NFL Old School Game of the Week: Chiefs Come From Behind To Beat Packers in Shootout

Eddie Kennison scores the game-winning touchdown, a 51-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Trent Green. six minutes and eighteen seconds into overtime.

When the Kansas City Chiefs traveled to Lambeau Field to face the Green Bay Packers in Week 6 of the 2003 NFL season, many fans were hoping for a shootout between the two teams' high-powered offenses.

Both teams would not disappoint in game which featured over 900 yards of total offense and 74 points combined between the two teams.

The Chiefs entered the game undefeated with a 5-0 record under head coach Dick Vermeil, who had helped built an explosive offense much like the one he had built to win the Super Bowl with the then St. Louis Rams during the 1999 season.

The Chiefs offense was directed by quarterback Trent Green, who was reunited with Vermeil in Kansas City after losing his starting quarterback job in the 1999 preseason when he suffered torn ligaments after a hit by Chargers safety Rodney Harrison, paving the way for Kurt Warner to swoop in and lead the Rams to the Super Bowl title.

Green had a variety of weapons at his disposal including running back Priest Holmes, who lead the league in rushing in 2001 as he ran for 1,555 yards, then followed that season up with a 1,615 yard and 21 touchdown season in 2002, and tight end Tony Gonzalez who had been to the Pro Bowl the past four seasons.

But the Chiefs' ultimate weapon was kick returner Dante Hall, who had begun the 2003 season, by returning either a kickoff or a punt for a touchdown in the previous four games.

Meanwhile, the Packers entered the game with a 3-2 record who were looking for their third straight win.

The Packers were led by quarterback Brett Favre, who was in his 12th season as the Packers' starting quarterback, who had a explosive running back to match Holmes in Ahman Green, who had rushed for over 1,000 yards the last three seasons.

Both Greens, Trent and Ahman, would play a huge factor in the outcome of this Week 6 game.

Chiefs running back Priest Holmes would carry the ball 22 times for 81 yards and catch six passes for 59 yards.

After the Chiefs were forced to punt on their opening possession, the Packers drove 80 yards in 11 plays as Favre was a perfect 6-of-6 for 75 yards on the drive which included completions of 26 yards to Donald Driver and a 23-yarder to Robert Ferguson.

The drive ended with Favre hitting tight end Bubba Franks for a one-yard touchdown to give Green Bay a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter.

Favre stayed hot on the Packers' ensuing possession as he hit Ahman for 21 yards, then connected with tight end Wesley Walls for 36 yards, to set up Ahman's four-yard touchdown run which increased the Green Bay lead to 14-0 with 2:44 left in the opening quarter.

The Chiefs seemed poised to go three-and-out for the third straight possession as they faced a 3rd & 9 at their 21-yard-line when Green hit Johnnie Morton for 38 yards to give Kansas City its first 1st down of the game at the Packers' 41-yard-line.

This would eventually lead to a 26-yard touchdown pass from Green to Gonzalez to put the Chiefs on the scoreboard as they cut the Packers' lead to 14-7 with just 42 seconds left in the first quarter.

Bolstered the touchdown, the Chiefs defense forced their first three-and-out of the game on the Packers' next possession to get the ball back at their 45-yard-line following a 30-yard return by Hall on the punt.

This would lead to an eight-play, 55-yard drive which culminated with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Green to Morton which tied the game 14-14 with 9:22 to go in the second quarter.

The Packers would respond with a 14-play, 80-yard drive which took seven minutes and ended when Favre connected with Ahman for a 11-yard touchdown to put the Packers back on top at 21-14 with 2:22 to go in the first half.

With time winding down before halftime, the Chiefs tried to drive to get more points on the board but their drive stalled at Green Bay 45-yard-line, forcing a punt back to the Packers, who ran out the clock in the first half as they went into the locker room with a 21-14 lead and would be getting the ball to start the second half.

When Green Bay got the ball to start the second half, Favre went back to being perfect as he completed all five of his passes for 33 yards on an eight-play, 76-yard drive which ended with a 18-yard touchdown run by Najeh Davenport to increase the Packers' lead to 28-14.

The Packers kept the momentum going as they forced the Chiefs to go three-and-out on their opening possession of the second half and got the ball at their 49-yard-line after Jason Baker shanked his punt which went for 28 yards.

After a three-yard loss on 1st down, Favre hit Walls for back-to-back completions totaling 20 yards to give the Packers a 1st down at the Chiefs' 34-yard-line.

That is when the much maligned Chiefs defense rose up and stopped the Packers, allowing only two yards on the next three plays, forcing the Packers to settle for a 50-yard field goal by Ryan Longwell which increased their lead to 31-14 with just over six minutes to go in the third quarter.

Packers quarterback Brett Favre would complete 25 of 36 passes for 272 yards and throw two touchdowns.

Following Longwell's field goal, the defenses would take over as neither team could mount a scoring threat for the rest of the third quarter as the Packers went into the final 15 minutes still holding on to a 31-14 lead.

But things began to change early in the 4th quarter when Hall returned a Packers punt 32 yards to the Green Bay 42-yard-line, setting up a short six-play drive which culminated with an one-yard touchdown run by Holmes which brought the Chiefs to back within 10 points at 31-21 with 12:25 to go in the 4th quarter.

