KANSAS CITY CHIEFS (7-5)
BALTIMORE RAVENS (9-3)
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 10,
12:00 PM (CENTRAL)
ARROWHEAD STADIUM
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Game 13 (PDF)
TV: CBS Regional Coverage (KCTV-5 in Kansas City) – Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf.
NATIONAL RADIO: Sports USA Radio – Howard David, Doug Plank and Rich Herrera.
LOCAL RADIO: KCFX-FM (101.1) – Mitch Holthus, Len Dawson, Bob Gretz and Bill Grigsby.
THE MATCH-UP
The Chiefs host a squad from Baltimore for the first time since the Colts traveled to Kansas City in ‘80 as the Ravens make their inaugural visit to Arrowhead on Sunday. The Chiefs have won all three of their previous meetings with the Ravens and will seek to extend that winning streak against Baltimore in a contest full of postseason implications for both squads.
The Chiefs have won their last five contests at Arrowhead and own an impressive 12-2 (.857) mark at home since the start of the 2005 campaign. Only Indianapolis and Seattle boast better home records over that span with 13-1 marks. Kansas City has been victorious in five of its last seven games under Herm Edwards and is seeking to get back on the winning track after suffering a 31-28 OT loss at Cleveland (12/3). In total, three of the Chiefs five losses on the season have come by three points, with two of those setbacks coming on the road in overtime.
The Chiefs are currently part of a five-team logjam at 7-5 in the AFC standings with those five squads all competing for two Wild Card spots. Baltimore sits atop the AFC North standings with a 9-3 record and could come one step closer to clinching the division crown with a victory against the Chiefs. The Ravens had won five consecutive games before suffering a 13-7 loss on Thursday night at Cincinnati (11/30). The Ravens are jockeying for position in the race for homefield advantage in the AFC and are currently battling Indianapolis (10-2), San Diego (10-2) and New England (9-3) for that distinction.
Kansas City’s offense continues to churn behind RB Larry Johnson, who ranks second in the NFL in both rushing (1,312) and yards from scrimmage (1,687). TE Tony Gonzalez is coming off a two-TD performance at Cleveland (12/3), giving him 61 career TDs catches. He needs just two more TDs to bypass TE Shannon Sharpe (62) for the most TD receptions by a tight end in NFL history. Defensively, the Chiefs have allowed just 11.5 ppg in their last two home contests.
THE SERIES
Kansas City is 3-0 in regular season play against the Ravens, making Baltimore the only current NFL franchise that has never registered a victory against the Chiefs. All three of those previous meetings with the Ravens have taken place in Baltimore. Kansas City and New England are the only two franchises that the Ravens have faced three or more times in regular or postseason action and have never defeated. Baltimore is the only current NFL team that has yet to face the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.
Head coach Gunther Cunningham guided the Chiefs to their inaugural victory against the Ravens, leading Kansas City to a 35-8 win in a Thursday night contest at Baltimore (10/21/99). Kansas City picked off Ravens QB Stoney Case three times, returning two of those INTs for touchdowns. Meanwhile TE Tony Gonzalez added scoring receptions of 11 and 22 yards.
WR Dante Hall became the first player in NFL history to record a kickoff or punt return TD in three consecutive games as he returned a kickoff for a 97-yard TD with 5:27 left to play to give the Chiefs a 17-10 triumph at Baltimore (9/26/03), a contest that marked the 100th career victory of Dick Vermeil’s NFL coaching tenure.
After posting an uncharacteristic 0-3 record to start the 2004 campaign, the Chiefs got their initial win of that season with a 27-24 victory on Monday Night Football at Baltimore (10/4/04). RB Priest Holmes racked up 125 rushing yards and a pair of TDs against his former club, while the Kansas City defense sacked QB Kyle Boller 4.0 times and limited the Ravens to 207 yards of total offense.
