ChiefsPlanet - THIS WEEK IN CHIEFS HISTORY

Yes friends and comrades it's the moment you've all been waiting for....PART TWO OF.....

THIS WEEK IN CHIEFS HISTORY

December 7, 1997

KANSAS CITY 30, OAKLAND 0

Chiefs make playoffs, rout Raiders

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- That slippery, fragile thing the Kansas City Chiefs are suddenly cupping in the palm of their hands is their own playoff destiny.

A dominating 30-0 shutout of Oakland Sunday combined with Pittsburgh's 35-24 over Denver means the Chiefs (11-3) will capture home field throughout the AFC playoffs by winning their last two games -- at San Diego and home against New Orleans.

"I think we realize that we have to take care of business right now," said center Tim Grunhard, who helped spearhead a 214-yard rushing harvest against the hapless Raiders. "Right now, 11-3 is a dream come true." .
The Donks also are 11-3, but Kansas City has the tiebreaker advantage in the AFC West with only one loss in the division while the Donks have two.

"What a feeling," exclaimed linebacker Anthony Davis. "We're 7-0 at home this year and everybody knows when we've got 80,000 fans screaming for us, Arrowhead Stadium is the toughest place in the world to play."

It was for the Raiders (4-10), whose effort at times seemed pitiable. In beating their oldest archrivals for the 15th time in 17 meetings, the Chiefs outgained them 418-93 and piled up 27 first downs to five. While the Chiefs had 214 yards rushing, the Raiders had 36.
In time of possession, it was Kansas City 41:30, Oakland 18:30.
"We didn't make big plays and we didn't make little plays," said Oakland coach Joe Bugel. "We didn't make any plays."
"They stomped us today. It's that simple," said Raiders safety James Trapp.

Rich Gannon, 4-1 in relief of the injured Elvis Grbac, threw one TD pass and rushed for another. Pete Stoyanovich kicked three field goals, running his string to 16 straight without a miss.
Grbac could come back by next Sunday from his broken collarbone and be ready to resume as starter. How do they take Gannon out?
"They just do it," said the self-effacing 10-year veteran. "I don't want to get into the whole deal about the quarterback situation other than to say what I've said all along. As soon as he is healthy and ready to go, I'm sure he'll be back in there."
The Raiders, who came into the game tied for third in the NFL with 37 touchdowns and averaging 341.1 yards per game, came close to a TD only once, when James Jett dropped a pass in the end zone in the fourth quarter.

Then Wayne Simmons sacked Jeff George for a 10-yard loss on fourth down.
"They can go as far as they want," said George. "Their defense was great."
The Chiefs, who also held San Francisco without a touchdown in a 44-9 rout last week, recorded their first shutout since 1990 and ran their string of not yielding a touchdown in the second half to an NFL-record nine straight games.
After beating the Raiders 28-27 in September on a last-second, 32-yard touchdown pass, Kansas City jumped to a 20-0 halftime lead.
After a scoreless third quarter, the Chiefs took a 23-0 lead on Stoyanovich's 40-yard kick in the fourth period. Then, with 6:42 to play, Gannon capped a nine-play, 84-yard march with a 2-yard TD toss to Tony Richardson.

On Kansas City's first possession, Stoyanovich hit a 44-yarder, then Gannon marched the Chiefs 95 yards in 12 plays, twice hitting Andre Rison for 22-yard gains. Donnell Bennett then broke three tackles and plowed in for a 9-yard TD.
A few minutes later, Vaughn Booker recovered Harvey Williams' fumble on the Kansas City 35, setting up a 27-yard field goal by Stoyanovich.
Then with 2:13 left in the half, Gannon climaxed a 13-play, 72-yard march with a 5-yard touchdown run.
"They're a team on the rise," said Oakland cornerback Albert Lewis. "There's no doubt about that."

Code:

         FINAL             1ST  2ND  3RD  4TH     TOTAL

                          ---  ---  ---  ---     -----

        OAKLAND             0    0    0    0       0

        KANSAS CITY        10   10    0   10      30     FINAL



    SCORING SUMMARY



    1ST QUARTER: KAN - FG, PETE STOYANOVICH 44 YD, 3:39. Drive: 7 plays,

                           42 yards in 3:39. Key plays: Gannon 39-yard

                           pass to Hill to Oakland 26. KANSAS CITY 3-0

                 KAN - TD, DONNELL BENNETT 9 YD RUN (PETE STOYANOVICH

                           KICK), 11:55. Drive: 12 plays, 91 yards in

                           6:55. Key plays: Gannon 22-yard pass to Rison

                           on 3rd-and-9 to Kansas City 45; Gannon 22-yard

                           pass to Rison plus 10-yard personal foul

                           penalty on Raiders McDaniel to Oakland 10.

