Day Belongs to Chiefs and Marcus Allen : AFC: Kansas City (9-1) now has NFL’s best record and running back passes Jim Brown during 22-7 victory over Chargers.
The Chiefs and Chargers went their separate ways Sunday with Kansas City (9-1) moving toward the playoffs with the best record in the NFL, and San Diego (4-6), last year’s AFC Super Bowl representative, falling into the dumper.
Players in the Chiefs’ locker room broke out the cigars after winning, 22-7, before 59,285 in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium to match the franchise’s best start since 1969 when they went on to win the Super Bowl.
The Chargers, meanwhile, were left wrapped in bandages, tired laments and gross understatements about their plight.
“There’s some room for improvement,” said Charger linebacker Junior Seau, and if Kansas City wins at home next week against Houston, the defending AFC West Division champions will be eliminated from title contention with a month to play.
How the mighty have crumbled: The Chargers are 9-11 in regular-season play since opening last season 6-0. The Chiefs, the newest darlings of the AFC, have won six games in a row and are 11-1 going back to 1994.
“Nobody expected us to do a damn thing this year,” said Chief defensive lineman Joe Phillips. “When No. 19 [Joe Montana] came in everybody thought we were going to be great and when he left everybody thought we would be terrible.
“But I think there was a little bit of over-emphasis put on him. The team kind of pulled together after he left and decided that we weren’t going to lay down. Take a look around this room--there are a lot of proud veterans in here.”
Look no further than Marcus Allen, the 35-year-old running back, who ended his Lincoln High School career in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium by scoring five touchdowns in the CIF title game against Kearny High.
“I look at his character and what he means to the NFL; he’s the consummate professional,” said Chief safety Martin Bayless, who played previously for the Chargers.
Allen ran 16 times for 63 yards and caught one pass for 19 yards to move past Jim Brown into third place in NFL history in combined yardage with 15,476 yards. Allen’s one-yard touchdown dive in the third quarter extended the Chiefs’ lead to 19-7 and gave him 24 career touchdowns against his hometown team--by far the most he has scored against any other NFL team.
“I still feel great and better than ever,” said Allen, who had been recruited to play safety at USC before becoming a running back and winning the Heisman Trophy. “I still have the defensive back mentality; that’s the way I play the game.”
Like Allen, the Chiefs are not flashy, but productive. They finished with only three more net offensive yards than the Chargers and each team was five for 15 in third-down conversions, but this game was never really close.
For the 23rd consecutive game the Chargers fell behind with Chief quarterback Steve Bono faking the handoff to Allen at the two-yard line and then rolling right untouched into the end zone for a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter. Bono, who completed 17 of 27 passes for 137 yards, had a streak of nine consecutive games with a touchdown pass ended, but there were no complaints.
“This win was very important for us,” Bono said. “We have some darn good teams coming up that we will have to play on the road, so this was a good test with that in mind.”
The Chargers, who played without running back Natrone Means (groin), evened the score in the first quarter with Rodney Culver’s first touchdown of the season, a one-yard dive up the middle.
So much for the Chargers’ offensive highlights. The rest of the day was like the rest of the season for the Chargers, who have been plagued by penalties and dropped passes. While Coach Bobby Ross took the blame for his team’s bellyflop after the game, Charger wide receivers, who might consider taking the gloves off, dropped six more of Stan Humphries’ throws.
“It was a very lackluster performance on our part,” Ross said. “We got a third and one and we don’t make the play. They get third and 11, run a trap play and get a first down.
“We get good yardage or we have something going and we get a holding penalty. Or if we get something else going we drop the ball. It’s been that way pretty much the whole season. It was very, very discouraging, and our fans have every right to be upset.”
What fans? Most were gone midway through the fourth quarter after Ross’ Chargers decided to punt on fourth and 13 from the Kansas City 44-yard line with the Chiefs in control, 19-7. After a 22-yard punt, the Chiefs ran 5:52 off the clock and extended their lead to 22-7 with Lin Elliott’s third field goal, a 34-yarder.
Another shaky decision by the Chargers in the second quarter also led to an Elliott field goal. The Chargers declined to accept a holding call on the Chiefs at the San Diego 27, and Elliott connected from 47 yards for a 10-7 advantage.