Bowe can cure Chiefs’ offensive woes

By Mike Ash  |   Wednesday, September 19, 2007  |  Comments( 9 )

Kansas City Chiefs
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Playing in Soldier Field against the Chicago Bears last Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs struggled to get on the scoreboard for the second straight week. With the three points they scored against the Houston Texans in Week 1 and the 10 they put up versus the Bears, the Chiefs have averaged a woeful 6.5 points a game in their first two contests of the 2007 season.

But despite the bad numbers, there were some positive signs coming out of the Chicago game. Against one of the NFL's best defenses, Kansas City's offense mounted a few sustained drives and finally scored its first touchdown of the season. In fact, the visiting Chiefs racked up more yards against the Bears as a road team than the San Diego Chargers could manage while playing at home versus Chicago in Week 1.

The biggest news coming out of the game for the Chiefs' offense - aside from the brief but impressive appearance turned in by backup QB Brodie Croyle - was the emergence of rookie receiver Dwayne Bowe.

Officially, Bowe had just two catches on the day for 22 yards and his first NFL touchdown. If not for an illegal shift penalty, though, Bowe would have had nearly 60 yards and another TD catch under his belt.

The penalized play came early in the fourth quarter, with Kansas City inching its way toward the red zone. Larry Johnson took a handoff from QB Damon Huard, then quickly tossed the ball back to him for a flea-flicker pass. Huard fired the ball deep, but the Bears' defense wasn't fooled by the trickery. Cornerback Nathan Vasher stayed step-for-step with Bowe as the rookie ran a route to the end zone, and safety Danieal Manning immediately came over to help.

It didn't matter.

In the midst of tight double coverage, Bowe simply out-jumped the defenders and pulled in the ball. Not only was it a visually impressive catch, it was clutch - a TD would have brought the Chiefs within three points of tying the game. And if not for the penalty that negated the score, Bowe's catch would have made every highlight reel in the country. Even with the penalty, it was still shown during ESPN's post-game coverage.

But the deep catch wasn't even the most impressive play Bowe made in the game. Under two minutes before halftime, Huard threw a sure TD pass to Tony Gonzalez, who only needs one more score to tie the NFL's all-time record for tight ends.

Bowe, who was running a stop route short of the end zone, saw the pass sailing in the air, broke for the ball - badly beating Vasher in the process - and robbed Gonzalez of the record with an amazing 360 catch.

Just two games into his pro career, it's clear that Bowe has all the tools to become a big-time receiver in the pros. A few more performances like he turned in on Sunday and teams will start having to pay extra attention to the talented rookie. That will serve to open things up for Gonzalez and Johnson, which will surely help the Kansas City offense score points with more frequency.

After Sunday's game, Bowe promised that the best was yet to come.

"Next week, were going home", he told the media, "and it will be the D. Bowe show."

And after the first two weeks of the season, any kind of offensive show would be must-see TV for Chiefs fans.
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