NFL Old School Game of the Week: Chiefs Beat Chargers on Walk-off Overtime Punt Return

Tamarick Vanover became the first player in NFL history to return an overtime punt for a touchdown.

In the first 75 years of the history of the National Football League, no one had ever returned a punt for a touchdown in overtime.

That changed in Week 6 of the 1995 NFL season as the Kansas City Chiefs hosted the San Diego Chargers in a key AFC West showdown on Monday Night Football.

The Chiefs came into the game with a 4-1 record under head coach Marty Schottenheimmer, who was in his seventh season as head coach of the Chiefs.

The Chiefs came into the year with questions at quarterback as Joe Montana, who Kansas City had acquired in 1993, had retired from the NFL.

Montana's replacement, Steve Bono, had helped Kansas City got off to a good start along with running back Marcus Allen and a ferocious defense which featured linebacker Derrick Thomas.

The Chiefs also potentially found a new weapon in rookie kick returner Tamarick Vanover, who had a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown in Kansas City' week 1 win over the Seattle Seahawks.

The Chiefs' opponent were the Chargers, who were the defending AFC Champions and came into the game with Kansas City with a 3-2 record under head coach Bobby Ross.

The Chargers still had the core of players that had led them to the Super Bowl the previous year in quarterback Stan Humphries, running back Natrone Means, and linebacker Junior Seau.

As fans gathered to fill Arrowhead Stadium, many were wondering if this game would go into overtime much like the Chiefs' previous two home games which Kansas City won as they defeated the New York Giants 20-17 in Week 2 and the Oakland Raiders 29-23 in week 3.

The Chargers got the ball to start the game as they converted on four 3rd down situations on a 19-play, 63-yard drive that took over nine minutes and did not until John Carney's 28-yard field goal to put San Diego ahead 3-0.

The Chiefs were fortunate to only giving up three points as San Diego a 2nd & goal at the Kansas City one-yard-line only to have a false start penalty and a four-yard loss push them back to the 10-yard-line where the Chargers would settle for the field goal.

Then it was the Chiefs' turn to have a time-consuming drive as they held the ball for nearly seven-and-a-half minutes as they drove 67 yards in 14 plays to set up a 21-yard field goal by Lin Elliott to tie the game at 3 with 13:24 left in the second quarter.

The Chargers would be given great field position to start their next drive as Andre Coleman returned the ensuing kickoff 54 yards to the Kansas City 37-yard-line.

From there, a three-yard run by Means, followed by a 14-yard pass from Humphries to Means, and then a 15-yard pass interference penalty on Chiefs cornerback Dale Carter gave San Diego a 1st & goal at the Kansas City five-yard-line.

Means would get the ball on the next two plays with the second carry being a two-yard touchdown to give the Chargers a 10-3 lead with 11:24 remaining in the second quarter.

The Chiefs would respond with another long drive as they drove 63 yards in 13 plays, taking six minutes off the clock, as Elliott would make a 28-yard field goal to cut the Chargers' lead to 10-6.

The Chiefs would catch a break on the ensuing kickoff as Coleman fumbled the ball following a hit by Chiefs defensive back Martin Bayless, who also made the recovery to give Kansas City the ball at the Chargers' 22-yard-line.

A 20-yard pass from Bono to tight end Lake Dawson followed by an one-yard run by Allen would set up Bono's one-yard touchdown pass to Kimber Anders to give the Chiefs their first lead of the game at 13-10 with 3:53 left in the first half.

The Chiefs would force the Chargers to punt on their ensuing possession to get the ball back at their 20-yard-line as Bono completed passes of 36 yards to Webster Slaughter and 16 yards to Dawson to help get Kansas City to the San Diego 18-yard-line until Bono was sacked by Chargers defensive end Raylee Johnson who forced a fumble that was recovered by defensive tackle Shawn Lee.

With just 43 seconds left before halftime, the Chargers went to a no-huddle offense as Humphries completed three of seven passes for 32 yards that with two Kansas City penalties for 20 yards help set up Carney's 36-yard field goal to tie the game at 13 following 30 minutes of play.

Chargers quarterback Stan Humphries completed 24 of 34 passes for 315 yards and threw a touchdown.

