Cleveland Browns vs Kansas City Chiefs Box Score on Dec 27, 2015

The Sports Xchange
Dec 27, 2015

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City Chiefs won their ninth consecutive game, beating the Cleveland Browns 17-13 Sunday afternoon at Arrowhead Stadium.

The victory along with Pittsburgh's 20-17 loss to Baltimore assured the Chiefs of a spot in the AFC playoffs, the Chiefs second postseason berth in three seasons with Andy Reid in charge.

The Chiefs' nine-game winning streak tied the club record that was established in the 1969 season by a K.C. team that went on to win Super Bowl IV. It also left them still lurking just behind Denver on top of the AFC West standings, with the Broncos hosting Cincinnati on Monday night.

Despite the big difference in the records the teams carried into the game -- Kansas City is now 10-5, Cleveland is 3-12 -- the game was one of the toughest the Chiefs played during their current streak. They held a two-touchdown lead at halftime, but struggled to apply a knockout punch.

Cleveland quarterback Johnny Manziel kept the Browns in the game, largely with his legs. Manziel escaped pass-rush pressure several times, and he directed the offense to a touchdown and a field goal.

But with two opportunities late in the fourth quarter, Cleveland was unable to score. On the first, the Browns bypassed a field-goal opportunity to go for a first down on a fourth-and-8 situation at the K.C. 30-yard line. Manziel's pass was incomplete.

The Browns last chance came with 1:52 left as the Cleveland offense moved to the Chiefs 18-yard line. But Manziel did not have any timeouts left and could not stop the game clock.

Manziel ran for 108 yards on 11 carries, but threw for just 136 yards and tossed an interception in the first half.

The Chiefs owned the ball first, and used almost half of the opening quarter as quarterback Alex Smith led the offense on an 11-play, 65-yard drive that finished with an 11-yard pass to wide receiver Jeremy Maclin. The PAT kick was good from Cairo Santos for a 7-0 Kansas City lead.

On the next possession for K.C., it went nine plays and 39 yards to set up a 40-yard field goal from Santos and a 10-0 edge.

The Browns got on the board midway through the second quarter, on a 45-yard field goal from Travis Coons. Smith threw his second touchdown pass with 32 seconds to play in the first half, hitting tight end Travis Kelce on a 13-yard scoring play. Cleveland had a chance for a 49-yard field goal on the final play of the first half, but Chiefs safety Daniel Sorensen blocked the attempt and the Chiefs carried a 17-3 lead to the halftime locker room.

But the Browns came roaring out of the intermission, as Manziel directed the offense on a nine-play, 82-yard drive that started with his own bootleg run that gained 34 yards. Cleveland completely fooled the Kansas City defense on the play with misdirection right, while Manziel went left. The touchdown came on a 10-yard run by running back Isaiah Crowell, and the Chiefs' lead was cut to 17-10.

Cleveland also had the next score, as Manziel led the offense 62 yards on 21 plays, reaching the Kansas City 8-yard line. But the Chiefs defense kept the Browns out of the end zone and Coons made a 36-yard field goal and Cleveland trailed 17-13.

NOTES: LBs Justin Houston (knee) and Tamba Hali (thumb) were not available for Sunday's game, leaving the Chiefs without 142 career sacks. Replacements Frank Zombo and Dee Ford entered the game with a combined 13.5 sacks. ... Cleveland lost kick returner Raheem Mostert (ankle) and WR Marlon Moore (concussion) in the first half. Neither player returned to the field. ... WR Jeremy Maclin became only the fourth receiver in Andy Reid's 17-year head coaching career with the Eagles and Chiefs to top 1,000 yards. Maclin surpassed that standard with an 11-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter and joins Terrell Owens (2004), Kevin Curtis (2007) and DeSean Jackson (2009-10) with more than 1,000 yards. ... The national anthem was sung by Crosby Reid Naylor, the youngest daughter of head coach Andy Reid.