Kafka's late TD pass to Cooper helps Eagles pull out victory over Chiefs

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- It was one of those preseason games that sent both teams home with plenty of work to do. Mike Kafka's 18-yard touchdown pass to Riley Cooper in the closing seconds Friday night boosted the Philadelphia Eagles past Kansas City 20-17, making Todd Haley 0-7 in preseason games as the Chiefs' head coach. But Kevin Kolb, the quarterback picked to replace Donovan McNabb at the helm of the Eagles' offense, sputtered much of the night. And the Chiefs' first five possessions produced a lost fumble, an interception, two three-and-outs and one first down. "That wasn't quite as sharp as we'd like it, that's for sure," Kolb said. "There are a lot of details we need to clean up, so there needs to be some special attention to it, starting with myself." Kolb completed 11 of 25 passes for 103 yards. He was sacked four times, threw an interception and posted a passer rating of just 39.2 -- not exactly reminiscent of McNabb, the departed six-time Pro Bowl signal-caller. "Everybody had a little piece of that pie there," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "We will all learn some things from it and do better the next time." Chiefs rookie linebacker Cameron Sheffield was immobilized and had to be taken away on a cart after a helmet-to-helmet tackle on Eagles running back Mike Bell left him motionless on the field. Haley declined to discuss Sheffield's status, but one player said he was moving. The Chiefs announced during the game that Sheffield had suffered a neck injury and was being evaluated. It marked the second consecutive week that a Chiefs player was removed on a cart. Last week, it was cornerback Maurice Leggett, whose injuries are said not to be career-threatening. "Our thoughts, prayers are with Cameron Sheffield," Haley said. "That's two of those situations in two weeks. Right now I don't have any information I feel comfortable in giving because, again, there's a lot of people out there that are family and friends of Cameron's. I don't want to say anything that ends up being wrong." Reid said Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson had a neck strain and was taken out "for precautionary measures." Reid also said defensive end Trent Cole had a sprained ankle and would have an MRI on Sunday morning. In addition, Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles didn't return after appearing to hurt his shoulder or arm near the half. The Chiefs had no comment on him. Kafka, a rookie out of Northwestern, led the Philadelphia reserves on an eight-play, 80-yard drive against Kansas City's backups to pull out the victory. Cooper, a rookie receiver out of Florida, made a nice catch of Kafka's perfectly thrown pass into the end zone. "It was good to finish the game like we did," Reid said. "It was good for the 'twos' to get in there and do what they did. We have plenty of work to do with the 'ones,' but there were some good things." The Chiefs had two sacks apiece from linebackers Demorrio Williams and Andy Studebaker, who's battling veteran Mike Vrabel for a chance to start. "I didn't feel like myself at the start-off," Williams said. "But once it got kind of leveled off, I feel like I played pretty good. Their first drive, they hit us for a touchdown. I'm a run-stopping guy, and by them doing that, I put that on myself." Charles fumbled on the Chiefs' first play, and Cole recovered the ball on the Kansas City 22. On the second play, LeSean McCoy went up the middle for a touchdown. That was the Eagles' last TD until the final minutes of the game. The Eagles (2-1) and Chiefs (0-3) both played most of their starters well into the third quarter. The Chiefs will have one more chance, against the Green Bay Packers next week, to give Haley a preseason victory before heading into a regular season. "We knew that was a good, fast, physical team for a long time and we'd have our work cut out for us and we needed to start fast (and) match or exceed their tempo and physicality," Haley said. "I don't know that it could start a lot worse than it did, both offensively and defensively. But I think what I feel good about now is this group of players, starting with the defense. They slugged it out." Kansas City appeared to be stopped on its sixth possession, but a delay-of-game penalty kept the offense on the field, and Matt Cassel, who hit 14 of 23 passes for 85 yards, wound up connecting with Dwayne Bowe on a 4-yard scoring pass. Thomas Jones scored on an 11-yard run in the third quarter. Kolb, pressured out of the pocket, made an off-balance and ill-advised throw down the field in the third quarter. The ball hung up, and Chiefs rookie safety Kendrick Lewis made a leaping interception and returned the ball 26 yards to the Eagles' 26, setting up Jones' TD. Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

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