Raiders Knock Chiefs Out In OT

Those 80,000 Kansas City fans who cheered Rich Gannon before the game went home sadly aware of why they've always been so fond of him.

In his first return to Arrowhead Stadium since the Chiefc 4gld him he was nothing but a backup, Gannon led Oakland to a wild, 41-38 overtime victory Sunday that knocked his old team right out of the playoffs.

"I've had a love affair with the fans over the years," said Gannon, a popular backup for Steve Bono and Elvis Grbac from 1995-98 but signed a free agent contract this year with Oakland.

"It's a pretty special place to play. I feel like we've always had a love affair."

The Chiefs (9-7) knew Seattle had already lost to the New York Jets and that a victory in the seesaw regular-season finale would have given them the AFC West championship. But the loss, sealed by Joe Nedney's 33-yard field goal in overtime, plunged them all the way out of the playoffs.

Rebounding from a 17-0 deficit in a game that saw the lead change hands six times before overtime, the Raiders beat the Chiefs for just the third time in 21 games, and the first time in 11 games in Kansas City.

As a result, Seattle (9-7) is AFC West champion because the Seahawks beat the Chiefs twice.

Gannon was 25-for-47 for 324 yards and three touchdowns as the Raiders finished 8-8.

Nedney's 38-yarder tied the game 38-all with 45 seconds left. Then in the final seconds, Pete Stoyanovich missed from 44 yards. Ironically, Stoyanovich hit a 44-yarder in the final seconds to beat the Raiders on Nov. 28.

"It was like he got on it a little too much and it went left on him," said punter Daniel Pope, who holds on place kicks. "Nobody can complain about Pete Stoyanovich. He's made enough game-winners."

The Chiefs had at least five major mistakes in special teams. The last one came when Jon Baker pushed the kickoff out of bounds to start the overtime, letting the Raiders begin on their own 40. Gannon, who engineered a five-game winning streak for the Chiefs last year, hit Rickey Dudley for 21 yards and Tim Brown for 23 to set up Nedney's game-winner.

"We won the coin toss and the big play was the kick," Gannon said. "To get the ball on the 40 was huge."

Baker wiped tears out of his eyes when Nedney's game-winner sailed true.

"It was a physical error. I had a job to do and I didn't get it done," he said.

The Chiefs, who led 17-0 before Oakland rallied, took a 31-28 lead in the third period with a 13-play, 98-yard drive that included only one completed pass Elvis Grbac's 15-yard scoring strike to Joe Horn.

Grbac put the Chiefs back on top 38-35 by connecting with Kevin Lockett, who beat double coverage from Eric Allen and Charles Mincy on a 39-yard TD catch.

The Raiders, eliminated from contention the week before, looked miserable while falling behind the charged-up Chiefs. The Chiefs led 14-0 before their offense set foot on the field on Tamarick Vanover's 84-yard punt return and James Hasty's 34-yard interception return.

But instead of folding up, the Raiders came storming back with 21 straight points. Given new life on a drive when Derrick Thomas was flagged for roughing punter Leo Araguz, Oakland seized a 21-17 lead with 3:09 left in the half when Napoleon Kaufman turned Gannon's shovel pass into a 22-yard touchdown play.

Grbac engineered a 12-play, 84-yard march, hitting Kevin Lockett for gains of 9 and 21 yards before finding Tony Gonzalez on a 7-yard scoring pass that for a 24-21 lead with :54 left.

The Raiders, looking for their first victory in Kansas City since 1988, needed only 4 plays and 41 seconds to march 60 yards and make it 28-24. Gannon hit Wheatley for 23 yards with 10 seconds remaining in a wild first half.

On Oakland's first punt, Vanover sped 84 yards untouched because there was not a single Raider in the middle of the field. A moment later, Hasty picked off Gannon's bad throw and returned it 34 yards for his second TD of the season.

The Raiders began their rally with a special teams TD of their own when Marquis Walker blocked Pope's punt and Kenny Shedd plucked the ball out of the air and returned it 20 yards for a score.

The Raiders, who had totaled 51 yards on offense to that point, then reeled of 54 yards in nine plays, capped by Gannon's 12-yard TD pass to Zack Crockett that sliced the Chiefs' lead to 17-14.

Notes