It’s already week 10 of the NFL season, and on this week’s slate of games there is a matchup of a pair of old American Football League rivals, the Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos. Our Throwback Thursday time machine will travel back to October 29, 1967 for this week’s TBT feature, when these Western Division clubs clashed. The Chiefs were defending AFL champions, having beaten Buffalo in the 1966 title game to advance to the initial AFL-NFL Championship game. Maybe the pounding they took from Green Bay in that game affected their psyche, or maybe it was the first case ever of “Super Bowl hangover”, but after starting the ’67 season with a pair of victories, the Chiefs had now suddenly lost 3 of 4 contests to fall to 3-3 for the year.
Facing a downtrodden Denver team coming into the game with a 1-6 record, this was a perfect opportunity for the Chiefs to right the ship and get their season back on track. They wasted little time in doing that. Fullback Curtis McClinton scored on a 1 yard plunge and Len Dawson hit tight end Fred Arbanas with a 14 yard touchdown pass to end the first quarter with his club ahead 14-0. In the second quarter, Dawson found his favorite target, Otis Taylor, on a 30 yard TD throw, then coach Hank Stram unleashed his slippery little back, Mike Garrett, who proceeded to gash the Bronco defense for touchdown runs of 20 and 8 yards. The rout was on as the score was now 35-0, but Denver stemmed the tide with a Steve Tensi to Al Denson scoring bomb of 48 yards to make it 35-7. Dawson matched that before the half with a 5 yard TD toss to Gene Thomas to up the lead to 42-7.
In the third quarter, the Broncos showed some fight, slowing down the K.C. attack and providing the only scoring of the period when they tackled Johnny Robinson in the end zone for a safety after he had intercepted a Tensi pass and tried to run with it. The final quarter went the Chiefs’ way again, as they added a Jan Stenerud field goal and a 15 yard touchdown run by backup halfback Bert Coan, putting the final touches on a 52-9 romp. Statistically, Garrett enjoyed a fine day with 20 carries for 101 yards and the 2 TDs, along with 37 receiving yards. Denson was a bright spot for Denver with 4 catches for 107 and his team’s lone touchdown. The win turned the Chiefs’ fortunes back in the right direction, and they went on to finish 9-5 for the year. However, despite being defending champs, it wasn’t good enough to qualify for the playoffs (there were no wild cards in that era) as the Oakland Raiders dominated the AFL Western Division with a stellar 13-1 record. Denver finished in it’s familiar spot – in the Western Division cellar – with a 3-11 record.
Chiefs’ back Mike Garrett