Montana Beats Best of Elway : Pro football: After Bronco quarterback puts team ahead, Chief star wins game, 31-28, with a touchdown pass with eight seconds left.

In a classic game between classic quarterbacks, it all came down to the final two minutes. And after John Elway produced one of his trademark drives, Joe Montana answered it.

Montana threw his third touchdown pass of the game, a five-yarder to Willie Davis with eight seconds left Monday night, giving the Kansas City Chiefs a 31-28 victory over the Denver Broncos before 75,151.

First, it was Elway, leading Denver on a 39-yard, six-play drive. It ended when he ran four yards for a touchdown on a draw play, putting Denver ahead, 28-24, with 1:29 left.

The scoring run came one play after his apparent touchdown pass to Cedric Tillman was nullified. The officials ruled Tillman stepped out of bounds while running his pattern. Elway then scored despite the Broncos having only 10 men on the field.

But Montana, who missed significant practice time last week because of sore ribs and a bruised hip, moved his team 75 yards on nine plays, completing seven of eight passes and managing the clock perfectly.

“We knew they’d concede a certain part of the field to us, so we could throw underneath,” Montana said. “We did that and kept moving.”

The last four plays on the drive were completions of 11 yards to Kimble Anders, 12 yards to Derrick Walker, 19 yards to Tracy Greene and the five-yarder to Davis.

Davis extended his arms and caught the ball at the goal line, headed toward the outside and slipped inside the end zone pylon.

“He made a great catch and made a real effort to get it in the end zone,” Montana said.

“We just needed one more play, and we couldn’t seem to make it at the end,” Denver coach Wade Phillips said.

Asked if he thought the game was over after Elway’s touchdown, Phillips said, “You don’t ever think it’s over with Joe Montana. But I didn’t think they had enough time to score if we executed our defense properly.”

The stunning drive ended Kansas City’s 11-game losing streak at Mile High Stadium and also gave Montana and Chief coach Marty Schottenheimer their first victories there.

Schottenheimer earned his first victory at Mile High in eight tries.

“I said I was going to stay in this business long enough to get a win in Denver,” he said. “This wasn’t a game of execution, it was a game of the fiber inside you. We stayed out there and turned it around to win. Tonight was meant to be the Chiefs’ night.”

Denver (1-5) lost its fourth in a row at home dating to last season and opened with three consecutive home losses for the first time in franchise history.

Montana completed 34 of 54 passes for 393 yards with one interception for the Chiefs (4-2). Elway was 18 of 29 for 263 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.

After a scoreless first quarter, each team scored two touchdowns in the second period for a 14-14 halftime tie.

Late in the first quarter, Denver defensive tackle Ted Washington tipped a Montana pass and teammate Dan Williams intercepted at the Kansas City 21. Three plays later, Leonard Russell ran 12 yards off the left side for a 7-0 lead with 14:16 left in the half.

Ron Dickerson returned the ensuing kickoff 62 yards to the Denver 33, and although the Chiefs couldn’t capitalize when Montana threw incomplete on fourth down, they got the ball at the Denver 45 after Denver was called for a holding penalty and Elway was sacked for an eight-yard loss by Neil Smith.

Anders ran for 14 yards on third and seven, and Marcus Allen capped the drive with a seven-yard slant off the left side with 6:57 remaining. It was Allen’s 116th career touchdown, tying him with John Riggins for fourth place on the NFL’s career list. It also ended a Chief touchdown drought at nine consecutive quarters.

Denver countered three minutes later, however. Lin Elliott’s kickoff sailed out of bounds, giving Denver possession at the 40. Elway hit Anthony Miller on a 19-yard pass, then found Miller on a 27-yard pass play for the touchdown.

The Chiefs responded by driving 62 yards in nine plays. Anders caught a nine-yard pass on third and nine, and Montana passed 26 yards to Davis and 19 yards to Walker before connecting with J.J. Birden on a six-yard scoring toss in the rear of the end zone with 1:12 remaining.

The Chiefs took the second-half kickoff and marched 76 yards for the go-ahead touchdown. Montana completed six passes on the drive, including a four-yard touchdown pass to tackle-eligible Joe Valerio to make it 21-14.

Elway’s second touchdown pass, a 20-yarder to tight end Jerry Evans, drew Denver into a 21-21 tie late in the period.