Chiefs Master Art of Comebacks

If the Kansas City Chiefs ever take a comfortable lead into the fourth quarter, they won’t know how to act.

Sparked by Elvis Grbac’s 73-yard completion to Derrick Alexander late in the third period, the Chiefs scored 17 consecutive points Monday night and defeated Seattle, 24-17, for their third consecutive come-from-behind victory.

“There’s something in the huddle right now,” said Grbac, who was 16 of 27 for 256 yards and two touchdowns.

“Now we know if we’re down by three points or 17 points, we have the players to come back, we have the ability to come back.”

Trailing by 10 points and backed up to his five-yard line, Grbac connected with Alexander who was streaking down the right sideline and beat Shawn Springs. By the time Reggie Tongue dragged him down from behind, Alexander had gone 73 yards. Two plays later, Alexander again beat Springs on a 17-yard touchdown pass, giving the Chiefs (3-2) a three-play scoring drive, with Grbac-to-Alexander accounting for 90 of the 95 yards.

After that, the Seahawks (2-3) never regained the momentum.

“Elvis made a great throw at the corner’s head and I was able to get behind him with a great play fake I’m sure,” Alexander said.

“We needed that kind of play at that time. After we broke out and scored the TD, the crowd really got back in the game.”

Both teams had won their last two games after losing their first two.

The Seahawks were in control for 2 1/2 quarters. They took a 17-7 lead on a 27-yard field goal in the third quarter by rookie Rian Lindell, who was making his first NFL start.

After Eric Hicks’ third sack of Jon Kitna forced the Seahawks to punt a few minutes later, the Chiefs drove to the Seattle eight and Pete Stoyanovich tied it at 17-17 with a 27-yard field goal with 3:18 into the fourth quarter.

Then, with all the momentum belonging to the Chiefs, Dante Hall sped 22 yards with a Seattle punt and the Chiefs took their first lead with 4:26 left when Mike Cloud beat Willie Williams to the end zone on a 15-yard touchdown run.

“The momentum shifted when it was going crazy,” Seattle tight end Christian Fauria said.

Aided by six penalties against the Chiefs for 32 yards, the Seahawks burned nine minutes off the clock with their first possession.

After sacking Kitna for a 10-yard loss, Hicks was flagged 15 yards for taunting. Then, a penalty against defensive tackle Dan Williams for having his hands to the face turned Seattle’s fourth and five into a first down at the Chief 40.

On first and goal from the one, Itula Mili got behind two defenders in the back of the end zone for a 7-0 Seattle lead.

In the second quarter, Grbac was five for five for 69 yards in an eight-play, 78-yard touchdown drive. On the 15-yard touchdown pass, the ball went through the hands of linebacker George Koonce to tight end Tony Gonzalez.

In what almost amounted to a one-man, 75-yard drive that gave Seattle a 14-7 lead in the second quarter, rookie Shaun Alexander carried six times for 55 yards and caught an 11-yard pass. He reeled off 17-yard gains on consecutive plays and finished with a seven-yard dash into the end zone.

The Chiefs failed in their attempt to set an “on-site” NFL attendance record when only 4,391 showed up in adjacent Kauffman Stadium to watch the game on the giant video board. Combined with the sellout crowd of 78,502, the total attendance of 82,893 fell almost 8,000 short.