1997 Kansas City Chiefs season

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1997 Kansas City Chiefs season
Kansas City Chiefs wordmark.svg
OwnerLamar Hunt
Head coachMarty Schottenheimer
General managerCarl Peterson
Home fieldArrowhead Stadium
Results
Record13–3
Division place1st AFC West
Playoff finishLost Divisional Playoffs (vs. Broncos) 10–14
Pro BowlersWR Andre Rison
FB Kimble Anders
G Will Shields
LB Derrick Thomas
CB Dale Carter
CB James Hasty

The 1997 Kansas City Chiefs season was the franchise's 28th season in the National Football League, and the 38th overall.

The Chiefs improved on their 9–7 record from 1996, and finished with a 13–3 record and as AFC West division champions. The Rich Gannon–Elvis Grbac quarterback controversy was a focal point of the team's season.[1] It brewed throughout the entire season and arguably cost the Chiefs a victory in the playoffs. The Chiefs were defeated by division rival and eventual Super Bowl champion, Denver Broncos, in the 1997 playoffs. 1997 was the final season the Chiefs appeared in the playoffs during the 1990s and for the next several seasons, they fell into futility. They did not return to the playoffs until 2003.

This was the last season that head coach Marty Schottenheimer would coach the team into the playoffs, with the loss to Denver in the Divisional round 14–10 capping off many years of disappointing playoff struggles. This was also the final season for future Hall of Fame running back Marcus Allen.

Offseason[]

NFL draft[]

Main article: 1997 NFL draft
1997 Kansas City Chiefs draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 13 Tony Gonzalez *  Tight end California
2 47 Kevin Lockett  Wide receiver Kansas State
4 110 Pat Barnes  Quarterback California
6 163 June Henley  Running back Kansas
6 195 Isaac Byrd  Wide receiver Kansas
7 214 Nathan Parks  Offensive tackle Stanford
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[2]

Personnel[]

Staff[]

1997 Kansas City Chiefs staff
Front office
  • Founder – Lamar Hunt
  • Chairman of the Board – Jack Steadman
  • President/General Manager/Chief Executive Officer – Carl Peterson
  • Executive Vice President/Assistant General Manager – Dennis Thum
  • Administrative Assistant to the Head Coach – Russ Ball

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special Teams – Mike Stock

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and Conditioning – Dave Redding
  • Strength and Conditioning –
  • Assistant Strength and Conditioning –

Roster[]

1997 Kansas City Chiefs roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists


Practice squad


Rookies in italics

Regular season[]

Schedule[]

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap
1 August 31 at Denver Broncos L 3–19 0–1 Mile High Stadium Recap
2 September 8 at Oakland Raiders W 28–27 1–1 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Recap
3 September 14 Buffalo Bills W 22–16 2–1 Arrowhead Stadium Recap
4 September 21 at Carolina Panthers W 35–14 3–1 Ericsson Stadium Recap
5 September 28 Seattle Seahawks W 20–17 (OT) 4–1 Arrowhead Stadium Recap
6 October 5 at Miami Dolphins L 14–17 4–2 Pro Player Stadium Recap
7 Bye
8 October 16 San Diego Chargers W 31–3 5–2 Arrowhead Stadium Recap
9 October 26 at St. Louis Rams W 28–20 6–2 Trans World Dome Recap
10 November 3 Pittsburgh Steelers W 13–10 7–2 Arrowhead Stadium Recap
11 November 9 at Jacksonville Jaguars L 10–24 7–3 Alltel Stadium Recap
12 November 16 Denver Broncos W 24–22 8–3 Arrowhead Stadium Recap
13 November 23 at Seattle Seahawks W 19–14 9–3 Kingdome Recap
14 November 30 San Francisco 49ers W 44–9 10–3 Arrowhead Stadium Recap
15 December 7 Oakland Raiders W 30–0 11–3 Arrowhead Stadium Recap
16 December 14 at San Diego Chargers W 29–7 12–3 Qualcomm Stadium Recap
17 December 21 New Orleans Saints W 25–13 13–3 Arrowhead Stadium Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings[]

AFC West
  • view
  • talk
 W L T PCT PF PA STK
(1) Kansas City Chiefs 13 3 0 .813 375 232 W6
(4) Denver Broncos 12 4 0 .750 472 287 W1
Seattle Seahawks 8 8 0 .500 365 362 W2
Oakland Raiders 4 12 0 .250 324 419 L5
San Diego Chargers 4 12 0 .250 266 425 L8

Postseason[]

Main article: 1997–98 NFL playoffs

Schedule[]

Round Date Opponent (seed) Result Record Venue Recap
Wild Card First-round bye
Divisional January 4, 1998 Denver Broncos (4) L 10–14 0–1 Arrowhead Stadium Recap

Game summaries[]

AFC Divisional Playoffs: vs. (4) Denver Broncos[]

AFC Divisional Playoffs: (4) Denver Broncos at (1) Kansas City Chiefs – Game summary
1 2 34Total
Broncos 0 7 0714
Chiefs 0 0 10010

at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

  • Date: January 4, 1998
  • Game time: 2:00 p.m. PDT
  • Game weather: 30 °F (−1 °C), relative humidity 91%, wind 11 mph, wind chill 20 °F (−7 °C)
  • TV: NBC
  • Recap
Game information

See also[]

  • Rich Gannon/Elvis Grbac quarterback controversy

References[]

  1. ^ Gretz, Bob. Quarterbacks and controversy Archived September 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine KCChiefs.com, November 1, 2006
  2. ^ "1997 Kansas City Chiefs draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
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