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CHIEFS 17, Seahawks 6
Chiefs win slippery affair
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Never in the memory of any coach or player involved in the game were conditions ever as bad as this.
In the second quarter of Kansas City's 17-6 victory over Seattle on Sunday night, as lightning flashed and a blinding rain fell in sheets, NFL officials waved players off the field and advised more than 65,000 fans to seek safety in the protected areas of Arrowhead Stadium.
Play was halted with 7:10 left in the second period and resumed 54 minutes later.
"It was the worst I've ever played in," said Chiefs quarterback Rich Gannon, who atoned for three lost fumbles with a four-yard TD run and an 80-yard scoring pass to Andre Rison.
"I've never seen anything like it," said Seattle coach Dennis Erickson. "It was just unbelievable."
Halftime was cut to six minutes and weather officials said 9.2 centimetres of rain fell in downtown Kansas City in a two-hour period starting just before kickoff.
Only a light rain fell most of the second half, but the muddy conditions contributed to more sloppy play, including two lost fumbles by Seattle running back Ricky Watters and five for the Chiefs (4-1), one short of the 29-year-old team record. There were nine turnovers in all, including two interceptions by Seattle backup quarterback John Friesz.
"At one point you could barely see the linebackers and safeties, it was raining so hard," said Chiefs centre Tim Grunhard.
The torrential, chaotic conditions may have been the reason the Seahawks (3-2) lost quarterback Warren Moon, who was injured on the final play before the delay and replaced by Friesz. On what appeared to be a busted play during the driving rain, Moon, 41, ran the ball for a one-yard loss and bruised his ribs.
"It was difficult out there, but both teams had to go through it," said Friesz.
The Chiefs handed the Seahawks several scoring opportunities as Gannon, making his fourth start in place of the injured Elvis Grbac, gave up the slippery ball on the Chiefs' 17- and seven-yard lines.
But the best Seattle could do were field goals of 22 yards by Todd Peterson in the first quarter and 28 yards in the third as the Chiefs beat their AFC West rivals for the 14th time in 15 meetings.
"We had two good chances deep in their territory and came away with only three points. That was hard for us," Friesz said.
Dale Carter intercepted Friesz's tipped pass on the Seattle 17 in the final seconds of the second quarter. On third and goal from the four with 19 seconds left, Gannon faked to Donnell Bennett and bootlegged left, getting a good block from tight end Ted Popson while diving into the corner of the end zone.
In the final seconds of the third period, after the Seahawks barely missed downing a punt on the one-yard line, the Chiefs put the game away with the 80-yard scoring play. Gannon heaved the ball downfield to Rison, who caught it over his right shoulder on the 35 and then outran Jay Bellamy to the end zone, giving the Chiefs a 17-6 lead with 24 seconds left in the third.
"Those conditions were unbelievable," said Rison. "We didn't mind the rain and the slushy conditions, but the lighning, that's another story."
It was the longest pass in Gannon's career and the longest reception in Rison's, and the longest scoring pass play for Kansas City since 1990.
The Chiefs got a 22-yard field goal from Pete Stoyanovich in the first quarter.
Watters had 59 of Seattle's 73 yards rushing.
