NFL

Broncos crush Chiefs

By wire services
Published September 27, 2005

DENVER - Rod Smith, Mike Anderson and the Broncos made that newfangled Kansas City defense seem a lot like the old one. And that vaunted Chiefs offense looked bad, too.

Anderson ran for a 44-yard touchdown, and Smith became the first undrafted player to reach 10,000 receiving yards Monday as the Broncos routed Kansas City 30-10.

Jake Plummer went 13-of-18 for 152 yards and a touchdown and ran for a score.

"I didn't do much but just guided them down the field," Plummer said.

Kansas City's Trent Green finally threw his first touchdown of the season with two minutes left, a 21-yarder to Samie Parker. But it was cosmetic, a score that helped Dick Vermeil avoid his worst loss as a coach and the Chiefs avoid matching their worst loss in the 46-year history of this AFC West series.

Green had 27 touchdown passes last season for the league's most productive offense. The Chiefs were anything but productive Monday.

Priest Holmes finished with only 61 yards, and Larry Johnson had 13 yards on eight carries.

Harassed by Gerard Warren and Courtney Brown, two members of Denver's revamped defensive line, Green finished 23-of-44 for 221 yards and the late touchdown.

"I think we proved we can play with the best of them," Broncos defensive end Trevor Pryce said. "That was the best offense in the NFL, make no doubt about it."

When the Broncos weren't making Kansas City look bad, the Chiefs were doing it themselves. They finished with 118 yards in penalties, including eight penalties in the first half in falling behind 20-0.

The perennially soft Kansas City defense added players this season, most notably defensive backs Patrick Surtain and Sammy Knight and linebacker Kendrell Bell. And when the Chiefs allowed a combined 24 points in their first two games, it looked like the fixes were working.

They took a big step backward against the Broncos.

Anderson, who has struggled since hurting his ribs in the first half of the opener against Miami, went through a huge hole untouched in the first quarter for his long score and a 10-0 lead.

Three plays later, Brown recovered his second fumble of the season. The Broncos scored right away when Plummer hit Smith from 12 yards.

Smith caught seven passes for 80 yards. He hit his milestone with a 19-yard catch in the third quarter, making him the 24th player to reach 10,000 yards.

Five plays later, Plummer bootlegged in from a yard to give the Broncos a 27-3 lead. Early in the fourth, Smith took a rough hit from Knight after catching an 11-yard pass but walked off the field under his own power. He was diagnosed with a concussion and did not return. The Broncos also lost cornerback Champ Bailey to a hamstring injury in the second quarter.

[Last modified September 27, 2005, 02:45:31]