“Air Huard” takes off in Kansas City

By Clayton Wendler  |   Tuesday, October 03, 2006  |  Comments( 1 )

Kansas City Chiefs
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It had been a long time since Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Damon Huard had thrown for over 200 yards in an NFL game.

Specifically, 2,521 days.

But what happened on Sunday had never happened before.

Huard posted a career-high quarterback rating of 133.3 in Kansas City's 41-0 blowout win over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.

Curiously enough, the last time Huard threw for over 200 yards, his defense pitched another shutout. That came back in 1999 when a Huard-led Miami Dolphins team blanked the Tennessee Titans, 17-0.

But on Sunday, things were a little different. San Francisco's defense shut down Chiefs running back Larry Johnson in the first half, holding him to just 24 yards rushing on 14 carries.

That meant the onus was on Huard to move Kansas City's offense down the field.

Huard stepped up and responded to the pressure immediately. He directed a crisp opening drive for a touchdown, completing all five of his passes for 60 yards and capping the march with a 13-yard lob to Dante Hall for the score.

On KC's second touchdown drive, Huard hit three passes for just 21 yards, but got the Chiefs into the end zone anyway. Kansas City picked up 33 yards in penalties on an unnecessary roughness call and pass interference five plays later.

With the Chiefs leading 17-0 just before halftime, "Air Huard" was anything but grounded. Following an interception by San Francisco quarterback Alex Smith, the Chiefs took over 34 yards away from the end zone.

It took them just one play to reach it. Huard faked a handoff to Johnson and fired a gorgeous 34-yard touchdown strike to wide receiver Eddie Kennison, who caught the pass without breaking stride. It was a perfect throw.

Huard finished the first half 13 out of 15 passing for 152 yards and two touchdowns. With a 24-0 lead, Huard cooled his jets for the rest of the game and Kansas City was content to turn the game over to its running attack and defense, but the message was loud and clear: The Chiefs will attack down the field, even without starting quarterback Trent Green.

That was a major question mark after Huard's first start. Kansas City's offense looked almost scared to throw the ball longer than five yards against the Denver Broncos in Week 2. But that timid approach was apparently scrapped during the bye week.

That's good news for a team that will probably be without Green for at least two more weeks. The Chiefs can't afford to let teams shut down Johnson by stacking the box as the 49ers did on Sunday.

But if any future opponents try, they might just find themselves falling victim to another aerial assault from "Air Huard," the newest weapon in Kansas City.

Comments? Suggestions? Criticism? Contact C.E. Wendler at cwendler@realfootball365.com

Have an idea for making the site more enjoyable to our readers? Please send it to us at feedback@realfootball365.com. Get original Kansas City Chiefs analysis at RealFootball365.com
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