No Way for Elway This Time; Chiefs Win : AFC: Denver quarterback gets only one touchdown after Kansas City finds a way to beat him--take away the ball.

Even with a 10-point lead and only 1:52 left, the Kansas City Chiefs still feared John Elway.

But in the final seconds Elway, who has engineered six fourth-quarter rallies over the Chiefs, managed only one touchdown. And the Chiefs (12-3) locked up a first-round playoff bye with a rain-soaked 20-17 victory over their old nemesis and the Denver Broncos on Sunday.

“I kept thinking about one time when he scored twice in the last two minutes to beat us,” said defensive end Neil Smith, who was on the sidelines with a bruised shoulder.

“We’ve learned the hard way you’re never safe when the ball is in John Elway’s hands.”

It wasn’t in Elway’s hands after Darren Mickel knocked it out and tackle Vaughn Booker fell on it, got up and rambled 14 yards to make it 20-10 with 1:52 remaining.

Elway, as if for old times’ sake, did stage a last-second drive, capped by his three-yard touchdown toss to Mike Pritchard.

But the Chiefs got the onside kick to wrap up the victory and virtually eliminate Denver (7-8) from playoff contention.

Kansas City, which already clinched the AFC West crown, can guarantee home-field advantage throughout the playoffs if it beats Seattle at home in the regular-season finale next week or if Pittsburgh (11-4) loses at Green Bay.

“My initial thought was just to get on top of the ball and let the offense move it,” said the 295-pound Booker. “But when I didn’t feel anybody touch me down, I just tried to get up and get as close as I could. I put my Marcus Allen move on one guy.”

Steve Bono, who completed 10 of his first 13 passes, threw for one touchdown and ran for another on the rain-soakedafternoon.

Elway came into the game with a career record against Coach Marty Schottenheimer of 11-5, including two dramatic victories over the Schottenheimer-coached Cleveland Browns in AFC title games.

But this year belongs to the Chiefs.

“They’ve been uncanny in making plays when they need to,” said Elway, who was 24 for 36 for 242 yards. “They’ve been doing it all year. They make things happen in crucial situations.”

The Broncos came into the game with the AFC’s most productive offense, but were 0 for 9 in third-down attempts against a Kansas City defense ranked No. 4 in the NFL.

Denver’s lone touchdown before Elway’s toss to Pritchard in the final seconds was on cornerback Ray Crockett’s 50-yard fumble return.

“If they are not the best defense, then they are one of the best that I’ve seen,” Elway said. “This is probably as frustrated as I can ever remember being.”

Bono, who had passed poorly in the two previous weeks, completed a five-yard touchdown pass to Webster Slaughter in the first quarter and ran five yards on a bootleg in the second.

In the closing seconds of the first half, the Chiefs were holding a 14-0 lead and driving toward a possible field goal when Crockett crashed into Bono on a blitz, wrestled the ball away and sped 50 yards untouched into the end zone.

“We thought everything was going just fine, and then they hit that weird play at the end of the half and all of a sudden it’s 14-7,” said Chief linebacker Derrick Thomas. “I thought, oh, no, not again.”

Crockett pulled up a couple of feet from the end zone and turned around to taunt his distant pursuers before stepping across the end zone with :03 left.

The Chiefs, who beat the Broncos, 21-7, in a snowstorm at Mile High Stadium on Oct. 22, pounced on Glyn Milburn’s fumble on Denver’s second play of the game and turned it into Bono’s five-yard touchdown pass to Slaughter six plays later.

But the Chiefs, who’ve avoided major injuries all year, had three starters out of the game by early in the second half: left guard Dave Szott, linebacker George Jamison and Smith, the Pro Bowl defensive end who bruised his shoulder while sacking Elway in the second quarter.

In addition, Denver defensive back Lionel Washington was removed on a stretcher and taken for precautionary X-rays in the first half. The X-rays were negative.

Smith knocked the ball loose from Milburn and recovered it himself on the Denver 35 to set up Kansas City’s first score, Bono’s pass to Slaughter.

After a penalty-free first quarter, the Chiefs got the first flag of the day when center Tim Grunhard was cited for an illegal block. Backed up to their 10, the AFC West champs went the distance in 12 plays, capped by Bono’s five-yard run around right end for his fifth rushing touchdown of the year.

Shane Dronett, who blocked Lin Elliott’s field-goal attempt in overtime of Denver’s 20-17 victory in Arrowhead Stadium last year, got his hand on Elliott’s try from the 27 in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter, keeping the Chiefs’ lead at 14-10.

Kansas City swept the two-game series with the Broncos for the first time since 1980.

Chief kick returner Tamarick Vanover, who was averaging 124.4 all-purpose yards, did not play because of a shoulder injury sustained last week at Miami. He was replaced by Chris Penn.

Chief safety Mark Collins did not start because of back spasms, but played. William White started in his place.