Chiefs Stick to Their Signal-Caller

While the Vikings may be forced to changed their starting quarterback for Sunday’s game, the Chiefs are sticking with their struggling signal-caller.

The struggling Chiefs offense, limited to just 13 points and one touchdown in their first two losses, may be searching for answers, but changing their starting quarterback in Week Three won’t be one of them.

Damon Huard will remain the starter, coach Herm Edwards said, despite an impressive mop-up time performance against Chicago by backup Brodie Croyle.

Croyle, inserted late in the game when Huard went out with wooziness after a sack by Chicago’s Brian Urlacher, hit all four passes for 55 yards in marching the Chiefs from their own 19 to a first down at the Bears 26 in a 10-point game. The Chiefs’ chance to cut the deficit to one score disappeared when Michael Bennett fumbled on the 16 with 2:21 remaining.

Despite the best performance to date by the second-year Croyle, Edwards is staying with veteran Huard for Sunday’s home opener against Minnesota.

“He hasn’t done anything to lose his job,” Edwards said of Huard, who was 5-3 last year as the replacement for the injured Trent Green.

“The offense isn’t just one guy. I don’t put it all on his play, it’s on everybody.”

True. And right now the Chiefs aren’t meshing in any parts of the offense in averaging only 250 yards a game. Kansas City’s once vaunted running game is averaging only 71 yards a game — about what Larry Johnson used to get in a half a year ago.

NOTES

QB Damon Huard, who had an 11-to-1 TD-to-interception ratio in 2006, has seen his passer rating slip to 66.5 after throwing for only one TD against three interceptions in two losses.

QB Brodie Croyle, admitting he didn’t do enough in a lackluster preseason to win the starting job, cites hitting four straight passes and moving the Chiefs into scoring position late against Chicago as proof of his increasing comfort at the helm of an NFL offense. But Croyle is quick to note that his march from his own 19 to the Bears’ 26 (before a Michael Bennett fumble) was against a prevent defense protecting a 10-point Chicago lead.

RB Larry Johnson, who is averaging only 49 yards a game in Kansas City’s first two losses, expressed some minor displeasure with play selection in the Chiefs’ 20-10 loss at Chicago. Asked what he thought of the fourth-quarter play call on a third-and-1 play at the Bears 16 — a fade to the end zone that resulted in an interception — Johnson evenly said he couldn’t call the plays and run them too.

RB Michael Bennett didn’t help his playing status any by fumbling at the Bears 16 to kill a long KC drive with 2:21 remaining in a 10-point loss at Chicago. He got seven carries and three catches against Chicago, but produced only 34 total yards.

TE Tony Gonzalez thought he had a bead on a pass that might have let him tie Shannon Sharpe’s NFL record for TD receptions by a tight end (62). But Gonzo’s bid for the record was snatched away when rookie receiver Dwayne Bowe broke off his route and cut in front of Gonzalez to catch his first NFL TD pass.

WR Dwayne Bowe will start a second straight game against Minnesota as a replacement for injured vet Eddie Kennison. But even when Kennison returns from his hamstring injury in another couple weeks, Bowe may continue in a starting capacity, possibly as an X receiver. He plays the Z spot now.

WR Eddie Kennison, injured on the season’s first play from scrimmage in Houston, will miss a second consecutive game against Minnesota with a hamstring injury.

WR Jeff Webb had his biggest game as a second-year pro with a four-catch, 59-yard effort in the loss to Chicago. Webb’s big game was a deep 34-yard route from Brodie Croyle late in the game.