Grbac finds power to lift Chiefs to third straight win

Elvis Grbac helped Kansas City to a 24-17 victory over the Seattle Seahawks, as the Chiefs recorded their third consecutive win and handed Seattle their first defeat in three games.

Elvis Grbac helped Kansas City to a 24-17 victory over the Seattle Seahawks, as the Chiefs recorded their third consecutive win and handed Seattle their first defeat in three games.

Trailing 17-7 and backed up to their own five-yard line late in the third period, Grbac sparked his offence into life with a 73-yard completed pass to Derrick Alexander. Two plays later, he hit Alexander again for to cut the deficit to three points, and Mike Cloud then ran 15 yards to put the Chiefs into the lead late in the fourth quarter.

After gaining only 36 yards in the first half, the Kansas City offence hit their stride in the last two quarters and were the key to the victory. Grbac threw for a total of 256 yards and two touchdowns, and Cloud's score capped a four-play, 51-yard drive and completed a string of 17 unanswered points for Kansas. In the process, the Chiefs rushed for a season-high 146 yards, after averaging under three yards per carry for their first four games.

Meanwhile, Grbac's Seattle counterpart, Jon Kitna, was sacked six times and completed 17-of-28 passes for 140 yards. After a reasonable first half, he was unable to dent the Chiefs' defence in the latter stages as they visibly fed off the success of Grbac's offensive power.

The Seahawks had taken a 17-7 lead with a 27-yard field goal in the third quarter by the rookie Rian Lindell, who was making his first NFL start. But, four minutes later, Grbac stepped back to find Alexander streaking down the right side, beating Shawn Springs before Reggie Tongue dragged him down from behind. One play later, Alexander beat Springs in the end zone from a 17-yard pass, giving the Chiefs a three-play scoring drive, with Grbac-to-Alexander accounting for 90 of the 95 yards.

* Radio broadcasts of NFL games will be available on the Internet following a deal between the league and Yahoo! Beginning this Sunday, 90 per cent of the teams' local radio broadcasts can be heard on nfl.com or team sites.