N.F.L. 1997 DIVISION GAME #2
A.F.C. DIVISIONAL GAME #2
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
V.S.
DENVER BRONCOS
3 MEETING 1997
AFC: Denver Broncos 14, Kansas City Chiefs 10[edit]
Game summary
1 2 3 4 Total
Broncos 0 7 0 7 14
Chiefs 0 0 10 0 10
at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST/3:00 p.m. CST
Game weather: 32 °F (0 °C), light fog
Game attendance: 76,965
Referee: Jerry Markbreit
TV announcers (NBC)… More: Dick Enberg (play-by-play), Phil Simms, and Paul Maguire (color commentators)
[show]Game information
For the third consecutive year the AFC's No. 1 seed fell in the divisional playoffs. One week after avenging the previous year's playoff loss against Jacksonville, the Broncos avenged their 24–22 regular season loss in Kansas City by knocking the Chiefs out of the playoffs. Denver running back Terrell Davis ran for 101 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Broncos to victory. Chiefs quarterback Elvis Grbac threw for 260 yards, but his team could only score 10 points. Receiver Andre Rison caught eight passes for 110 yards.
Midway through the second quarter, Chiefs kicker Pete Stoyanovich appeared to open the scoring with a 34-yard field goal, but it was eliminated by a holding penalty and his second attempt hit the crossbar from 44 yards. Denver then went on an 8-play, 65-yard drive on the way to a 1-yard touchdown run by Davis on the first play after the two-minute warning, including John Elway's 27-yard completion to tight end Dwayne Carswell and a critical third and 7 completion to Rod Smith for 17 yards on the Chiefs 4-yard line to keep the drive going. This was the first rushing touchdown surrendered by Kansas City at home since the 1996 season, a string of 42 quarters.
In the second half, Kansas City drove 67 yards to the Broncos 3-yard line, starting with Grbac's 34-yard pass to Rison on the first play. But on third and goal, rookie tight end Tony Gonzalez was unable to keep both feet in bounds while making a catch, so they had to settle for Stoyanovich's 20-yard field goal that made the score 7–3. Denver had a big opportunity to respond on their next drive when Davis ran for a 41-yard gain to the Chiefs 11-yard line. But Derek Loville ended up losing a fumble that safety Reggie Tongue recovered. Following an exchange of punts, Grbac's 50-yard completion to receiver Joe Horn advanced the ball to the Broncos 15-yard line, and Gonzalez eventually caught a 12-yard touchdown pass to give Kansas City their first lead of the game, 10–7, going into the fourth quarter.
Early in the final quarter, Elway completed a 43-yard pass to Ed McCaffrey that set up Davis' second 1-yard touchdown run, giving the lead back to Denver, 14–10. Kansas City responded with a drive to the Denver 32-yard line. On fourth and six, they attempted to fool the Broncos with a fake field goal attempt, but holder Louie Aguiar was tackled by Darrien Gordon after picking up just three yards.
The Chiefs had one last opportunity to go ahead near the end of the game, moving the ball to the Broncos 20-yard line on a drive that included a 29-yard pass interference penalty against Denver and Grbac's 12-yard completion to Lake Dawson on fourth down and 9. Grbac later completed a 23-yard pass to Rison at the Broncos 28, but after the next three plays netted eight yards, Gordon deflected Grbac's fourth down pass in the end zone with 12 seconds left. Less