Oilers Get Offensive, Beat Broncos, 42-33 : AFC: Chandler passes for three touchdowns to lead Houston to surprising victory over Denver.

There was no figuring this one.

Chris Chandler outdueled John Elway with three touchdown passes, and one of the NFL’s worst offenses outproduced one of the best Sunday. The Houston Oilers crammed a season’s worth of big plays into one game for a 42-33 victory over the Denver Broncos.

It was a game that even made the disgruntled and dwindling Oiler fans cheer. Only 36,113 attended the game, but they finally got into the flavor of the moment as the Oilers (5-7) took off--before they take off for Nashville.

“Somebody tell me this one is over,” Oiler Coach Jeff Fisher said. “Any time you play an offense like that offense with John Elway, you’ve got to be able to do some things to keep the defense off the field.”

Denver (6-6), with the sixth stingiest scoring defense in the league, gave up more than its 18-point average before halftime and eventually gave up more points than at any time this season.

Elway completed 27 of 41 passes for 332 yards and two touchdowns and gave Denver hope of another miracle comeback with a 35-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Miller with 4:50 left.

But even Elway, who has 36 career fourth-quarter comeback victories, couldn’t save the Broncos.

“Today, we couldn’t stop anybody,” Denver cornerback Lionel Washington said. “I really thought we were going to win this football game. We just didn’t have enough time.”

The Oilers (5-7) started the game ranked 24th in the league on offense, but they matched Denver, ranked No. 4, yard for yard in a fast-paced game. Chandler completed 18 of 26 passes for 280 yards.

It took Denver’s final drive against the Oilers’ prevent defense for the Broncos to outgain the Oilers, 472-448.

“They controlled the tempo of the football game with their offense,” Denver Coach Mike Shanahan said. “We did manage to stop or slow them down, but you can’t win on the road the way we’ve played.

“I really thought we were ready, but they did a better job than we did. We didn’t play defense like I thought we could.”

Rodney Thomas scored on a 74-yard run on the Oilers’ second offensive play, and Chandler threw touchdown passes of 36 and 35 yards to Chris Sanders as Houston took a 28-17 halftime lead.

“Everybody did a heck of a job today,” Chandler said. “We had big plays running the football. When we play well, it is because those guys [offensive line] are playing good.”

Sanders beat Washington on both of his touchdown catches.

“You’ve got to give a lot of credit to him [Sanders],” Washington said. “I told him he’s going to be a fine player. I hate being beat by a rookie, but it happens sometimes.”

The Oilers extended their lead with Chandler’s 12-yard touchdown pass to Haywood Jeffires 1:20 into the third quarter. They got the clincher in the fourth quarter on a five-yard run by Marion Butts.

The Oilers lost to Kansas City, 20-13, with 15 seconds left last week.

“It was very emotional for us after the loss to Kansas City,” Haywood Jeffires said. “We just wanted to get back and play football. We couldn’t have played a better game offensively.”

Denver got a career-best 56-yard field goal by Jason Elam and Elway threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Miller in the first quarter.

Terrell Davis, who gained 110 yards for the Broncos but still needs seven yards to reach 1,000, ran 60 yards for a second-quarter score.

Houston punter Rich Camarillo had two punts, the exact number he needed to become the sixth player in NFL history to punt 1,000 times. Camarillo already is in the NFL record book with 270 career punts inside the 20-yard line.