Chiefs at Buccaneers
The Kansas City Chiefs made headlines for all the wrong reasons a week ago, when quarterback Matt Cassel was cheered after he was KO'd and suffered a concussion in a 9-6 home loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Cassel has already been ruled out of Sunday's game, so Brady Quinn will make his first start in three years when the Chiefs visit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday in a matchup of one-win teams. Tampa Bay is coming off a much-needed bye week after absorbing three consecutive losses to NFC East foes by a combined 15 points. Among Kansas City's myriad issues has been a defense that surrendered an average of 34 points in its first four games before limiting the Ravens to only three field goals.
TV: 1 p.m. ET, CBS. LINE: Buccaneers -4, O/U 40
ABOUT THE CHIEFS (1-4): Mistakes have killed Kansas City, which has committed a league-worst 19 turnovers, including two interceptions and two lost fumbles by Cassel in last week's defeat. Quinn, a former first-round pick of the Cleveland Browns, completed all three of his attempts for 32 yards after replacing an injured Cassel in the fourth quarter, but he had an apparent go-ahead TD pass negated by a penalty. He had not thrown a pass since December 2009, when he was with the Browns. Expect the Chiefs to continue to lean heavily on running back Jamaal Charles, who leads the NFL with 551 yards rushing and had 140 yards on 30 carries against Baltimore.
ABOUT THE BUCCANEERS (1-3): Tampa Bay suffered a last-second loss to the Washington Redskins prior to the bye, wasting a second-half rally from a 21-3 deficit. Quarterback Josh Freeman threw for a season-high 299 yards against the Redskins but he has been interecepted four times in the last three games and ranks 29th in the league with an average of 197.3 yards per game. Wideout Vincent Jackson is coming off his second 100-yard game of the season and is averaging 19.0 yards per catch on only 16 receptions. Rookie running back Doug Martin had a strong NFL debut with 95 yards against Carolina but his production has decreased in each game since.
EXTRA POINTS
1. The Chiefs lead the league with 180.8 rushing yards per game, while Tampa Bay's defense ranks fourth against the run (73.8 yards).
2. Connor Barth booted three field goals against Washington - from 48, 50 and 57 yards - to extend his NFL-high and franchise-best streak to 25 in a row.
3. The teams have met only three times in the previous 13 seasons, with the Buccaneers winning all three. Kansas City's last win in the series came in September 1993.