ChiefsPlanet - THIS WEEK IN CHIEFS HISTORY

Part 15 of our ongoing 2006 series here at Chiefsplanet...

THIS WEEK IN CHIEFS HISTORY

December 7, 1997

KANSAS CITY 30, OAKLAND 0

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 Broncos also are 11-3, but Kansas City has the tiebreaker advantage in the AFC West with only one loss in the division while the Broncos 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:

NFL     FINAL             1ST  2ND  3RD  4TH     TOTAL

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

        OAKLAND             0    0    0    0       0

        KANSAS CITY        10   10    0   10      30     FINAL



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.