NFL Old School Game of the Week: Chiefs Stun Raiders with Last Second TD Pass from Grbac to Rison

Andre Rison would catch eight passes for 162 yards including the game-winning touchdown in the Chiefs' 1997 game with the Raiders.

 One of the most intense rivalries in the history of the National Football League between the Oakland(now Las Vegas) Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs with one of their most thrilling chapters coming in the second week of the 1997 NFL season when the Chiefs traveled to the bay area to take on the Raiders on Monday Night Football.

The Chiefs came into the game with a 0-1 record as they had lost their season opener to the Denver Broncos 19-3.

Kansas City was looking to return to the NFL playoffs after missing out in 1996 following a six-year streak of making the playoffs under head coach Marty Schottenheimer who became the Chiefs head coach before the 1989 season.

The Chiefs had a new starting quarterback for the '97 season as Elvis Grbac had been signed as a free agent after serving as Steve Young's backup with the San Francisco 49ers for four seasons.

Grbac joined an offense which featured former Raiders running back Marcus Allen as well as wide receiver Andre Rison, who had also signed with the Chiefs as a free agent prior to the start of the '97 season.

Their opponent, the Oakland Raiders, also came into the game with a 0-1 record as they had lost their regular season opener, a 24-21 overtime loss to the Tennessee Oilers in the first ever NFL game played in the state of Tennessee(To read about that game, click on the link which is highlighted https://oldschoolsportsblog.blogspot.com/2017/09/nfl-old-school-game-of-week.html )

The Raiders were also ushering in a new starting quarterback as Jeff George had been signed as a free agent after his tumultuous exit with the Atlanta Falcons as Oakland owner Al Davis hoped that George along with first-year head coach Joe Bugel could lead the silver & black back to the postseason for the first time since they moved back to Oakland in 1995.

The Chiefs would get the ball to start the game as they were drive from their 20-yard-line to their 45-yard-line before punting the back to the Raiders who would take over at their 19-yard-line.

The Raiders would ride the right arm of George down the field as he would complete four of five passes for 55 yards on the drive with his only incompletion being a throw away as the drive would end with running back Napoleon Kaufman would punch it in for a 10-yard touchdown to give Oakland a 7-0 lead.

The Chiefs would begin their next drive at their 25-yard-line as a 43-yard run by Kimber Anders would put Kansas City in Raiders territory as Kansas City would drive to the Oakland six-yard-line before settling for a 23-yard field goal by Pete Stoyanovich to cut the Raiders' lead to 7-3 with 2:14 left in the first quarter.

The two teams would trade punts as the game moved into the second quarter until the Chiefs got the ball at the Raiders' 44-yard-line as it would take Kansas City six plays to get into the end zone as Grbac would throw a five-yard touchdown pass to Anders to give the Chiefs a 10-7 lead midway through the second quarter.

The two teams would go back to trading punts until the Raiders got the ball at their 10-yard-line with 3:52 left in the second quarter as the drive would begin with a three-yard loss for Kaufman which was followed by a 13-yard pass from George to wide receiver Tim Brown to give Oakland a 1st down at its 20-yard-line.

After an incomplete pass on 1st down, George would connect with Brown on back-to-back completions that totaled 33 yards to put the Raiders at the Kansas City 47-yard-line as the two-minute warning hit.

George would hit Brown one more time on the drive, this time for nine yards, as the Raiders would move to the Chiefs' 13-yard-line until Oakland had to settle for a 32-yard field goal by Cole Ford to tie the game at 10 with 1:03 left before halftime.

Chiefs quarterback Elvis Grbac would complete 21 of 35 passes for 312 yards and throw two touchdowns.

The Chiefs would start their ensuing possession at their 10-yard-line with a 43-yard pass from Grbac to Rison to put Kansas City at the Oakland 47-yard-line with 45 seconds left as the Chiefs spent a timeout.

Following the timeout, Allen would run for six yards followed by a 10-yard pass from Grbac to Brett Perriman to give the Chiefs a 1st down at the Oakland 31-yard-line with 23 seconds left as KC spent its last timeout.

Grbac would hit Rison again, this time for 19 yards which was followed by an Oakland penalty to give the Chiefs a 1st & goal at the Oakland seven-yard-line as Grbac would throw an incomplete pass, leaving enough time for Stoyanovich to come on and kick a 24-yard field goal to tie the game at 10 at the end of the first half.

The Raiders would get the ball to start the second half as it would take only take Oakland two plays to drive into Kansas City territory as Brown would run for 12 yards which was followed by a 22-yard pass from George to tight end Ricky Dudley to put the Raiders at the Chiefs' 42-yard-line.

An offsides penalty on the Chiefs would move the Raiders to the Kansas City 37-yard-line when George fired a pass for Dudley, who made the catch at the KC 15-yard-line and then ran it in to complete the 37-yard touchdown to give Oakland a 17-10 lead just 1:57 into the second half.

The Chiefs would get good field position to start their next possession as Tamarick Vanover returned the ensuing kickoff 42 yards to the Kansas City 39-yard-line as the Chiefs would drive to the Oakland 49-yard-line until Allen fumbled the football after a hit by Raiders defensive end Larry Johnstone as defensive tackle Chester Mcglockton would make the recovery at the Oakland 46-yard-line.

