1971: Chiefs Defeat 49ers to Move Into First Place in AFC West

Two teams vying for division titles, the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers, met up for a Monday night game on December 6, 1971. Head Coach Hank Stram’s Chiefs had won the Super Bowl two years earlier but missed the postseason in 1970 and were 7-3-1 and trying to get ahead of the Raiders in the AFC West. 36-year-old QB Len Dawson (pictured at right) was still a quality passer and had an outstanding target in WR Otis Taylor. HB Ed Podolak was a fine all-purpose back and paired well with FB Wendell Hayes. The defense was a good, solid unit.

The 49ers, coached by Dick Nolan, had advanced to the NFC Championship game in ’70 and were 7-4 and trying to stave off the Rams in the NFC West. They also had an established 36-year-old quarterback in John Brodie, who was prone to being erratic, and a fine running tandem in FB Ken Willard and rookie HB Vic Washington. WR Gene Washington was an excellent deep threat and TE Ted Kwalick among the NFL leaders in pass receptions. DE Cedrick Hardman, LB Dave Wilcox, and CB Jimmy Johnson were the biggest stars on an effective defense.

There were 45,306 fans in attendance at Candlestick Park for the nationally televised game. The Chiefs had the first possession and punted. San Francisco drove from its 20 to the KC 11 as Vic Washington had runs of 10 and 12 yards, John Brodie threw a screen pass to Ken Willard that picked up 16 yards, and a face mask penalty against the Chiefs converted a third down. The drive stalled and Bruce Gossett kicked an 18-yard field goal.

On a series highlighted by a throw from Len Dawson to WR Elmo Wright that was good for 31 yards, the Chiefs reached the San Francisco 26, but Jan Stenerud’s 33-yard field goal attempt was blocked by DB Johnny Fuller. Two plays later, Brodie fired a pass to Gene Washington that gained 53 yards to the KC 26, but the 49ers gained just two more yards and Gossett’s try for a field goal from 31 yards was close but no good.

As the game moved into the second quarter, the Chiefs moved effectively. A throw to TE Morris Stroud at the sideline gained 54 yards to the San Francisco four, but they lost four yards from there and settled for a 15-yard Stenerud field goal that tied the score at 3-3.

The 49ers punted following their next possession and, after passing to Stroud for 13 yards, Dawson went long for Otis Taylor (pictured at left), who went the distance for a 46-yard touchdown. Stenerud added the extra point and the visitors were up by 10-3.

Stuck deep in their own territory, the Niners again had to punt and gave Kansas City good field position at the San Francisco 40. However, the Chiefs lost six yards when Dave Wilcox tackled Ed Podolak behind the line of scrimmage, and two passes fell incompleted. They didn’t come up empty, though, as Stenerud booted a 54-yard field goal that put KC further ahead by 13-3.

The 49ers again had to punt but got the ball back when Podolak fumbled after being hit by Cedrick Hardman and LB Frank Nunley recovered at the Kansas City 45. It took five plays for the Niners to score as Brodie completed two passes to Ted Kwalick, the second for a 35-yard TD. Gossett converted and the home team was behind by just three points.

With a minute remaining in the first half, the Chiefs regained possession but were forced to punt. Jerrel Wilson avoided a strong rush to get away a 50-yard kick that CB Bruce Taylor returned 19 yards. On the next play, CB Emmitt Thomas intercepted Brodie’s pass and ran it back 36 yards to the San Francisco 17. The clock was down to 12 seconds as the Chiefs lined up for a field goal, but Dawson instead passed to OT Sid Smith, an eligible receiver, and on the last play of the half Stenerud kicked a field goal for real from 12 yards out to make the halftime score 16-10. Len Dawson had already passed for 198 yards.

The 49ers had the ball first in the third quarter and punted. Podolak picked up 27 yards on three straight carries for the Chiefs and Dawson passed to Taylor for 10 yards. Runs by Wendell Hayes and Podolak advanced the ball to the San Francisco 16, but Stenerud missed a 23-yard field goal attempt.

A short San Francisco series that ended with a punt was followed by the Chiefs driving 61 yards in six plays, and this time not coming up empty. Podolak ran for 12 yards and Hayes for 22 and it was Taylor covering the final 25 yards on an end-around play. Stenerud converted and Kansas City’s lead was up to 13 points at 23-10.

