening kickoff led to a 35-yard field goal from kicker Josh Brown for a 3-0 Rams lead, Kansas City waltzed easily up and down the field on ensuing possessions, mostly on the strength of its running game.
“I love the way we started getting the turnover,” coach Scott Linehan said. “They just got us on spot runs and got us a little bit out of rhythm.”
Running back Kolby Smith carried six times for 38 yards with two touchdowns in the first quarter as the Chiefs jumped to a 14-3 lead at the end of the first.
It was more of the same early in the second quarter as Damon Huard hit receiver Bobby Sippio for an 11-yard touchdown. That score made it 21-3 and seemingly woke the Rams up on both sides of the ball.
The Chiefs mustered just one first down on their next two possessions as defensive end Eric Moore disrupted things in the back field and contributed to a couple of negative runs.
Meanwhile, Brock
Taking over with
“I love finishing strong like that,” Linehan said. “With the drive and the score. I think we have had our last three (games) where we have done that as an offense. That is the way you (should) play the whole game.”
Berlin's preseason success seemingly has him poised to nail down the third quarterback job ahead of Bruce Gradkowski when final cuts are made. Linehan no decision has been made but acknowledged that Berlin certainly didn't hurt his cause.
"It felt good to get in there and score," Berlin said. "I think we started to get into a rhythm a little bit. We kind of hit some plays here and there. It felt good to get in there and finally score and get something productive out of the first half."
The second half featured one player making one final statement for being a surprise on the roster. Running back Lance Ball and his hard charging running style will make for a tough decision when it comes to his fate with the team.
Ball had an impressive second half and scored his first NFL touchdown at the beginning of the with a 2-yard burst off left tackle to cut the lead to 21-17.
Ball finished with 70 yards on 13 carries to go with a trio catches for 27 yards. The
undrafted rookie free agent out of
"Every day I have something to prove going out there knowing I should have been drafted," Ball said. "You just have to roll with the punches, keep moving and keep learning."
Ultimately, even the likes of Ball and Berlin couldn’t do enough to secure the Cup though it remains to be seen what his performance did for their roster future.
"There's a lot more to look at tomorrow morning," Linehan said. "We've got some tough decisions to make. I think it will make it easier. Certain guys obviously are on this team and certain guys needed to have a strong outing tonight and I think some of them helped themselves tonight."
Now, the Rams turn their attention to Philadelphia and the regular season. Linehan says his team accomplished all it wanted in this preseason.
"I'm really pleased with the entire process and preseason," Linehan said. "I thought we got a lot done. We had a lot of goals set and we accomplished a whole bunch of them. I am just really happy with our progress as a team and we are all ready to get started with 2008 now."
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