A seven-yard pass from George to Jett would put the Raiders in Kansas City territory as Kaufman ran for 41 yards on the next play to play Oakland at the Chiefs' 16-yard-line when George connected with Dudley again for a 16-yard touchdown to increase the Silver & Black's lead to 24-10 with 10:23 to go in the third quarter.

Things would go from bad to worse for the Chiefs on the ensuing kickoff when Vanover lost the football at the end of a 17-yard return as Oakland linebacker Rob Holmberg would recover the fumble at the Kansas City 16-yrd-line to give the Raiders a chance to perhaps put the game out of reach.

However, Oakland could not take advantage as George threw three straight incomplete passes, leading the Raiders to settle for a 34-yard field goal by Ford which increased Oakland's lead to 27-13 with 9:50 left in the third quarter.

Having given up 17 points in a span of 3 minutes and 13 seconds, the Chiefs needed a score as they would begin their next drive at their 34-yard-line after a 34-yard return by Vanover on the kickoff.

On the next play from scrimmage, Grbac would hit Rison for 23 yards to put the Chiefs at the Raiders' 43-yard-line as Grbac would complete a 15-yard pass to Anders to give Kansas City a 1st down at the Oakland 28-yard-line.

After an Anders run which lost two yards, Grbac would complete a 16-yard pass to Rison to give the Chiefs a 1st & 10 at the Raiders' 14-yard-line as running back Greg Hill would catch a seven-yard pass which was followed by two runs by Hill for two yards to set up 4th & 1.

Schottenheimer would settle for the field goal as Stoyanovich would come on and kick a 23-yard field goal to cut the Raiders' lead to 27-16 with 5:26 to go in the third quarter.

Following an exchange of punts, the Raiders got the ball back at their 45-yard-line when George tried to hit Dudley on a shovel pass only for Chiefs defensive back Darren Anderson intercept the pass and run it back for a 55-yard pick-six to cut the Oakland lead to 27-22.

Raiders wide receiver Tim Brown would catch 11 passes for 155 yards.

The Chiefs would go for two but it would be unsuccessful as Grbac's pass for Rison fell incomplete to keep the score at 27-22 in favor of the Raiders with 65 seconds left in the third quarter.

After another exchange of punts, the Raiders would get the ball back at their six-yard-line as George would complete back-to-back passes to Brown for a total of 25 yards to help Oakland move to its 44-yard-line until George was intercepted again, this time by cornerback Dale Carter, whose nine-yard return give Kansas City the ball at the Raiders' 43-yard-line.

But the Oakland defense would rise to the occasion as Grbac would be sacked by defensive tackle Darren Russell for a 12-yard loss to force Kansas City to punt the ball back to the Raiders who would take over at their 26-yard-line with 4:33 left in the game.

The drive would get off to an auspicious start as Kaufman would be dropped for a four-yard loss on 1st down to set up 2nd & 14 when George completed a 17-yard pass to Brown to give the Raiders a 1st down at their 39-yard-line.

Two runs by Kaufman would cost the Raiders three yards as the Chiefs spent their last two timeouts as Oakland prepared to face a 3rd & 13 situation with 3:16 to go in the game when George completed a short pass to Kaufman who turned it into a 26-yard gain to give the Raiders a 1st down at the Kansas City 39-yard-line.

Needing one more 1st down to win the game, the Raiders would give the ball to backup running back Joe Aska who gained three yards on the next two plays to set up a 3rd & 7 as the two-minute warning hit.

The Raiders would go back to Kaufman in hopes of picking up the 1st down only for him to be dropped for a three-yard loss as Oakland would punt the ball back to the Chiefs who would take over at their 20-yard-line with 58 seconds left on the clock and Kansas City needing a touchdown to win.

Grbac would hit tight end Lake Dawson for 21 yards to start the drive to put the Chiefs at their 41-yard-line as Dawson would catch another pass but would go for no gain on 1st & 10 which was followed by an incomplete pass to bring up 3rd & 10 when Grbac found Perriman for a 27-yard gain to put Kansas City at the Raiders' 32-yard-line as Grbac would spike the ball to stop the clock with 11 seconds to go.

That is when Grbac fired a pass toward the left corner of the end zone where Rison would make the catch for the shocking 32-yard touchdown to give the Chiefs a 28-27 lead with just three seconds to go.

The Raiders would get one last chance at winning the game as Desmond Howard would return the ensuing kickoff 25 yards before being tackled by Chiefs linebacker Anthony Davis to end the game with Kansas City on top 28-27.

Following the heartbreaking loss, the Raiders would go on to have their worst season since 1962 as Oakland would go on to finish the season with a 4-12 record which result in Bugel's firing as head coach after just one season.

As for the Chiefs, they would go on to finish with the best record in the AFC as they would finish the regular season with a 13-3 record to earn home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.

However, the Chiefs would be one-and-done as they would lose to the Denver Broncos 14-10 in the Divisional Round which ended up being Kansas City's last playoff appearance under Schottenheimer as the Chiefs would not return to the postseason until 2003.