San Francisco responded with an end-around of its own on the first play after the ensuing kickoff, and Kwalick (pictured below) raced 28 yards to the KC 43. Brodie passed the 49ers down to the eight as the period came to an end and, on the first play of the fourth quarter, Vic Washington ran three yards for a touchdown to conclude the seven-play, 71-yard drive. Gossett added the point after to narrow Kansas City’s lead to 23-17.

The Chiefs moved methodically down the field on their next series. Dawson threw to Taylor for 10 yards in a third-and-eight situation and Wright grabbed another pass that had been deflected to pick up 29 yards and convert another third down. Hayes rushed for 14 yards and Podolak for 12 to reach the San Francisco three, but three carries by Hayes picked up two yards and Stenerud kicked an eight-yard field goal that put Kansas City up by nine.

The teams traded punts and the 49ers started off from their 31 with under two minutes to play. Brodie connected with Vic Washington for 16 yards and Kwalick for 14, HB Larry Schreiber ran for six yards on a draw play, and Brodie threw to Vic Washington for nine to get to the KC 24. But that was as far as the Niners could get. Four passes fell incomplete, the last two into the end zone, and the Chiefs came away with a 26-17 win.     

Kansas City had the edge in total yards (427 to 331) and first downs (20 to 18), with both teams well balanced between running and passing yards. Each team turned the ball over once and recorded one sack apiece.

Len Dawson completed 16 of 28 passes for 263 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions. Otis Taylor had 5 catches for 81 yards and a TD and added another score on a 25-yard run. Elmo Wright gained 76 yards on four pass receptions and Morris Stroud 67 yards on just two. Ed Podolak led the KC ground game with 75 yards on 17 carries and Wendell Hayes also ran the ball 17 times, for 66 yards. Jan Stenerud kicked four field goals, although he also had two misses.

For the 49ers, John Brodie was successful on 20 of 32 throws for 229 yards and a TD while giving up one interception. Vic Washington (pictured below) rushed for 43 yards on 12 attempts that included a touchdown and also led the club with 7 catches, for 62 yards. Gene Washington gained 73 yards on three receptions and Ted Kwalick contributed 58 yards on 5 catches and had a 28-yard run.

“I thought we played a good game,” said John Brodie. “We didn’t play poorly. They’re just a good team…as good as any team we’ve played.”

The win put the Chiefs on top in the AFC West for the first time all season and that is where they finished, with a 10-3-1 record. Hopes of returning to the Super Bowl were dashed when they lost an overtime thriller to Miami in the Divisional playoff round. For San Francisco, the loss put them a half game behind the Rams in the NFC West, but the 49ers won their final two games and placed first at 9-5. They again made it to the NFC Championship game, and again lost to the Cowboys at that point.

Len Dawson led the AFC in passing yards per attempt (8.3) and yards per completion (15.0) and was second in the conference in passing yards (2504). He was a second-team All-AFC selection by UPI and was named to the Pro Bowl. Otis Taylor led the NFL with 1110 pass receiving yards while his 57 catches ranked third. He averaged 19.5 yards per reception, scored seven touchdowns, and was a consensus first-team All-NFL choice as well as Pro Bowl selection.

John Brodie led the NFC in passing yards (2642) and TD passes (18) but also interceptions (24). Vic Washington topped the NFL with 1986 all-purpose yards that included 811 rushing, 317 pass receiving, and 858 on kickoff returns. He was chosen to the Pro Bowl, as was Ted Kwalick, who ranked second in the conference in pass receiving (52 catches) while gaining 664 yards and scoring five TDs.

1970: Joe Kapp Debuts with Patriots in Loss to Chiefs

QB Joe Kapp had led the Minnesota Vikings to the NFL Championship with a Pro Bowl season in 1969. The Vikings had then lost to the AFL-champion Kansas City Chiefs in the last pre-merger Super Bowl. In the offseason, the 32-year-old Kapp, who had played out his option, failed to come to terms with the Vikings for another contract. The dispute lingered into the 1970 season and on October 2 the veteran quarterback signed with the Boston Patriots for a reported $500,000.

