DeBerg No Super Chief; Broncos Win : AFC: He throws four interceptions and Denver takes division lead with 24-20 victory.

Steve DeBerg threw four interceptions and Charles Dimry returned the final one 26 yards for the deciding touchdown as the Denver Broncos took sole possession of the AFC West lead Sunday with a 24-20 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.

“The coaches put the defense in,” Dimry said. “I was just in the right place at the right time. It was just good strategy.”

DeBerg, who threw only four interceptions all last season, was replaced in the fourth quarter by Mark Vlasic, who threw an eight-yard touchdown pass to Tim Barnett that got the Chiefs (7-4) close with 7:29 left.

DeBerg completed 11 of 24 passes for 207 yards.

“It’s been about 2 1/2 years since I struggled through a game like I did today,” said DeBerg, who also overthrew several open receivers. “I just didn’t play well. I don’t know why.”

The Broncos (8-3), who beat the Chiefs, 19-16, in Denver last month, scored two touchdowns 59 seconds apart in the third quarter to take a 24-10 lead.

The Chiefs had the ball on the 50 with 54 seconds left but got off only two more plays, partly as a result of an error by the officials. With 35 seconds left, Kansas Ciy got an injury timeout. The rule says when a team is tied or trailing and has exhausted its timeouts, 10 seconds must be run off the clock if time is called for an injury.

The officials did not know the timekeeper had run the clock from :35 to :25, and referee Bob McElwee ordered another 10 seconds taken off.

Told there may have been a miscommunication among the crew, McElwee said, “It appears.”

Vlasic completed a pass on the next play but time ran out.

“Officiating did not beat us,” Kansas City Coach Marty Schottenheimer said. “We gave up a couple of big plays defensively and turned the ball over on offense.”

Kansas City sacked John Elway, who completed only nine of 20 passes for 134 yards, six times--three by linebacker Derrick Thomas, who has 11 1/2 sacks this season.

But Gaston Green rushed for 133 yards, including a 60-yard run for the Broncos’ only touchdown of the first half.

“It’s difficult to execute offensively on the road because the crowd is into it and you can’t hear anything,” Denver Coach Dan Reeves said. “The defense has to come up with some plays.”

With four minutes remaining in the third quarter, Pete Holohan tipped DeBerg’s pass into Dimry’s hands at the Kansas City 26 and Dimry ran untouched into the end zone for a 24-13 lead.

That came less than a minute after Elway threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Mark Jackson on another controversial play. It appeared Elway, running away from pressure, stepped across the line of scrimmage before he threw the ball. No penalty flag was thrown and replay officials reviewed the play but did not overturn the call.

“I wouldn’t have thrown it if I thought I was over the line,” Elway said. “I knew I was pretty close.”

In the second quarter, Barnett turned a short pass from DeBerg into a 63-yard gain and Christian Okoye put the Chiefs ahead, 7-3, with a seven-yard scoring run.

After Green’s touchdown run, Nick Lowery’s 19-yard field goal tied the score, 10-10.