KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Having played with Taco Charlton in college, Frank Clark had seen plays like that before.
"I've been knowing this dude for 10 years plus," said Clark about his teammate with the Chiefs and at Michigan.
But for many Chiefs fans, that was the first time they had seen Charlton make a big play on the field.
It came on a 3rd down play for the Patriots with under four minutes left to go in the third quarter of Monday night's New England/Kansas City. The Patriots were at the 10-yard-line threatening to take the lead and with a short, game-tying field goal if they didn't convert.
Instead, Charlton rushed around left end, sacked Hoyer and stripped the ball out in the process.
"It reminded me of days back when we were younger, when I used to coach him up and tell him different things," said Clark. "And then just to see him, 6-7 years later doing what he does and stripping the ball and making big plays to help us win."
The Chiefs recovered the fumble and scored a touchdown themselves on the next drive.
"It's huge," said safety Tyrann Mathieu. "Those plays are the plays that get coaches fired up. Those are the plays that get the defense going. We've got a lot of guys like that."
Charlton joined the Chiefs after coming over from the Dolphins in the offseason.
