Kansas City, Mo. – With a
little help from instant replay, the AFC West race suddenly got a
lot tighter.
The Kansas City Chiefs received a favorable ruling when they
challenged the spot on a run that appeared to give Denver a first
down near midfield on a fourth-and-1 play with 2:01 left.
Then the Chiefs (8-4) ran the clock down to 3 seconds and
preserved a 31-27 victory that pulled them to within one game of
the Broncos (9-3), who had won four in a row.
Trent Green threw two touchdown passes and Larry Johnson rushed
for 140 yards and two more scores, but one of the biggest plays
was Mike Anderson’s plunge into the right side of the line on
fourth down.
Officials on the field gave him a first down a couple of yards
short of the 50. But coach Dick Vermeil threw the challenge flag
and the officials overturned the spot.
When Denver got the ball back with 3 seconds left, Jake Plummer
who threw two costly interceptions had time for one heave. It
fell incomplete.
Plummer, who went 229 passes without an interception until the
Dallas Cowboys got one last week, was picked off by Kawika
Mitchell on his first throw of the second half. He also threw an
interception to Patrick Surtain in the first half on
fourth-and-goal from the 4.
Following Mitchell’s interception, Lawrence Tynes kicked a
34-yard field to put Kansas City up 24-21, but Jason Elam tied the
game with a 22-yard field goal a few minutes later.
After Darrent Williams intercepted Green’s pass on the Chiefs’
next possession, Elam kicked a 40-yarder to put the Broncos on top
27-24.
Johnson, with his fifth straight 100-yard game, scored on a
4-yard run to make it 31-27 with 9:58 left.
Eddie Kennison caught four passes for 108 yards for the Chiefs,
who entered the game tied with Pittsburgh and San Diego for the
last wild-card spot.
Plummer went 18-of-29 for 276 yards and one TD.
Anderson scored on long and short touchdown plays in an
action-filled first half that ended in a 21-21 tie.
On the Broncos’ second play of the game, he took Plummer’s pass
in the flat and went 66 yards, putting a move on Greg Wesley in
the middle of the field that left the Chiefs’ safety face-down in
embarrassment.
After the Chiefs took a 14-7 lead, Anderson scored on a 1-yard
run following a review that nullified what game officials had
called a 9-yard TD run by Plummer. The ball was placed on the 1
and Anderson scored two plays later.
Dante Hall got behind Denver cornerback Champ Bailey in the first
half, and Green hit him with a 41-yard TD pass. Kennison had a
54-yard catch on the Chiefs’ next possession and Larry Johnson
scored from the 1.
Kennison had a 27-yard catch to set up Green’s 25-yard TD pass to
Tony Gonzalez for a 21-14 lead, which the Broncos erased with 22
seconds left in the half on a trick play.
Second-year reserve quarterback Bradlee Van Pelt lined up behind
center as Plummer was flanked left on second-and-goal from the 7.
Van Pelt took the snap and went almost untouched into the end zone
for a TD on his first NFL play.
