Chiefs Win on Appeal

The Kansas City Chiefs gained a much-needed victory -- and greater admiration for the officials viewing instant replay.

Reversing a crucial call on the field, referee Bill Leavy took a first down away from Denver near midfield with 2:01 to play. The Chiefs, relieved of the danger of facing a final threat from the Broncos’ offense, ran the clock down to three seconds and danced away with a 31-27 victory on Sunday.

“Sometimes it’s just a lot easier for them to go with the flow of the game and not make the big reversal,” said Chief guard Brian Waters. “I think that was a gutsy call.”

The win brought the Chiefs (8-4) within one game in the AFC West of the Broncos (9-3), who had won four in a row and could have buried Kansas City in the division. Instead, the Broncos have a fight on their hands and are left with virtually no chance of overtaking unbeaten Indianapolis for the top seeding in the AFC.

“A big, significant win,” said Chief Coach Dick Vermeil.

Mike Anderson, on fourth and one at the Denver 47, plunged into the right side of the line. Officials on the field gave him a first down and Chief players went into a frenzy of protest over the spot.

“You saw me going berserk out there,” said cornerback Patrick Surtain, who earlier had intercepted Jake Plummer’s pass from the Chief four. “I was saying, ‘It’s our ball, it’s our ball.’ ”

A few minutes later, the call was reversed.

“It was clear to me he didn’t reach the first down and the right thing to do was reverse it and give the ball to [Kansas City],” Leavy said.

When the Broncos got the ball back, they had time only for one desperate heave as the Chiefs won their 17th consecutive home game in December.

Defensive end Jared Allen, who made the tackle with help from Lionel Dalton, was confident the spot was wrong.

“I knew when I hit him he didn’t make it,” Allen said. “I ran right down the line and hit him backward. It was no contest.”

The Broncos watched helplessly as their offense was forced to leave the field.

“I didn’t see what happened. I thought we had a first down,” said Denver Coach Mike Shanahan.

Trent Green threw two touchdown passes and Larry Johnson rushed for 140 yards and two scores for the Chiefs, who have won four of their last five to climb back into contention.