After Tough Week, Chiefs Get Tough and Beat Colts

The Kansas City Chiefs snapped a club-record seven-game losing streak with a 20-7 victory over the Indianapolis Colts Sunday. The victory came at the end of a week of turmoil for the Chiefs.

There were rumors that Coach John Mackovic’s job was in jeopardy, so many that on Tuesday club owner Lamar Hunt felt it necessary to give Mackovic a vote of confidence.

Then on Wednesday the club’s star defensive end, Mike Bell, was arrested on cocaine charges.

“In light of everything that happened this week, this win was very critical for us,” defensive lineman Bill Maas said. “We were in shock on Wednesday and our minds were still wandering on Thursday.

“But we pulled together and did what we had to do. We took out our frustrations on another team. I think a lot of people were watching the Kansas City Chiefs this week and would have been very, very critical. But we weren’t going to let them.”

Backup Todd Blackledge passed for 246 yards and a touchdown to help the Chiefs win for the first time since Sept. 29 and improve their record to 4-8. The Colts, who have lost four straight, are now 3-9.

Blackledge, a third-year pro named by Mackovic to be the starter for the season’s last five games, completed 16 of 31 passes. In the first half, he had 190 net passing yards to zero for the Colts’ Matt Kofler.

“I’ve enjoyed some big victories in college and as a pro, but none was more timely than this one,” Blackledge said. “This was a very, very important football game for us.”

“There wasn’t anything said about dedicating this game to Mike (Bell) or anything like that, but it was’n everyone’s hearts.”

Kofler, making his first start in a NFL regular-season game, hit one of eight passes for 11 yards in the first half, but lost 11 yards on a sack. Kofler was relieved by Mike Pagel early in the second half, Pagel completed 2 for 11 passes for 12 yards.

Blackledge’s 22-yard touchdown pass to Stephone Page in the first quarter, a two-yard touchdown run by Mike Pruitt with 1:15 left in the half and Nick Lowery’s 29-yard field goal with three seconds left in the half gave the Chiefs a 17-0 lead. A 42-yard field goal by Lowery in the third quarter made it 20-7.

George Wonsley’s 14-yard touchdown run with 2:22 remaining kept the Colts from being shut out.