Saints 13 Chiefs 25 The Saints gave too much help to a Chiefs team that didn't need any. Following Eric Guliford's return of the opening kickoff to the NO 39, Billy Joe Hobert moved the O downfield with a 17 yd throw to Andre Hastings on 1st & 10 and a 13 yd throw to Irv Smith on 3rd & 3. On 3rd & 10 from the KC 24, the drive ended when miscommunication produced an easy endzone INT. Kansas City came back with a drive that lasted nearly 8 minutes. The bulk of the yards gained came courtesy of starting QB Grbac and Anders- Anders caught a throw for 11 on 3rd & 8, then ran for 4 on 3rd & 3; Grbac scrambled for 11, then threw a screen to Anders for a 27 yd pickup on 3rd & 6. The forward progress ended thanks to a sack on 3rd & 3 from the 4. Stoyanovich kicked a 30 yarder to open the scoring. Guliford again gave the team good field position by returning the ensuing kickoff to the NO 41. Troy Davis ran for 16 on 1st down, but the drive ended up at the 50 thanks to a William Roaf false start and a backfield tackle of Ray Zellars. Mark Royals punted into the endzone. An illegal block killed the home team's possession, but on the Saints' next play from scrimmage Davis fumbled. KC recovered at midfield and launched The Marcus Allen Show- the Chiefs moved to the NO 14 on the strength of five runs and one catch by the venerable back. Once again, a sack halted the progress. Stoyanovich was good from 25 yds out. The O managed a single 1st before Royals was called upon. Vanover took in the punt at the 18 made his way down the right sideline for a TD. His teammates were so excited, they started to jump around like a bunch of Kansas City, um, Chiefs. The try for two fell incomplete, so with 5:47 left in the half it was 12-0 Chiefs. Hobert moved the team downfield by hitting Guliford for the needed yardage on 3rd & 4, finding Keith Poole for 3 on 3rd & 2, scrambling for 15, and going back to Guliford for 17. The drive ended with a rare Doug Brien miss from 41 yds out. Grbac knelt away the final 54 seconds of the half. To start the third quarter, the D yielded an 11 yd Hill run before pushing KC back 16 yds via a sack and a tackle behind the line. The ensuing Saint possession was about as successful- before long Royals was booming another one into the endzone. The visitors missed a golden opportunity when a Grbac throw hit Wayne Martin in the hands but fell to the wet turf. The O regained possession at the 38 following a punt. Another Guliford reception (thank goodness we re-signed him to a 2-year deal) netted 19, then on 3rd & 9 Hobert hit Hastings for 11. On 3rd & 11 from the KC 32, Poole took in a nice throw in the endzone to put the Saints on the board. The PAT made it 12-7 with 5:57 to go in the third. Just when it looked as though the D had produced a 1st-less series, punter Louie Aguiar barely picked up the needed 5 yds on a keeper. Aguiar came on and did his everyday job after KC survived a dropped INT by Rob Kelly. On 3rd & 5, a Hobert deep ball was intercepted by McMillian and returned to the NO 34. Gammon came in for Grbac but was only able to net two yds in five plays. The Chiefs came out as if to attempt a 49 yarder but instead pooch punted the ball to the 7. The field position ploy paid off when the O couldn't get a 1st and Vanover returned the punt to the 8. With 11:21 left in the game, Allen ran it in from 3 yds out. The try for two failed. The dam broke shortly thereafter- McMillian picked off a Hobert overthrow and returned it to the 7 in order to get back at me for consistently misspelling his name last year. Popson scored on a 3 yd TD toss, and the captial of Nebraska is Lincoln! The kick made it 25-7 Chiefs. Danny Wuerffel came in for Hobert but only took a couple of snaps before Zellars coughed up the ball. The D earned a moral victory by pushing back the Billy Joe Tolliver-led Chiefs from the NO 37 to the KC 46, thus allowing DW to lead a late drive that culminated in a 14 yd Poole TD catch (Zellars was stopped short on the try for two). Kansas City recovered the onside kick, ran out the clock, and ended the Saints' season. stats & yardage histograms (from my notes, not official) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ..runnin'....../.......throwin' & catchin'.... 1- 15 b.j. Hobert 1- 0 D. wuerffel 18- 43 r. Zellars 1- 6 5- 42 T. davis 1- 3 A. hastings 3- 34 E. guliford 4- 53 K. poole 2- 35-1 1- 14-1 I. smith 1- 13 25-100 TOTAL 11-141-1 2- 17-1 incomplete 11 2 intercepted 3 0 T DT T <--runs Z ZZZ Z H ZZZ ZZZZ ZZ ZZZZ TT ***************************************************************************** - 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 yards gained 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 <------ ***************************************************************************** KE A A EK E E K T Z I A <--passes ..runnin'....../.......throwin' & catchin'.... 4- 17 E. grbac r. Gannon 2- (2) b.J. tolliver 10- 29 g. Hill 9- 51-1 m. Allen 1- 5 3- 5 K. anders 3- 35 1- (8) 10- 40 d. Bennett 1- (6) 2- 9 t. Richardson t. Popson 1- 12 1- 3-1 T. gonzales 1- 9 1- 5 L. aguiar 41-149-1 TOTAL 5- 52 3- 6-1 1- (8) incomplete 9 1 0 intercepted 0 0 0 K H HR J BKL H KJ BHR H H <--runs HE ABAAAEB E HBHEBBHABAAABA B ***************************************************************************** - 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 yards gained 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 <------ ***************************************************************************** K B K P A T KP K <--passes comments ^^^^^^^^ * for the first time this season, our special teamers were outplayed * Hill, Mickell, and Harvey did not play ******************************************************************************* Frank Serpas III serpas@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu