Just when they appeared to be an unstoppable force, the San Francisco 49ers suffered a drubbing at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs. Even more calamitous, the 49ers lost Garrison Hearst, their best running back in years, probably out for the rest of season with a broken collarbone.
The 49ers were clobbered 44-9 by the Chiefs, vying for home advantage as they chase the Denver Broncos in the AFC West. The 49rs had only lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before arriving at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Since then, San Francisco has enjoyed a pretty easy ride, with only the Carolina Panthers and the Dallas Cowboys providing anything like decent opposition.
The Chiefs were more than decent. Andre Rison began the deluge with a six-yard touchdown, then added a 45-yard catch in the second quarter to set up a two-yard touchdown pass from the unheralded Rich Gannon to Tony Gonzalez. Gonzalez followed that up by blocking a punt from Tommy Thompson and returned the ball to San Francisco's three-yard line. Marcus Allen rushed for a touchdown on the next play. Steve Young was sacked for a loss minutes later and the Chiefs advanced 57 yards. Allen took the hand-off and then showed his passing prowess by tossing a one-yard touchdown pass to Ted Popson. That made it 28-3.
The 49ers remained stuck in the grinder in the second half, getting only two field goals. The Chiefs, however, kept up the rampage. Rison caught a second touchdown, a 29-yard score, the Chiefs sacked Terry Kirby in the end zone for a safety and Mark McMillan intercepted Jeff Brohm's pass and returned in 12 yards for the Chiefs' final touchdown. Brohm replaced Young when it became clear that defeat was inevitable for the 49ers.
"In 1987, we tore through the league and got punched in the mouth," Young said. "In 1994, we got punched in the regular season. This was like three punches in the mouth." The 49ers have not been beaten so soundly since a 59-14 blow-out at the hands of the Cowboys in 1980.
In pummelling the 49ers, the Chiefs sacked Young five times and rushed 153 yards against the league's top defence. The Chiefs have now beaten the 49ers, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Broncos, three of NFL's best teams and they are winning with Gannon, their backup quarterback as Elvis Grbac is out with a broken collarbone.
The Broncos stayed one game ahead of the Chiefs by blasting past the San Diego Chargers 3828. Terrell Davis rushed for 178 yards and John Elway threw three touchdowns as Denver became the first AFC team to clinch a play-off spot and stay one game ahead of the Chargers.
It was a good week for underdogs as some of the league's forgotten teams notched up wins. The New Orleans Saints, under the fiery Mike Ditka, their new coach, beat the Carolina Panthers 16-13, the St Louis Rams won their first victory since September by squeezing past the Washington Redskins 23-20 and the Buffalo Bills kept their slim play-off hopes alive by running over the New York Jets 20-10. New York's other team also faltered as the Giants lost 20-8 to Tampa.
The points gushed in Philadelphia where the Eagles outscored the Cincinnati Bengals 44-42 win. Cincinnati, led by Boomer Esiason, their veteran quarterback, pulled ahead 42-41 with a minute left on Brian Milne's oneyard touchdown. But the Eagles snatched the game on Chris Boniol's 31-yard field goal as time ran out.
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