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Dolphins edge Chiefs on controversial call
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Those few Kansas City fans who booed Trent Green in the first quarter Thursday were probably ready to beg him to come back in the fourth.
Green looked sharp in his first appearance in Arrowhead Stadium since insisting on a trade to Miami during the offseason. The Chiefs, on the other hand, mostly looked lifeless for the second straight week while trying to find a new quarterback and limp along without holdout running back Larry Johnson.
In the final minutes, Patrick Cobbs scored a touchdown and John Beck slipped into the end zone for the 2-point conversion that led the Dolphins to an 11-10 victory and made them 2-0 in the preseason for the first time since 1982.
So did it seem weird, Green was asked, playing for a Chiefs opponent in the stadium where he starred for six years?
"The whole thing,'' Green said. "From traveling into the stadium, to going off to pregame warmups, to the game, looking across the sideline and seeing a lot of guys I spent a lot of time with the last six years. It was definitely different.''
Green, whose 87.3 passer rating is the best in Chiefs history, played the first two series and was 4-for-7 for 41 yards. He led one drive that failed when Jared Allen stopped Jesse Chatman for a 1-yard loss on fourth-and-goal from the 3.
Beck, the third Miami quarterback to appear in the sloppily played game, hit Kerry Reed for 17 yards and Courtney Anderson for 25 in a seven-play, 73-yard scoring drive and appeared to be stopped short on his 2-point conversion. The Chiefs (0-2) challenged the call but it was upheld.
"It looked to me like his knee was down and we made contact before he broke the plane (of the goal line)," Chiefs head coach Herm Edwards said. "I don't know. I guess I'm blind."
Beck said his successful conversion could have gone either way.
"When you watch the replay, it was very close," he said, "but in the end, all that matters is the outcome."
The Chiefs have scored only one offensive touchdown in two games without Johnson, their All-Pro running back who is holding out demanding more money. Injuries to the offensive line aren't doing much good for a rushing game that netted only 61 yards.
"The problem is we weren't physical enough,'' said Brian Waters, the Pro Bowl left guard. "For whatever reason, we're not knocking guys off the ball. That's something we've got to do.''
The way the line is playing, Waters said, it wouldn't make much difference if Johnson were back or not.
"I don't care who you have back there. There's only two guys I've ever seen do it with a bad offensive line -- Barry Sanders and Jim Brown, and nobody in this league can compare to those two guys,'' Waters said. "Good running backs in this league have good offensive lines. We've got to do a better job no matter who's back there.''
Miami's retooled offensive line, a big worry all during training camp, opened hole after hole in the first quarter for Ronnie Brown, who had gains of 12 and 10 yards to get Green's long drive started. Brown finished with 57 yards on 13 carrries.
Green said he sees the offensive line growing.
"I do, and that's something we touched on during the week,'' he said. ''Practices were going better. We still have improvement to do, but from week No. 1 to week No. 2, it was a good step.''
The Dolphins' only score of the first half came with Cleo Lemon under center. He hit Chris Chambers for 12 yards on third-and-3 from the 46, and then Brown broke through a big hole in the middle of the line for 22 yards, with Ty Law pulling him down on the 16 to prevent the touchdown. After Brown was stopped for no gain on third down, Jay Feely kicked a 30-yard field goal on the second play of the second quarter.
Kansas City's rookie kicker, Justin Medlock, missed from 37 and 42 yards before finally connecting on his third try, a 34-yarder that put the Chiefs on top 10-3 with 8:18 to go.