                           KANSAS CITY 10-0

    2ND QUARTER: KAN - FG, PETE STOYANOVICH 27 YD, 1:34. Drive: 8 plays,

                           25 yards in 3:46. Key plays: Booker recovery of

                           Kaufman fumble at Oakland 35; Allen 11-yard run

                           to Oakland 24. KANSAS CITY 13-0

                 KAN - TD, RICH GANNON 5 YD RUN (PETE STOYANOVICH KICK),

                           12:47. Drive: 13 plays, 72 yards in 7:32. Key

                           plays: Gannon 13-yard run on 3rd-and-11 to

                           Oakland 47; Anders 9-yard run on 3rd-and-2 to

                           Oakland 28; Gannon 17-yard pass to Rison to

                           Oakland 11. KANSAS CITY 20-0

    3RD QUARTER: NONE

    4TH QUARTER: KAN - FG, PETE STOYANOVICH 40 YD, 0:39. Drive: 9 plays,

                           58 yards in 5:00. Key plays: Gannon 42-yard

                           pass to Vanover to Oakland 34; Gannon 12-yard

                           pass to Rison to Oakland 21. KANSAS CITY 23-0

                 KAN - TD, TONY RICHARDSON 2 YD PASS FROM RICH GANNON

                           (PETE STOYANOVICH KICK), 8:18. Drive: 10 plays,

                           84 yards in 5:57. Key plays: Gannon 20-yard

                           pass to Rison to Kansas City 47; Gannon 20-yard

                           pass to Popson to Oakland 34; Folston 23-yard

                           pass interference penalty to Oakland 12. KANSAS

                           CITY 30-0





TEAM STATISTICS



                              OAK            KAN

                         --------       --------

FIRST DOWNS                     5             27

Rushing                         0             13

Passing                         5             11

Penalty                         0              3

3RD-DOWN EFFICIENCY          1-10          11-16

4TH-DOWN EFFICIENCY           1-2            0-0

TOTAL NET YARDS                93            418

Total plays                    39             72

Average gain                  2.4            5.8

NET YARDS RUSHING              36            214

Rushes                         15             48

Average per rush              2.4            4.5

NET YARDS PASSING              57            204

Completed-attempted          8-18          15-21

Yards per pass                2.4            8.5

Sacked-yards lost            6-45           3-21

Had intercepted                 0              0

PUNTS-AVERAGE              5-47.6         2-35.0

RETURN YARDAGE                129             21

Punts-returns                 0-0      2-minus 3

Kickoffs-returns            7-129           1-24

Interceptions-returns         0-0            0-0

PENALTIES-YARDS              6-58           7-54

FUMBLES-LOST                  1-1            0-0

TIME OF POSSESSION          18:30          41:30





PLAYER STATISTICS



Missed field goals:  Oakland (Cole Ford 38).



Oakland rushing: Harvey Williams 3-16, Napoleon Kaufman 8-7, Jeff

George 1-6, Jerone Davison 2-4, Tim Hall 1-3. 



Kansas City rushing: Donnell Bennett 24-85, Kimble Anders 10-64,

Marcus Allen 6-26, Rich Gannon 3-25, Greg Hill 5-14.



Oakland passing: Jeff George 8-18 for 102 yards, 0 INT, 0 TD. 



Kansas City passing: Rich Gannon 15-21 for 225 yards, 0 INT, 1 TD.



Oakland receiving: James Jett 3-42, Rickey Dudley 3-38, Tim Brown

2-22. 



Kansas City receiving: Andre Rison 5-93, Kimble Anders 3-10, Greg

Hill 2-45, Ted Popson 2-33, Tamarick Vanover 1-42, Tony Richardson

1-2, Donnell Bennett 1-0.



A: 76,379.

Dale Carter runs down Napoleon Kaufman:
http://img82.exs.cx/img82/1683/385434.jpg

Defensive end Vaughn Booker celebrates:
http://img82.exs.cx/img82/6506/245679.jpg

Linebacker Derrick Thomas celebrates another sack of Jeff George:
http://img82.exs.cx/img82/6823/321817.jpg

That concludes this week in CHIEFS HISTORY.

Just a little good mojo for this week.