Hammock Parties
12-31-2006, 05:55 AM
Part 17 of our ongoing 2006 series here at Chiefsplanet...
THIS WEEK IN CHIEFS HISTORY
December 21, 1997
KANSAS CITY 25, NEW ORLEANS 13
KC shines - except at Quarterback
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- At the worst possible time, a quarterback controversy could be creeping up on Kansas City.
The Chiefs (13-3) beat the turnover-prone New Orleans Saints 25-13 in their regular-season finale Sunday, taking home-field advantage and a six-game winning streak into the playoffs.
But Elvis Grbac, making his first start since breaking his left collarbone seven weeks ago, completed just four of 15 passes for 51 yards as a cold, wet rain made conditions miserable.
"I'd like to see the film and see what I did," said Grbac, who missed six games. "... as everybody would state, the timing wasn't there. Personally, I wish I had played a lot better."
Grbac made several good runs and took several tough hits, including one that knocked him on his left side.
"I didn't know that I landed on my left shoulder until I looked down and saw my left shoulder in the mud," he said.
"A winning performance," head coach Marty Schottenheimer said of Grbac. "We got an opportunity to see everything we needed to see."
Rich Gannon, who engineered a five-game winning streak in Grbac's absence, came off the bench late in the third quarter and threw what offensive coordinator Paul Hackett said was the best pass of the day, a 3-yard timing pattern to tight end Ted Popson that made it 25-7 with 9:31 to go.
"I've never seen a team that's done anything in the playoffs that had a quarterback controversy," Gannon said. "One thing we don't have here and won't have here is that."
What would he say to those who argue that Gannon should be the starter?
"We feel we know what we're doing."
New Orleans (6-10), which won four of its last seven, dropped two sure-fire interceptions before Gannon replaced Grbac late in the third period.
At that point, the Chiefs led only 12-7, and their second unbeaten home season in three years seemed in danger when Billy Joe Hobert's touchdown pass in the third period broke their NFL-record streak of 10 straight games without giving up a second-half touchdown.
But Tamarick Vanover, who uncorked an 82-yard punt return for a touchdown earlier, got loose for 48 yards on another punt, giving the Chiefs a first-and-goal on the 8. Three plays later, Marcus Allen's 3-yard run for career rushing TD No. 123 gave the Chiefs an 18-7 lead.
Then, with 9:31 to go, former Saint Mark McMillian made his second interception and returned it 39 yards to the 7, and on third down, Gannon found Popson in the end zone.
"I'm proud of our guys," Saints coach Mike Ditka said. "I love these guys. I want to coach them and I guarantee we will turn this around. We will turn it around, that's right. We made some mistake out there and our special teams hurt us, but we wll be OK."
The Saints got their second touchdown with 2:23 left on a 14-yard pass from Danny Wuerffel to Keith Poole.
The Chiefs gave up a second-half TD for the first time since Sept. 28 when Poole beat McMillian on a 32-yard scoring pass with 5:57 left, making it 12-7.
In the second quarter, Vanover took Mark Royals' punt on the 18, faked a handoff, then cut right and burst untouched through a huge hole. As he accelerated down the sideline, Vanover brushed off Royals' lunging tackle en route to the end zone.
The Saints, who came into the game with an NFL-most 50 turnovers, gave up a fumble and an interception that led to two field goals by Pete Stoyanovich, a 30-yarder and a 25-yarder that made it 6-0. Stoyanovich has hit 20 in a row and goes into the playoffs 26-for-27, a team record 96.3 percent.
