Broncos Run Into Trouble

The Kansas City Chiefs did a huge favor for a hated rival-- the Oakland Raiders--when they found their long-missing rushing game.

Tony Richardson ran for 156 yards--the most by a Kansas City back in a decade--and the Chiefs totaled a season-best 264 rushing yards Sunday in a 20-7 victory over Denver, which did a lot more than merely stop the Broncos’ winning streak at six.

Denver (10-5) could have pulled even with Oakland (11-4) in the AFC West and owned the tiebreaker over the Raiders with one game to play. But the Broncos couldn’t score an offensive touchdown against a team that had lost five of six and ranked 26th in the league with an anemic running attack averaging only 82 yards a game.

“We came out very flat,” Denver wide receiver Rod Smith said. “We stayed that way and lost the game.”

Richardson, on his 29th birthday, totaled more yards rushing than any Chief runner since Barry Word got 200 in 1990.

“Today’s my birthday, and the offensive line dug in and went a little harder to try and get me 100 yards,” Richardson said. “That was an excellent birthday present.”

Rookie Frank Moreau had 59 yards and a touchdown for the Chiefs, who have swept their season series against the Broncos for the second consecutive year.

The Chiefs (7-8) had not had such a big rushing game since getting 310 yards against Detroit in the same game Word had 200.

“That’s what this team is capable of doing,” center Tim Grunhard said. “And to do it against that kind of defense--those are some formidable guys in there.”

To win the AFC West and avoid wild-card status, the Broncos will have to beat San Francisco on Saturday at Denver and hope the Raiders lose to Carolina on Sunday at Oakland.

“We had all the reasons to find a way to win this game, play extremely hard for what was on the line,” Denver Coach Mike Shanahan said. “Kansas City wasn’t really playing for anything except pride. They came out and beat us in all phases.”

The Broncos’ touchdown came when Kansas City return man Kevin Lockett allowed a punt to hit him in helmet at the Chief two and bounce into the end zone, where it was recovered by Jason Suttle.

Still, the Broncos led, 7-3, in the third quarter when Richardson went through a big hole for 23 yards. Then quarterback Elvis Grbac, never known for his nifty footwork, slipped two tackles on a 19-yard run to the Denver four, setting up a two-yard touchdown run by Moreau.

Then, with 7:14 to play in the game, Richardson went around left end for 28-yard touchdown.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Chief Problem

Coach Mike Shanahan’s Denver Broncos have had success against every AFC West team except Kansas City. Since 1985, the Broncos are 30-7 (.811) against the rest of the division but only 4-8 (.333) vs Kansas City:

OVERALL

Kansas City...............4-8

Oakland..................12-1

San Diego.................9-3

Seattle...................9-3

RECORD..................34-15

*

ON THE ROAD

Kansas City...............1-5

Oakland.................. 5-1

San Diego.................4-2

Seattle...................4-2

RECORD..................14-10

--Researched by ROY JURGENS