1995 Kansas City Chiefs season

1995 Kansas City Chiefs season
Owner	Lamar Hunt
Head coach	Marty Schottenheimer
General manager	Carl Peterson
Home field	Arrowhead Stadium
Results
Record	13–3
Division place	1st AFC West
Playoff finish	Lost Divisional Playoffs (vs. Colts) 7–10
Pro Bowlers	QB Steve Bono FB Kimble Anders G Will Shields DE Neil Smith DT Dan Saleaumua LB Derrick Thomas CB Dale Carter
← 1994 Chiefs seasons 1996 →

The 1995 Kansas City Chiefs season was the franchise's 26th season in the National Football League, the 33rd as the Kansas City Chiefs and the 36th overall. The team improved on their 9–7 record from 1994 and finished the regular season with a 13–3 record and the AFC West division championship. However, the Chiefs suffered a devastating loss in the divisional round of the 1995–96 AFC playoffs when placekicker Lin Elliott missed three crucial field goals, allowing the Indianapolis Colts to win 10–7. Due to retirement of Joe Montana, the Chiefs made a change a quarterback by starting Steve Bono, who started two games in 1994 while Montana was injured.

Offseason[]

NFL draft[]

1995 Kansas City Chiefs draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	31	Trezelle Jenkins	Offensive tackle	Michigan
3	81	Tamarick Vanover	Wide receiver	Florida State
3	97	Troy Dumas	Linebacker	Nebraska
4	134	Steve Stenstrom	Quarterback	Stanford
5	155	Mike Pelton	Defensive tackle	Auburn
5	164	Jerrott Willard	Linebacker	California
6	202	Bryan Proby	Defensive tackle	Arizona State
6	207	Tom Barndt	Center	Pittsburgh
Made roster

^[1]

1995 Expansion Draft[]

Kansas City Chiefs selected during the Expansion Draft

Round	Overall	Name	Position	Expansion Team
9	18	Greg Kragen	NT	Carolina Panthers
20	39	Monty Grow	DB	Jacksonville Jaguars

Personnel[]

Staff[]

1995 Kansas City Chiefs staff

	Front office Founder – Lamar Hunt Chairman of the Board – Jack Steadman President/General Manager/Chief Executive Officer – Carl Peterson Assistant General Manager – Dennis Thum Vice President of Player Personnel – Lynn Stiles Director of Pro Personnel – Mark Hatley Director of College Scouting – Terry Bradway Head coaches Head Coach – Marty Schottenheimer Assistant Head Coach/Wide Receivers – Al Saunders Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Paul Hackett Quarterbacks – Mike McCarthy Running Backs – Jimmy Raye Tight Ends/Offensive Assistant – Offensive Line – Art Shell Offensive Quality Control – Jimmy Raye III			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Gunther Cunningham Defensive Line – Carl Hairston Linebackers – John Bunting Defensive Backs – Kurt Schottenheimer Defensive Backs – Herman Edwards Defensive Assistant/Special Teams – Woodrow Lowe Defensive Assistant/Quality Control – Special teams coaches Special Teams – Mike Stock Assistant Special Teams – Woodrow Lowe Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Dave Redding Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Russ Ball

Roster[]

1995 Kansas City Chiefs roster

	Quarterbacks 13 Steve Bono 12 Rich Gannon Running backs 32 Marcus Allen 38 Kimble Anders 30 Donnell Bennett FB 29 Greg Hill 49 Tony Richardson FB 31 Leroy Thompson Wide receivers 84 Willie Davis 80 Lake Dawson 83 Danan Hughes 81 Chris Penn 85 Webster Slaughter 87 Tamarick Vanover Tight ends 89 Keith Cash 82 Derrick Walker		Offensive linemen 76 John Alt T 69 Jeff Criswell T 61 Tim Grunhard C 74 Trezelle Jenkins T 68 Will Shields G 66 Ricky Siglar T 79 Dave Szott G 73 Joe Valerio C 72 Danny Villa T Defensive linemen 99 Vaughn Booker DE 77 Pellom McDaniels DE 92 Darren Mickell DT 75 Joe Phillips DT 67 Bryan Proby DT 97 Dan Saleaumua DT 90 Neil Smith DE		Linebackers 50 Anthony Davis 57 George Jamison OLB 51 Greg Manusky MLB 52 Tracy Rogers ILB 54 Tracy Simien ILB 58 Derrick Thomas OLB Defensive backs 44 Darren Anderson 21 Martin Bayless SS 34 Dale Carter CB 25 Mark Collins CB 40 James Hasty CB 25 Doug Terry SS 35 William White CB Special teams 5 Louie Aguiar P 2 Lin Elliott K		Reserve lists Practice squad -- DE Rookies in italics

Regular season[]

The season began promisingly on September 3 with a convincing 34–10 win over the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle. New Chiefs quarterback Steve Bono passed for 3,121 yards and 21 touchdowns. Fullback Kimble Anders led the team in pass receptions with 55.

In Week Two, the Chiefs battled back from a two-touchdown deficit to defeat the New York Giants in overtime, 20–17 on September 10. A costly interception, penalties, and struggles on third down all led to a 17–3 Giants lead. The Chiefs didn't score a touchdown until 5:03 remained in the game. On the Chiefs' following possession, Bono completed to Danan Hughes with the game-tying score after a 67-yard, 14-play drive that took just 2 minutes and 32 seconds. Lin Elliott booted the game-winning field goal with 7:11 remaining in overtime to give the Chiefs the win. Marcus Allen led the Chiefs with 86 yards rushing and Bono passed for 187 yards.