NFL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
NEW ORLEANS 0 0 7 6 13
KANSAS CITY 3 9 0 13 25 FINAL
TEAM STATISTICS
NOR KAN
-------- --------
FIRST DOWNS 17 14
Rushing 5 10
Passing 10 4
Penalty 2 0
3RD-DOWN EFFICIENCY 4-13 7-16
4TH-DOWN EFFICIENCY 2-2 1-1
TOTAL NET YARDS 252 176
Total plays 56 63
Average gain 4.5 2.8
NET YARDS RUSHING 103 156
Rushes 25 41
Average per rush 4.1 3.8
NET YARDS PASSING 149 20
Completed-attempted 13-29 9-19
Yards per pass 4.8 0.9
Sacked-yards lost 2-10 3-30
Had intercepted 3 0
PUNTS-AVERAGE 4-46.5 6-36.2
RETURN YARDAGE 168 235
Punts-returns 3-25 2-130
Kickoffs-returns 6-143 2-43
Interceptions-returns 0-0 3-62
PENALTIES-YARDS 3-14 9-80
FUMBLES-LOST 2-2 1-0
TIME OF POSSESSION 26:51 33:09
PLAYER STATISTICS
Missed field goals: New Orleans (Doug Brien 41).
New Orleans rushing: Ray Zellars 18-47, Troy Davis 5-41, Billy Joe
Hobert 1-15, Danny Wuerffel 1-0.
Kansas City rushing: Marcus Allen 9-50, Donnell Bennett 10-37, Greg
Hill 10-32, Elvis Grbac 4-18, Tony Richardson 2-11, Louis Aguiar 1-5,
Kimble Anders 3-4, Billy Joe Tolliver 2-minus 1.
New Orleans passing: Billy Joe Hobert 11-25 for 141 yards, 3 INT, 1
TD, Danny Wuerffel 2-4 for 18 yards, 0 INT, 1 TD.
Kansas City passing: Elvis Grbac 5-14 for 51 yards, 0 INT, 0 TD, Rich
Gannon 3-4 for 7 yards, 0 INT, 1 TD, Billy Joe Tolliver 1-1 for minus
8 yards, 0 INT, 0 TD.
New Orleans receiving: Eric Guliford 4-53, Keith Poole 3-49, Andre
Hastings 3-34, Irv Smith 1-13, Ray Zellars 1-6, Troy Davis 1-4.
Kansas City receiving: Kimble Anders 4-26, Ted Popson 2-15, Tony
Gonzalez 1-9, Marcus Allen 1-5, Donnell Bennett 1-minus 5.
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THIS WEEK IN CHIEFS HISTORY
December 21, 1997
KANSAS CITY 25, NEW ORLEANS 13
KC shines - except at Quarterback
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- At the worst possible time, a quarterback controversy could be creeping up on Kansas City.
The Chiefs (13-3) beat the turnover-prone New Orleans Saints 25-13 in their regular-season finale Sunday, taking home-field advantage and a six-game winning streak into the playoffs.
But Elvis Grbac, making his first start since breaking his left collarbone seven weeks ago, completed just four of 15 passes for 51 yards as a cold, wet rain made conditions miserable.
"I'd like to see the film and see what I did," said Grbac, who missed six games. "... as everybody would state, the timing wasn't there. Personally, I wish I had played a lot better."
Grbac made several good runs and took several tough hits, including one that knocked him on his left side.
"I didn't know that I landed on my left shoulder until I looked down and saw my left shoulder in the mud," he said.
"A winning performance," head coach Marty Schottenheimer said of Grbac. "We got an opportunity to see everything we needed to see."
Rich Gannon, who engineered a five-game winning streak in Grbac's absence, came off the bench late in the third quarter and threw what offensive coordinator Paul Hackett said was the best pass of the day, a 3-yard timing pattern to tight end Ted Popson that made it 25-7 with 9:31 to go.
"I've never seen a team that's done anything in the playoffs that had a quarterback controversy," Gannon said. "One thing we don't have here and won't have here is that."
What would he say to those who argue that Gannon should be the starter?
"We feel we know what we're doing."
New Orleans (6-10), which won four of its last seven, dropped two sure-fire interceptions before Gannon replaced Grbac late in the third period.
At that point, the Chiefs led only 12-7, and their second unbeaten home season in three years seemed in danger when Billy Joe Hobert's touchdown pass in the third period broke their NFL-record streak of 10 straight games without giving up a second-half touchdown.
