Oilers’ Moon Is Full of Pride After Passing for 527 Yards

After burning a good Kansas City defense for the second-greatest passing day in NFL history, Houston’s Warren Moon made no attempt at false modesty.

“I am very proud of myself,” said Moon, whose 527 yards in a 27-10 victory over the Chiefs Sunday fell 27 shy of Norm Van Brocklin’s 39-year-old record.

Moon had plenty of time to try to break the record, but the Oilers ran out the clock. “Records are not that important to me,” Moon said.

But the recognition he’s now getting is important, particularly since he was so lightly regarded by the NFL when he came out of the University of Washington that he went to Canada to play.

“To hear what people were saying about me as a quarterback coming out of high school and college, I really feel good about where I’ve gotten,” he said.

Moon, who played at Los Angeles’ Hamilton High, completed 27 of 45 passes for three touchdowns and no interceptions.

His big day against one of the league’s top defensive units kept the Oilers (8-6) deadlocked with Pittsburgh atop the AFC Central and prevented the Chiefs (9-5) from locking up a wild-card berth.

It also enabled wide receiver Haywood Jeffires to account for 245 receiving yards, tops this season. Jeffires got 87 yards on a pass-play touchdown in which he beat Stan Petry to give the Oilers a 17-7 lead early in the third quarter.

The 61,000 at Arrowhead Stadium hoping to see the Chiefs wrap up at least a wild-card berth for only their second playoff appearance in 19 years saw instead, in the words of Chief linebacker Derrick Thomas, “one of the most unbelievable, incredible, awesome displays any quarterback ever put on.”

The shell-shocked Chiefs, who had won four in a row to tie the Raiders for the AFC West lead, tried everything in a futile effort to stop Moon and Houston’s run-and-shoot offense. Moon came into the game leading the NFL in passing and rated as the No. 2 NFL quarterback behind Buffalo’s Jim Kelly.

“I would have bet my house that Warren Moon wouldn’t throw for 500 yards against our defense,” Chief Coach Marty Schottenheimer said. “I’m glad I didn’t.”

Moon teamed with Tony Jones on a 24-yard scoring pass play on the Oilers’ first possession and had 11 other passes that went for more than 20 yards, although his third touchdown pass covered just two yards to Jones in the fourth quarter.

Moon easily erased the Houston team record of 464 yards, set by George Blanda against Buffalo in 1961. His ninth 300-yard game tied Dan Marino’s NFL mark.

Chief quarterback Steve DeBerg suffered a broken finger on his left hand that left his status in doubt for next week.

Also, DeBerg was intercepted by Richard Johnson in the end zone with 2:20 left, ending his string of consecutive passes without an interception at 234, second-longest in NFL history and 50 away from Bart Starr’s NFL record.

TOP SINGLE-GAME PASSING PERFORMANCES

Date Quarterback Team Opponent Att. Cmp. Sept. 28, ’51 Norm Van Brocklin Rams N.Y. Yankees 27 41 Dec. 16, ’90 Warren Moon Houston Kansas City 27 45 Oct. 23, ’88 Dan Marino Miami N.Y. Jets 35 60 Oct. 13, ’85 Phil Simms N.Y. Giants Cincinnati 40 62 Dec. 26, ’82 Vince Ferragamo Rams Chicago 30 46 Oct. 28, ’62 Y.A. Tittle N.Y. Giants Washington 27 39 Sept. 24, ’72 Joe Namath N.Y. Jets Baltimore 15 28 Nov. 2, ’86 Tommy Kramer Minnesota Washington 20 35 Oct. 7, ’90 Boomer Esiason Cincinnati Rams 31 45 Nov. 16, ’80 Doug Williams Tampa Bay Minnesota 30 55

Date Yds. TD Sept. 28, ’51 554 5 Dec. 16, ’90 527 3 Oct. 23, ’88 521 3 Oct. 13, ’85 513 1 Dec. 26, ’82 509 3 Oct. 28, ’62 505 7 Sept. 24, ’72 496 6 Nov. 2, ’86 490 4 Oct. 7, ’90 490 3 Nov. 16, ’80 486 4