DeBerg Has His Day, 20-13 : Ex-Bronco Leads Chiefs to Victory Over Broncos, Elway

Once, John Elway chased Steve DeBerg out of town, but this time it was DeBerg’s turn.

DeBerg, who played for Denver from 1981-83, threw a pair of touchdown passes Sunday to lead the Kansas City Chiefs to a 20-13 victory over the Broncos.

“I know those guys,” DeBerg said. “They’re friends of mine, and it’s fun to beat your friends.

“I thought I might have the game of my life. There was no question in my mind that we were going to win and I was going to perform well,” said DeBerg, who hit 21 of 35 passes for 259 yards.

DeBerg was beaten out by Elway and then traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Chiefs acquired him from the Buccaneers this season and he was making his first start for Kansas City.

In the second period, the Broncos lost cornerback Jeremiah Castille with neck and back injuries. As Castille was being tended to, DeBerg turned to the Denver defenders.

“It was kind of funny, because I know that defense so well,” DeBerg said. “I went over there and said, ‘Who’s coming in for Castille? Is it you?’ The guy must have been a rookie because he had the biggest eyes I’ve ever seen.”

A moment later, second-year defensive back Kevin Clark, who replaced Castille, got beat on the first of DeBerg’s touchdown passes, a 6-yard toss to Carlos Carson.

After Elway brought the Broncos into a 10-10 tie at halftime, DeBerg engineered a 77-yard march on Kansas City’s first possession of the second half, hitting Paul Palmer with a 14-yard scoring pass behind Clark.

“(DeBerg) came in and played well,” said Elway, who completed 15 of 32 passes but threw 2 interceptions. “He kept us off the field. Those long drives he had in the third quarter got the crowd back into the game and changed the momentum around.”

Rich Karlis kicked a 42-yard field goal with 9:34 left in the game to bring Denver within 17-13, and Kansas City’s Nick Lowery added a 29-yarder with 3:50 to play.

Lowery kicked a 50-yard field goal for the Chiefs in the first period and Karlis answered for Denver with a 23-yarder. Tony Dorsett scored for Denver on an 8-yard run, the 74th touchdown of his career.