Kansas City, Mo. – The Kansas City Chiefs gave Dick Vermeil a near-perfect goodbye gift.
They couldn’t give him what they really wanted, though – one more game as their head coach.
The Chiefs were unstoppable on offense and stifling on defense in Sunday’s 37-3 victory over the playoff-bound Cincinnati Bengals.
But Pittsburgh’s 35-21 victory over Detroit kept the Chiefs (10-6) from reaching the AFC playoffs, meaning Vermeil’s decision to retire at the end of the season takes effect immediately.
“I think they’ve demonstrated that they are a playoff-caliber football team,” Vermeil said. “We just didn’t get some things done that we had to get done at the time we needed to get them done.”
Cincinnati, its playoff berth already in hand, didn’t need to get a lot done on Sunday – and it didn’t.
Only Shayne Graham’s first-quarter field goal kept the Bengals (11-5) from being shut out for the first time since 2001 and the AFC North champions take a two- game losing streak into their first playoff appearance in 15 years.
But at least they get to go, as the AFC’s No. 3 seed, and will host Pittsburgh in the first round Sunday. Cincinnati split the regular-season series with the Steelers, each winning on the road.
“This game is over with, and we’ve got to move on,” Bengals defensive end Justin Smith said. “There’s no excuses, but we knew we were going to play next week. It’s win or go home now.”
Kansas City becomes only the fourth team to go 10-6 and miss the postseason since the NFL expanded the field to 12 teams after the 1990 season.
The Chiefs’ offensive successes down the stretch – especially the emergence of Larry Johnson as one of the league’s elite running backs – makes missing the playoffs even harder to take.
“It’s difficult. I’ll be honest with you,” guard Brian Waters said. “I feel like we left a lot of things out on the field as an offense, but all you can do is finish the best you can. We gave it a shot and put a lot of pressure on the other teams.”
Johnson ran for 201 yards and a career-high three scores on 21 carries, his ninth straight 100-yard game, and broke Kansas City’s single-season rushing record.
“I feel like I could play 10 to 15 more games, because I’m so young,” said Johnson, a third- year professional who will play in his first Pro Bowl next month. “People think that because I have a lot of carries, I’m taking a lot of shots, but I’m not.”
His streak of nine straight 100-plus rushing games is the third-longest in NFL history, tied with Walter Payton, Fred Taylor and Deuce McAllister.
Johnson just missed a fourth touchdown midway through the fourth quarter when he fumbled at Cincinnati’s 2-yard line.
Rudi Johnson, held to 18 yards on 10 carries, still broke his single-season rushing record for Cincinnati. He finished with 1,457 yards, three more than his previous mark.
Trent Green finished 23-for-29 for 344 yards, closing out Kansas City’s scoring with an 8-yard pass to Dee Brown.
