Chiefs vs. Texans: Kansas City Chiefs Play Strong, But Collapse in Fourth

A Tale of Two Cities opens with "It was the best of times. It was the worst of times."

Kansas City's game against Houston could easily be described the same way.

On the surface, the Chiefs were firing on all pistons.  Matt Cassel threw three touchdowns, completed more than two thirds of his passes, and was only sacked once on the day.

In the rushing game, the Chiefs combined for 230 yards and a score, with Thomas Jones reaching 100 yards and Jamaal Charles just a mere seven yards shy of doing the same.

What's more, the defense held an explosive Houston offense to only 14 points in three quarters.  Matt Schaub had a mere 150 yards passing, while the run game struggled to reach 100 yards total.

Unfortunately, games are 60 minutes long, not 45.

Despite being down by 10 points, the Houston Texans assaulted the Chiefs on all ends.  Arian Foster looked virtually unstoppable, particularly inside the 10 as he broke through the Chiefs' defensive line twice for touchdowns. Schaub, meanwhile, scorched Kansas City for an additional 155 yards passing.  Working the field with Owen Daniels and Andre Johnson, the Texans came up big on play after play.

On defense, Houston may have only sacked Cassel once, but it was the one that mattered most, hitting Cassel on the last play of the game despite only rushing with three defenders.

And regardless of the phantom pass interference call against Brandon Flowers, Kansas City let Houston walk all over them in the fourth quarter.

Kansas City showed they have plenty of talent on both sides of the ball, but if they can't finish games, it won't matter how soft their schedule is.

And Cassel may have posted great numbers, but his final series was a pitiful performance.  Cassel underthrew Dwayne Bowe on a crossing route, overthrew Jeremy Horne on the next, and capped off the game with a weak scramble-and-sack.

If he can't start performing when the game's on the line, it won't matter how many yards he passes for.