But Tamarick Vanover, who uncorked an 82-yard punt return for a touchdown earlier, got loose for 48 yards on another punt, giving the Chiefs a first-and-goal on the 8. Three plays later, Marcus Allen's 3-yard run for career rushing TD No. 123 gave the Chiefs an 18-7 lead.
Then, with 9:31 to go, former Saint Mark McMillian made his second interception and returned it 39 yards to the 7, and on third down, Gannon found Popson in the end zone.
"I'm proud of our guys," Saints coach Mike Ditka said. "I love these guys. I want to coach them and I guarantee we will turn this around. We will turn it around, that's right. We made some mistake out there and our special teams hurt us, but we wll be OK."
The Saints got their second touchdown with 2:23 left on a 14-yard pass from Danny Wuerffel to Keith Poole.
The Chiefs gave up a second-half TD for the first time since Sept. 28 when Poole beat McMillian on a 32-yard scoring pass with 5:57 left, making it 12-7.
In the second quarter, Vanover took Mark Royals' punt on the 18, faked a handoff, then cut right and burst untouched through a huge hole. As he accelerated down the sideline, Vanover brushed off Royals' lunging tackle en route to the end zone.
The Saints, who came into the game with an NFL-most 50 turnovers, gave up a fumble and an interception that led to two field goals by Pete Stoyanovich, a 30-yarder and a 25-yarder that made it 6-0. Stoyanovich has hit 20 in a row and goes into the playoffs 26-for-27, a team record 96.3 percent.
NFL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
NEW ORLEANS 0 0 7 6 13
KANSAS CITY 3 9 0 13 25 FINAL
TEAM STATISTICS
NOR KAN
-------- --------
FIRST DOWNS 17 14
Rushing 5 10
Passing 10 4
Penalty 2 0
3RD-DOWN EFFICIENCY 4-13 7-16
4TH-DOWN EFFICIENCY 2-2 1-1
TOTAL NET YARDS 252 176
Total plays 56 63
Average gain 4.5 2.8
NET YARDS RUSHING 103 156
Rushes 25 41
Average per rush 4.1 3.8
NET YARDS PASSING 149 20
Completed-attempted 13-29 9-19
Yards per pass 4.8 0.9
Sacked-yards lost 2-10 3-30
Had intercepted 3 0
PUNTS-AVERAGE 4-46.5 6-36.2
RETURN YARDAGE 168 235
Punts-returns 3-25 2-130
Kickoffs-returns 6-143 2-43
Interceptions-returns 0-0 3-62
PENALTIES-YARDS 3-14 9-80
FUMBLES-LOST 2-2 1-0
TIME OF POSSESSION 26:51 33:09
PLAYER STATISTICS
Missed field goals: New Orleans (Doug Brien 41).
New Orleans rushing: Ray Zellars 18-47, Troy Davis 5-41, Billy Joe
Hobert 1-15, Danny Wuerffel 1-0.
Kansas City rushing: Marcus Allen 9-50, Donnell Bennett 10-37, Greg
Hill 10-32, Elvis Grbac 4-18, Tony Richardson 2-11, Louis Aguiar 1-5,
Kimble Anders 3-4, Billy Joe Tolliver 2-minus 1.
New Orleans passing: Billy Joe Hobert 11-25 for 141 yards, 3 INT, 1
TD, Danny Wuerffel 2-4 for 18 yards, 0 INT, 1 TD.
Kansas City passing: Elvis Grbac 5-14 for 51 yards, 0 INT, 0 TD, Rich
Gannon 3-4 for 7 yards, 0 INT, 1 TD, Billy Joe Tolliver 1-1 for minus
8 yards, 0 INT, 0 TD.
New Orleans receiving: Eric Guliford 4-53, Keith Poole 3-49, Andre
Hastings 3-34, Irv Smith 1-13, Ray Zellars 1-6, Troy Davis 1-4.
Kansas City receiving: Kimble Anders 4-26, Ted Popson 2-15, Tony
Gonzalez 1-9, Marcus Allen 1-5, Donnell Bennett 1-minus 5.
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