Random Recap Thursday #10: Oakland Raiders v. Kansas City Chiefs 12/7/1997

Photo Credit: Getty Images

By Zane Miller

On Sunday, December 7^th, 1997, the Kansas City Chiefs hosted the Oakland (now Las Vegas) Raiders at Arrowhead Stadium, as the Chiefs looked to keep pace with the Denver Broncos for the lead in the AFC West.

Coming into the week 15 slate of NFL games, the Broncos held a slim one-game advantage over the Chiefs for the division title, which could disappear in an instant as Denver faced a tough Steelers squad in Pittsburgh that same day. Conversely, the Chiefs needed to capitalize on their home matchup against a struggling Raiders group which had not had a winning season since their final season in Los Angeles in 1994. The 1997 campaign was already guaranteed to be a losing one for Oakland, as they came into Kansas City at a 4-9 record with the Chiefs sitting at 10-3.

Under center for the Chiefs would be veteran Rich Gannon, who took over the starting job in November after regular starter Elvis Grbac was sidelined with a broken collarbone. However, Gannon showed some flair once he took over the offense, as he passed for 314 yards in his first start of the season against the Jacksonville Jaguars. In his most recent game before taking on the Raiders, he threw for three touchdowns and 186 yards in a 44-9 rout of the San Francisco 49ers before being relieved in the fourth quarter.

As for the Raiders, they would send out a veteran quarterback of their own in former first overall pick Jeff George. Despite not living up to the first overall pick billing, George had posted very good numbers with the Atlanta Falcons in both 1994 and 1995, with the latter year seeing him cross the 4,000-yard barrier. After a controversy-filled 1996 season which saw George receive a lengthy team suspension after a sideline tirade against Falcons coach June Jones, he unsurprisingly left in free agency at the end of the year and was scooped up by the Raiders for 1997. George had his share of strong moments early in the year, including a three-touchdown opening day performance with 298 passing yards against the Tennessee Oilers (now Tennessee Titans) and a three-touchdown, 374-yard game versus the New York Jets on the road. However, the Raiders were coming off a pair of losses where they scored less than 20 points, and looked to George to help correct course against the Chiefs. With that, it was time to play some football.

The Chiefs got the ball on the opening drive, and wasted little time in getting downfield as Gannon found running back Greg Hill for a 39-yard gain, setting up a field goal by Pete Stoyanovich for an early 3-0 lead. The Kansas City defense, which would end the year as the #1-ranked defense in the NFL, was able to hold the Raiders scoreless throughout the first quarter thanks to a quick three-and-out and fumble recovery by defensive end Vaughn Booker. Chiefs running back Donnell Bennett increased the lead to 10-0 with a nine-yard touchdown, where the score would stay going into the second quarter.

The Chiefs started off the quarter with another field goal, but the Raiders had their own chance to get on the board with their ensuing possession after a 29-yard pass from George to sophomore tight end Rickey Dudley. They eventually worked their way into the red zone, but a field goal attempt from kicker Cole Ford bounced off the left upright, ending what would be Oakland’s best drive of the day with no points. Taking advantage of the miscue, the Chiefs methodically marched down the field on a drive taking nearly eight minutes, before Gannon ran it in himself for a five-yard touchdown. The Raiders got nothing going on their next possession, allowing the Chiefs to take a 20-0 lead at halftime.

The teams traded punts to start the second half, which the Chiefs were likely fine with as this ran down the clock for about 10 minutes. Once the Raiders punted again, Bennett took most of the workload to wrap up the scoreless third quarter. Even with the Raiders knowing that the Chiefs were planning on running the ball the rest of the way, they were still able to work their way into field goal range. Stoyanovich connected on his third field goal of the game from 40 yards out, followed by another Raider three-and-out forced by the Kansas City defense. Bennett again saw a lot of carries, but Gannon was able to move the ball himself with a pair of surprise 20-yard completions. He fittingly ended the drive with a touchdown pass, hitting fullback Tony Richardson for a two-yard score. Oakland had one last chance to end the shutout, but a 4^th-and-20 pass play was thwarted by a sack from linebacker Wayne Simmons. With the game all but over, the Chiefs rode off into the afternoon sun with a 30-0 triumph.

This was the team’s first shutout win since a 34-0 drubbing of the Cleveland Browns on September 30^th, 1991, but, more pressingly, they were able to tie the Broncos for the lead in the AFC West at 11-3 as Denver fell to the Steelers 35-24. The Raiders dropped to 4-10 with the loss, with their losing skid continuing for the rest of 1997 as they ended the year at a dismal 4-12 record. George threw for just 102 yards while being sacked six times, two of which were credited to Simmons as the only player with multiple sacks on the day. Oakland’s rushing game arguably performed even worse, as leading rusher Harvey Williams had just 16 yards on the ground. Despite taking three sacks, Gannon had an effective game with 225 passing yards and two total touchdowns in the victory. The Chiefs went on to win the division at 13-3, defeating the San Diego (now Los Angeles) Chargers and New Orleans Saints to end the regular season. However, as fate would have it, they would be knocked out of the playoffs in the first round by the wild-card Broncos, who went on to win their first Super Bowl in franchise history a few weeks later.