Moment #9 -- One of the Best
--Webster overpursues...the KC endzone!!
Say what you will about how bad KC was/is, they are always tough to beat at Arrowhead, especially when the first breaths of winter are sending shivers through the Chiefs faithful.
So its special, and memorable, to take a home win from them in Arrowhead Stadium, and nothing says that better than a DOOM sack and fumble recovery by Nate Webster. Webster taking it to the house is just icing on the cake.
It was only the first win there that the Broncos had managed to come by since 2002, and in winning by 16 points it ranks as the third largest margin of victory in what is a historically competitive matchup.
The play itself, that I am referring to, was part of a 9 second span of time that harvested a whopping 14 points for the Broncos -- more than they scored in 60 minutes vs the Chargers or the Lions. [Edit: That is approximately 1555 times more potency!--styg] It started with a nifty 20-yard score by selvin young and ended with Nate Webster overpursuing the KC endzone for 6 easy points.
The 2007 Broncos showed a respectable degree of tencacity in putting SD and DET behind them and going into a perennially tough place to play and flat out dominating the Chiefs. In some ways you had to feel sorry for the Chiefs. It was almost like we were taking our frustrations out on them.
Getting Wins in Arrowhead.
We ended up sweeping KC last year, and there probably isn't a deeply felt sense of pride by most Broncos fans at the thought of that.
I think this is more due to how poorly Denver played throughout the year, than a testament to our feelings on beating KC in KC. I stand by my assessment that it matters when you can sweep a divisional opponent, even a struggling one, and taking one in Arrowhead was one of the things the 2007 Broncos got right. Those are the kinds of wins that never let you down, no matter how you look at them. If we had made a better showing of 2007 in general, I think more fans would allow themselves to overlook KC's woes and appreciate the win against a rival even more. Maybe not an arch rival like the raiders, but a rival nonetheless, and until we started the series by handing them their butts last year, it has never failed to be a tough series to do any better than .500 in.
Having said that, the outlook for 2008 looks promising.
Once again we are avoiding the "Arrowhead in December" schedule, just like last year. One of the reasons it has been tough to win in Arrowhead is because of the strange invulnerability they seem to exhibit in december, and the fact that schedulemakers had seemed to take a moderate degree of enjoyment out of seeing to it that we were one of their December tests every year. But like last yar, this year will see us not only face them before December, but within the first quarter of the season. In fact, that first quarter looks like a very realistic chance to start out 3-0 in the division.
I fully expect us to sweep KC, in what is the most obvious and glaring case of a rebuilding year that I have ever seen in a franchise. Even last year they had every intention of being competitive, at least until DOOM pounded Huard into the turf on the very play I mention above, injuring him and forcing KC to acknowledge that they had a fullfledged QB controversy on their hands. This year simply won't be pretty for Chiefs fans. The ends of games with the Chiefs will feel like exhibition games, and Herm will be ready to shake hands with the other coach by the end of the 3rd quarter. So it looks like two division wins in the pocket.