The Packers would get the ball back at their 29-yard-line and proceeded to go their running attack to drive down the field as they ran the ball on four of their next five plays, picking up 30 yards in the process to drive the Packers into Kansas City territory.

But on 3rd & 6 at the Chiefs' 32-yard-line, Favre was picked off by free safety Jerome Woods on a pass intended for Driver, who then ran it back for a 79-yard pick-six that brought the Chiefs to within a field goal at 31-28 with exactly nine minutes to go in the 4th quarter.

The momentum had clearly shifted back to the Chiefs as they forced a three-and-out on the Packers' ensuing possession to get the ball back at their 20-yard-line when Green connected with Gonzalez for a 67-yard completion to give the Chiefs a 1st down at the Green Bay 13-yard-line.

However, a false start penalty on Gonzalez and three plays netted only one yard forced the Chiefs to settle for a 34-yard field goal by Morten Andersen which tied the game 31-31 with 5:45 left in regulation.

With their 17-point lead having been evaporated in just a span of six minutes and 40 seconds, the Packers took over at their 29-yard-line looking to break the 31-31 tie and retake the lead.

After Favre connected with Driver for six yards to open the drive, the Packers went Ahman who carried the ball 16 yards to a 1st down at the Kansas City 49-yard-line, then got the ball again and ran for 26 more yards to another 1st down at the Kansas City 23-yard-line.

But the drive would stall at the Chiefs' 23-yard-line and the Packers would settle for a 41-yard field goal by Longwell to give them a 34-31 lead with 2:48 left in regulation.

The Chiefs would take over at their 10-yard-line with two timeouts in their pocket and needing to drive at least into field goal range to give Andersen at a chance of tying the game with a field goal.

The drive would start off with a four-yard run by Green, which became a 19-yard play after Packers defensive tackle Cletidus Hunt was called for grabbing a face mask to give Kansas City a 1st down at their 29-yard-line.

Then after the next two plays picked up only one yard, Green hit Morton for 14 yards and a 1st down at the Chiefs' 44-yard-line.

This was followed by back-to-back 12-yard completions, the first to Gonzalez and the second to Holmes, which put the Chiefs at the Packers' 32-yard-line.

Holmes would carry the ball on the next two plays gaining seven yards to set up 3rd & 3 when Holmes caught a 12-yard screen pass from Green to give the Chiefs a 1st down at the Green Bay 13-yard-line with just 13 seconds left in regulation.

Green took two shots at the end zone but both passes fell incomplete forcing Kansas City to settle for a 31-yard field goal by Andersen which tied the game at 34 as time expired in regulation.

Chiefs quarterback Trent Green threw for exactly 400 yards and three touchdowns on 27-of-45 passing.

The Chiefs would win the overtime coin toss and got the ball at their 29-yard-line when they decided to rely on Holmes in hopes of carrying Kansas City down the field in hopes of setting up a game-winning field goal.

Holmes would carry the ball nine straight times, gaining 41 yards to drive Kansas City to the Packers' 30-yard-line where they faced a 3rd & 2.

That is when Green decided to put up in the air, only for his pass to fall incomplete, but still in range for Andersen to come on and kick the game-winning field goal from 48 yards out.

But the future Hall-of-Fame kicker's attempt at a game-winning field goal would be blocked by Hunt, giving the Packers the ball at their 39-yard-line with a chance to drive down the field and kick the game-winning field goal.

On the first play from scrimmage, Favre handed the ball to Ahman, who ran for eight yards, but lost the football when the helmet of Woods knocked the football loose, which was recovered by Chiefs linebacker Mike Maslowski to give Kansas City the ball back at their 49-yard-line.

That is when Green decided to go deep and fire a pass down the right side of the field for Eddie Kennison, who had made only one catch all day long.

Kennison made the catch around the Green Bay 20-yard-line and then proceeded to outrun Packers defensive back Bhawoh Jue for the walk-off 51-yard touchdown to give the Chiefs a 40-34 win and keep their undefeated season intact as they moved to 6-0.

The Chiefs would eventually run their record up to 9-0 until they lost to the Cincinnati Bengals 24-19 in Week 11 to end Kansas City hopes of an undefeated season.

Kansas City would finish the season with a 13-3 record good enough to earn the #2 seed in the AFC and a first-round-bye.

But the Chiefs would fall to Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts 38-31 in their divisional playoff, the only time Kansas City made the playoffs under Vermeil who retired after the 2005 season.

As for the Packers, they would continue to struggle for the next few weeks of the season until a four-game winning streak in December, coupled with a 18-17 loss by the Minnesota Vikings on the last play of the game to the Arizona Cardinals in the regular season finale, gave Green Bay the NFC North title and a spot in the playoffs.

The Packers would knock off the Seattle Seahawks 33-27 in overtime of their Wild Card Game, but would fall to the Philadelphia Eagles 20-17 in overtime in the Divisional Round after the Eagles converted on 4th & 26 on their final possession of regulation where they were able to kick the game-tying field goal.