Summary
NFL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
SEATTLE 3 0 3 0 6
KANSAS CITY 3 7 7 0 17 FINAL
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST QUARTER: SEA - FG, TODD PETERSON 22 YD, 2:55. Drive: 5 plays, 12
yards in 1:50. Key plays: Daniels recovery of
Gannon fumble at Kansas City 16. SEATTLE 3-0
KAN - FG, PETE STOYANOVICH 22 YD, 14:10. Drive: 10 plays,
45 yards in 6:16. Key plays: Bennett 14-yard
run to Seattle 36; Anders 9-yard run to Seattle
14; Bennett 5 carries for 35 yards. SEATTLE 3,
KANSAS CITY 3
2ND QUARTER: KAN - TD, RICH GANNON 4 YD RUN (PETE STOYANOVICH KICK),
14:47. Drive: 6 plays, 17 yards in 2:24. Key
plays: Carter interception plus 15-yard
facemask penalty on Seattle's May to Seattle
17; Bennett 7-yard run to Seattle 10. KANSAS
CITY 10-3
3RD QUARTER: SEA - FG, TODD PETERSON 28 YD, 4:59. Drive: 4 plays, (-3)
yards in 1:31. Key plays: D. Smith recovery of
Gannon fumble on Kansas City 7. KANSAS CITY 10-6
KAN - TD, ANDRE RISON 80 YD PASS FROM RICH GANNON (PETE
STOYANOVICH KICK), 14:36. Drive: 1 play, 80
yards in 0:12. KANSAS CITY 17-6
4TH QUARTER: NONE
TEAM STATISTICS
SEA KAN
-------- --------
FIRST DOWNS 10 12
Rushing 3 8
Passing 6 3
Penalty 1 1
3RD-DOWN EFFICIENCY 2-14 6-18
4TH-DOWN EFFICIENCY 0-1 0-0
TOTAL NET YARDS 167 251
Total plays 59 65
Average gain 2.8 3.9
NET YARDS RUSHING 73 131
Rushes 26 42
Average per rush 2.8 3.1
NET YARDS PASSING 94 120
Completed-attempted 11-33 12-19
Yards per pass 2.8 5.2
Sacked-yards lost 0-0 4-22
Had intercepted 2 0
PUNTS-AVERAGE 7-43.7 7-40.7
RETURN YARDAGE 160 59
Punts-returns 4-81 1-8
Kickoffs-returns 4-79 3-51
Interceptions-returns 0-0 2-0
PENALTIES-YARDS 12-88 5-48
FUMBLES-LOST 3-2 5-5
TIME OF POSSESSION 26:12 33:48
PLAYER STATISTICS
Missed field goals: Seattle (Todd Peterson 38).
Seattle rushing: Ricky Watters 22-59, Jon Kitna 1-11, Mack Strong
1-2, Joey Galloway 1-2, Warren Moon 1-minus 1.
Kansas City rushing: Donnell Bennett 17-62, Rashaan Shehee 11-28,
Kimble Anders 5-17, Tony Richardson 4-13, Rich Gannon 5-11.
Seattle passing: John Friesz 8-19 for 52 yards, 1 INT, 0 TD, Jon
Kitna 3-12 for 42 yards, 1 INT, 0 TD, Warren Moon 0-2 for 0 yards, 0
INT, 0 TD.
Kansas City passing: Rich Gannon 12-19 for 142 yards, 0 INT, 1 TD.
Seattle receiving: Joey Galloway 5-50, Ricky Watters 2-minus 6, James
Mcknight 1-16, Steve Broussard 1-16, Christian Fauria 1-13, Deems May
1-5.
Kansas City receiving: Andre Rison 4-90, Tony Gonzalez 3-18, Joe Horn
1-13, Derrick Alexander 1-9, Kimble Anders 1-5, Will Shields 1-4,
Donnell Bennett 1-3.
Seattle tackles-assists-sacks (unofficial): Chad Brown 9-2-1, Dean
Wells 7-1-0, Darryl Williams 5-2-0, Michael Sinclair 5-0-0, Willie
Williams 5-0-0, Jay Bellamy 5-0-0, Darrin Smith 4-1-1, Cortez Kennedy
3-1-0, Shawn Springs 3-1-0, Phillip Daniels 2-0-0, Mark Collins
1-0-0, Team 0-0-2.
Kansas City tackles-assists-sacks (unofficial): Dale Carter 5-0-0,
Jerome Woods 5-0-0, Wayne Simmons 4-1-0, John Browning 3-2-0, Tom
Barndt 3-2-0, Donnie Edwards 3-1-0, Reggie Tongue 2-2-0, James Hasty
3-0-0, Anthony Davis 2-1-0, Leslie Oneal 2-0-0, Derrick Thomas 1-0-0.
Interceptions: Kansas City (Dale Carter 1 for 0 yards, James Hasty 1
for 0 yards).
Fumbles lost: Seattle (Ricky Watters 2); Kansas City (Rich Gannon 3,
Donnell Bennett, Joe Horn).
Opponent's fumbles recovered: Seattle (Darryl Williams 3, Darrin
Smith, Phillip Daniels); Kansas City (Leslie Oneal, James Hasty).
Officials: Referee-Phil Luckett, Umpire-Hendi Ancich, Head
linesman-Earnie Frantz, Line judge-Dale Orme, Back judge-Ron Spitler,
Side judge-Laird Hayes, Field judge-Jim Saracino.
A: 66,418; T: 3:51.