The win improved the Chiefs record to 2–0. This was the first of three overtime wins for Kansas City at Arrowhead Stadium during the 1995 season, and it set the tone for the team's ability to win tight, close games throughout the regular season.

On September 17, James Hasty picked off a Jeff Hostetler pass and returned it for a touchdown in overtime as the Chiefs beat the Oakland Raiders, 23–17 to go 3–0. The defense would play a key role in Kansas City's success. The team held its opponents to a league-best 241 points and recorded a third-best 47 sacks.^[2] Cornerback Dale Carter led the team with 4 interceptions. Rookie kick returner Tamarick Vanover was also spectacular, returning two kickoffs and one punt for scores. Linebacker Derrick Thomas and defensive ends Neil Smith and Dan Saleaumua also shined for the Chiefs' defense.

On October 1, Quarterback Steve Bono ran for a 76-yard bootleg touchdown, accumulating more than 20% of his total career rushing yards in 1 play. The Chiefs won over the Cardinals 24–3.

On October 9, Tamarick Vanover returned a punt 86 yards in overtime to give the Chiefs a 29–23 victory over the San Diego Chargers on Monday Night Football. It was the Chiefs' third overtime win at Arrowhead Stadium during the 1995 season, and was the first time in NFL history that an overtime game had been won on a punt return for a touchdown.

On October 22, the Chiefs beat the Denver Broncos at Mile High Stadium, 21–7. Marcus Allen was again a standout for the offense, gaining 890 yards rushing and scoring 5 touchdowns for the season.

On November 19, the Chiefs won their seventh game in a row, beating the Houston Oilers 20–13 at Arrowhead Stadium, to go 10–1.

On December 24, Tamarick Vanover ran the opening kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown, and the Chiefs defeated the Seahawks, 26–3. They won the AFC West title and finished the regular season with a 13–3 record.

Schedule[]

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Recap
1	September 3	at Seattle Seahawks	W 34–10	1–0	Kingdome	Recap
2	September 10	New York Giants	W 20–17 (OT)	2–0	Arrowhead Stadium	Recap
3	September 17	Oakland Raiders	W 23–17 (OT)	3–0	Arrowhead Stadium	Recap
4	September 24	at Cleveland Browns	L 17–35	3–1	Cleveland Stadium	Recap
5	October 1	at Arizona Cardinals	W 24–3	4–1	Sun Devil Stadium	Recap
6	October 9	San Diego Chargers	W 29–23 (OT)	5–1	Arrowhead Stadium	Recap
7	October 15	New England Patriots	W 31–26	6–1	Arrowhead Stadium	Recap
8	October 22	at Denver Broncos	W 21–7	7–1	Mile High Stadium	Recap
9	Bye
10	November 5	Washington Redskins	W 24–3	8–1	Arrowhead Stadium	Recap
11	November 12	at San Diego Chargers	W 22–7	9–1	Jack Murphy Stadium	Recap
12	November 19	Houston Oilers	W 20–13	10–1	Arrowhead Stadium	Recap
13	November 23	at Dallas Cowboys	L 12–24	10–2	Texas Stadium	Recap
14	December 3	at Oakland Raiders	W 29–23	11–2	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	Recap
15	December 11	at Miami Dolphins	L 6–13	11–3	Joe Robbie Stadium	Recap
16	December 17	Denver Broncos	W 20–17	12–3	Arrowhead Stadium	Recap
17	December 24	Seattle Seahawks	W 26–3	13–3	Arrowhead Stadium	Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries[]

Week 1: at Seattle Seahawks[]

1 2 3 4 Total • Chiefs 7 13 14 0 34 Seahawks 3 0 0 7 10 Date: September 3 Location: Kingdome, Seattle, Washington Game start: 3:00 p.m. Game attendance: 47,564 Game weather: Indoors (dome)

Scoring summary Q1 SEA Todd Peterson 49 yard field goal SEA 3–0 Q1 KC Willie Davis 60 yard pass from Steve Bono (Lin Elliott kick) KC 7–3 Q2 KC Lin Elliott 46 yard field goal KC 10–3 Q2 KC Willie Davis 40 yard pass from Steve Bono (Lin Elliott kick) KC 17–3 Q2 KC Lin Elliott 49 yard field goal KC 20–3 Q3 KC Tamarick Vanover 99 yard kickoff return (Lin Elliott kick) KC 27–3 Q3 KC Lake Dawson 16 yard pass from Steve Bono (Lin Elliott kick) KC 34–3 Q4 SEA Brian Blades 21 yard pass from John Friesz (Todd Peterson kick) KC 34–10

^[3]

Standings[]

AFC West
view talk	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
(1) Kansas City Chiefs	13	3	0	.813	358	241	W2
(4) San Diego Chargers	9	7	0	.563	321	323	W5
Seattle Seahawks	8	8	0	.500	363	366	L1
Denver Broncos	8	8	0	.500	388	345	W1
Oakland Raiders	8	8	0	.500	348	332	L6

Postseason[]

Schedule[]

Round	Date	Opponent (seed)	Result	Record	Venue	Recap
Wild Card	First-round bye
Divisional	January 7, 1996	Indianapolis Colts (5)	L 7–10	0–1	Arrowhead Stadium	Recap

Game summaries[]

AFC Divisional Playoffs: vs. (5) Indianapolis Colts[]

References[]