Chiefs Edge Chargers in Nick of Time : Pro football: Lowery’s field goal in final minute guts a Charger comeback. Kansas City defeats them for the sixth consecutive time, 16-14.
Nick Lowery had already successfully kicked 299 field goals in his NFL career, and he was in position to log No. 300 and lift the Chiefs to a 16-14 victory over the Chargers.
“You want an honest answer?” Charger Coach Bobby Ross said when asked what he was thinking as Lowery attempted a 36-yard field goal. “I was talking to my father-in-law, who is dead. I was asking him to intervene for me.
“It sounds stupid, but that’s what I did. It was his birthday today, and I just said, ‘Give me some help,’ because there isn’t a whole lot you can do.”
Charger guard David Richards stood near Ross, but he had his own thoughts. “Miss it, you bastard,” said Richards. “That’s what I was thinking: Miss it, and he almost did.”
Lowery did not miss, and with 54 seconds remaining in the game he lifted the Chiefs, 5-4, past the recharged Chargers and extended Kansas City’s winning streak over San Diego to six.
“It’s just a heartbreaker the way they came back,” said Bobby Beathard, Charger general manager. “In my own mind I was thinking in the last couple of minutes that we were going to need more than a one-point lead because they have one of the best kickers in the game. I was just hoping maybe it was time for him to miss.”
Lowery had already contributed field goals of 47 and 35 yards to the Chiefs’ 13-0 first-half lead, and although he was coming off a groin injury that had sidelined him since Oct. 18, he has missed only 76 field-goal attempts in his 13-year career--only 22 from inside 40 yards.
“Twelve years ago I was a nobody,” said Lowery, who has made 11 field goals in the final two minutes to either win a game or send it into overtime. “I had missed my only field goal in the NFL, and I came to Kansas City and I was going against Jan Stenerud. It’s really sweet that it came out this way.”
Lowery’s kick spoiled a second-half Charger comeback and put an end to their four-game winning streak.
“It hurts, it really does,” said Charger quarterback Stan Humphries, who sprained an ankle on the final play of the game. “It was a big game for this football team and for this organization.
“You got to win the close games. That’s the ones that count. That’s the ones that put you over the hump and into the playoffs. It’s something we’ve got to learn around here, and we will.”
Humphries took a beating in the first half and was sacked four times by Chief linebacker Derrick Thomas, but he rallied the Chargers with a pair of long touchdown drives after intermission.
His 14-yard touchdown pass to tight end Derrick Walker capped an eight-play, 80-yard drive in the third quarter. Humphries, who finished the game with 20 of 35 for 294 yards and an interception, completed a 51-yard throw to wide receiver Shawn Jefferson on a nine-play, 90-yard drive that ended with Marion Butts’ one-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
“The momentum had shifted. You could see it in their faces,” said Charger tackle Broderick Thompson. “But they did what they had to do, and it was just great play on their part.”
The Chiefs did what they had to do on third and one--twice--in the fourth quarter, and as a result, the Chargers were unable to cling to their lead.
On third and one at the Charger 43-yard line, Butts appeared to have gained the first down, but Kansas City safety Charles Mincy forced Butts to fumble and Mincy’s teammate, Dan Saleaumua recovered.
“I thought actually the play was over,” Butts said. “My forward progress had been stopped, but he just flew in, and bam, his helmet hit the ball.”
The Chargers regained possession a few minutes later, but while driving on the Chiefs, Butts re-injured the knee he had hurt in the season opener against the Chiefs.
On third and one at the Kansas City 45-yard line, the Chargers needed Butts, but he was too hurt to play. They ran running back Ronnie Harmon left, but Harmon danced his way out of the first down and was dropped at the 45 for no gain. Ross hesitated, but then signaled his punt team onto the field.
“I would have gone for it if I could have that play back,” Ross said. “Because Butts had gone down, we didn’t have the personnel we like to use in that situation. But that bothers me. In hindsight, I wish I had gone for it.”
The Chiefs did not score on the ensuing possession, but then the Chargers were forced to punt again with 3:18 to play.
“Once again we didn’t do what we needed to do on the last drive,” Charger cornerback Gill Byrd said. “The game is not 59 minutes long, and we did not come up with the big play.
“The difference in the game is that we did not come up with any turnovers. Their defense came up with (four) turnovers and we didn’t come up with any. We did it to ourselves; we didn’t come up with the interception.”
Chief quarterback Dave Krieg, 12-3 as a starter coming in against the Chargers, had been stymied throughout the day by the AFC’s top defense. Before the Chiefs’ final drive, he had completed seven of 25 passes for 72 yards.
But Krieg suddenly found the mark. He completed passes of nine and eight yards to Tim Barnett. On first and 10 from the 50-yard line, he threw a pass over the raised hands of Charger linebacker Junior Seau and connected with Willie Davis for a 25-yard gain.
“Blame that on me,” Seau said, although it didn’t appear he was assigned to cover Davis.
Said Ross, “It’s nobody’s fault. In a game like this, I told our team afterward, you can point to 200 instances where it would be our fault. I feel badly because I didn’t go for it on fourth and one. But I’m not going to look back; we got a tough one next week in Cleveland.”
There were two minutes remaining in the game after Davis’ 25-yard reception, and the Chiefs were parked in Lowery territory. They ran three plays, forced the Chargers to burn their final two timeouts, and advanced the ball to the 18-yard line.
“My feeling is to win in this league you’ve got to have players, but there is one other thing that you’ve got to have and that is you better be damn tough mentally,” said Chief Coach Marty Schottenheimer, who has guided his team to a 17-7-1 record over the last half of the season since 1989. “In this business there are no free lunches. I think we exhibited that mental toughness in the fourth quarter.”
Lowery’s kick improved his field-goal performance to 16 for 18 this season, but there were still 54 seconds left in the game.
The Chargers had no timeouts and the ball on their 20. Humphries completed an 11-yard pass to Harmon on the sideline, but then lost eight yards after being sacked for the sixth time.
With 34 seconds left, Humphries took a hard hit from defensive lineman Leonard Griffin, and his deep pass for Anthony Miller was intercepted by rookie Chief defender Dale Carter.
“I think what these guys have proved, maybe not to anybody outside but to themselves, is that they can play against these teams and win,” Beathard said. “I think they’ve learned a lot this season. It’s a good football team; we’re going to win some games.
“Everybody’s sick about the loss, but we learned some more. This was tough, it was frustrating, but I think we’re a lot better team.”