The Chiefs got the ball to start the second half but went three-and-out to punt the ball back to the Chargers who were poised to take the lead as Humphries connected with Tony Martin for a 30-yard reception, only to have Martin lose the football at the end of the play, which was recovered by Chiefs linebacker Tracy Simien at the Kansas City 11-yard-line.

Following an exchange of punts, the Chiefs got the ball back at their 15-yard-line as they were able to drive 54 yards in 11 plays to set up Elliott's 49-yard field goal to put Kansas City back on top, 16-13 with 12:19 left in the fourth quarter.

The Chargers would begin its next possession at their 27-yard-line as they methodically drove into Kansas City territory when Humphries threw a bomb to Shawn Jefferson, whose 45-yard reception would set up a four-yard touchdown pass from Humphries to tight end Shannon Mitchell to give San Diego a 20-16 lead with  6:50 left in the fourth quarter.

The Chargers would force the Chiefs to go three-and-out on their ensuing possession to get the ball back at their 28-yard-line with 4:38 left and a chance to ice the game away.

After two runs by Means lost one yard, Humphries threw a screen pass to running back Ronnie Harmon, who turned the short pass into a 44-yard reception to give San Diego a 1st down at the Kansas City 28-yard-line.

Two straight runs by Means picked up 11 more yards and another 1st down at the Kansas City 17-yard-line when Harmon got the ball only to be dropped for a four-yard loss as the Chiefs spent their last timeout before Humphries hit tight end Duane Yong for 12 yards to set up a crucial 3rd & 2 at the Chiefs' nine-yard-line.

That is when Kansas City linebacker Anthony Davis dropped Means for a two-yard loss forcing the Chargers to settle for a 29-yard field goal by Carney which increased San Diego's lead to 23-16 but left 72 seconds on the clock for the Chiefs to force overtime.

The Chiefs would begin their ensuing possession at their 21-yard-line as Bono's first pass intended for Anders was battered down by the Chargers defense to force 2nd down when Bono found Dawson across the middle for 27 yards and a 1st down at the Kansas City 48-yard-line.

Following a spike to stop the clock, Bono would complete three passes in a row, first hitting Willie Davis for seven yards, then Allen for six, and then Slaughter for 16 yards to put the Chiefs at the San Diego 23-yard-line with 25 seconds to go.

After an offsides penalty on the Chargers and an incomplete pass, Bono fired a pass down the middle for tight end Derrick Walker, who made the catch at the two-yard-line then lunged for the end zone to complete the 18-yard touchdown that along with Elliott's extra point tied the game at 23 with 15 seconds left in regulation.

When the Chargers' offense came back onto the field to try and win the game in regulation, they did so with backup quarterback Gale Gilbert as Humphries could not continue because of a sprained right shoulder.

Gilbert could not pull off a miracle in the final seconds of regulation as the game went into overtime tied 23-23 as San Diego won the coin toss to get the ball to start the extra period.

Chiefs quarterback Steve Bono threw for 329 yards and two touchdown passes.

Gilbert was able to lead the Chargers to the Chiefs' 40-yard-line until a four-yard loss on a Means carry and a quarterback sack by Neil Smith forced the Chargers to punt the ball back to the Chiefs who took over at their 15-yard-line.

However, the Chiefs would go three-and-out to punt it back to the Chargers, who took over at their 43-yard-line, but would also go three-and-out to punt the back to the Chiefs.

That is when Vanover etched his name into NFL history as he received the punt at his 14-yard-line, made a juke move that caused two Chargers to fall onto the ground, then cut to his left as he was able to run down the sideline outrunning the San Diego punting unit for the shocking 86-yard touchdown to give Kansas City a 29-23 win and first place in the AFC West.

Both teams would go on to make the playoffs as the Chiefs finished the regular season with a 13-3 record, good enough to earn the #1 seed in the AFC playoffs while the Chargers would finish with a 9-7 record to earn a Wild Card spot.

However, both teams would be upset by the Indianapolis Colts as the Colts knocked off the Chargers 35-20 in the Wild Card round, then shocked the Chiefs 10-7 in the Divisional Round(To read about the Ind-KC game, please click on the link which is highlighted here: https://oldschoolsportsblog.blogspot.com/2019/01/nfl-old-school-game-of-week-colts-shock.html).

As for Vanover, he would remain with the Chiefs until 1999 after five seasons where he finished with eight career touchdown, four coming courtesy of the punt return and four coming courtesy of the kickoff return.