The Patriots were coming off three straight losing seasons and had gone 4-10 in 1969 under first-year Head Coach Clive Rush. The team certainly had to be hoping that Kapp would bring his habit of winning to Boston. He had led the University of California to the 1959 Rose Bowl as an option quarterback. Foregoing the NFL (he was an 18th-round draft choice of the Washington Redskins) for the Canadian Football League, he was the quarterback for the British Columbia Lions when they appeared in back-to-back Grey Cup games in 1963 and ’64, winning the second one. Finally, he joined another CFL refugee, Head Coach Bud Grant, in Minnesota in 1967.

Kapp didn’t throw picturesque passes or display great technique as a quarterback, but what he lacked in skill he made up for with fiery, charismatic leadership. Sticking to his roots as a college option quarterback, he was a good (and very willing) runner and also threw well on the run.

The Patriots had won their opening game against Miami before losing the next two contests. With Kapp hurriedly learning the offense in preparation for his first action of the season, the team traveled to, coincidentally, Kansas City, where they took on the Chiefs at Municipal Stadium on October 11.

The defending-champion Chiefs were also 1-2 and playing without star QB Len Dawson, who had a knee injury, although as Head Coach Hank Stram said afterward, he could have played if necessary. Third-year backup Mike Livingston was behind center. Mike Taliaferro, the holdover quarterback from ’69, again started for the Patriots.

Boston scored first, late in the opening quarter, after DB Art McMahon recovered a fumbled fair catch by Kansas City HB Ed Podolak. The result was a 25-yard Gino Cappelletti field goal.

The first KC touchdown came in the second quarter following a 70-yard drive that was sustained by a roughing the kicker penalty on the Patriots and ended with FB Robert “The Tank” Holmes running in from a yard out. Later in the period Jan Stenerud booted a 42-yard field goal and the Chiefs held a 10-3 lead at halftime.

Kapp replaced Taliaferro in the second half. He might not have been very familiar with the plays, but he looked ready. As Chiefs DE Jerry Mays said, “When Joe came up for that first play, he looked like Reddy Kilowatt. His eyes were flashing and you could see the excitement on his face. He worried us. He has that ability to lift a team.”

The initial impression that Kapp exuded didn’t yield results. The third quarter was scoreless, and early in the fourth quarter, Kansas City drove 55 yards in seven plays after SS Jim Kearney intercepted a pass by Kapp at the Patriots’ 33 yard line. A clip on the return moved the ball back to the 45. But the resulting drive, highlighted by a 33-yard run by Podolak (making up for the earlier muffed punt), resulted in Holmes again scoring a short touchdown, this time on a two-yard run.

Another Kapp pass was intercepted by LB Bobby Bell at the Boston 25. Stenerud kicked a 24-yard field goal for a 23-3 KC lead. Kapp finally connected with WR Bake Turner for a 12-yard touchdown in the last two minutes and the final score was 23-10 as the Chiefs won handily.

After the game, Kapp said “It’s terrible to lose. I don’t like to lose, what else can I say?” Asked how familiar he was with Boston’s offense, he replied “it was pretty obvious out there – very little.”

Kapp completed two of 11 passes for 16 yards and was intercepted twice and sacked twice, although one of the completions was for a touchdown. Overall, the Chiefs intercepted six passes as Taliaferro’s numbers were also poor (three completions in 12 attempts for 30 yards with four interceptions). Wide receivers Turner and Ron Sellers combined for five receptions for 46 yards and a TD. HB Carl Garrett was a bright spot, rushing for 53 yards on 10 carries.

Boston managed just 105 yards of total offense, compared to 346 for Kansas City. 272 of those yards for the Chiefs came on the ground, as Mike Livingston went to the air just 14 times, completing 8 for 85 yards with one intercepted. Robert Holmes was the leading receiver with two catches for 28 yards while also contributing 35 yards on 13 carries, including the two touchdowns. Ed Podolak led KC with 81 yards on 10 carries and RB Warren McVea added another 71 yards on 8 attempts.

Of the six passes intercepted, Jim Kearney and CB Jim Marsalis each had two. In addition, Jerrel Wilson had an outstanding day punting, averaging 56.7 yards on his five kicks, with a long punt of 63 yards.

Kapp might have been frustrated by his performance, but Coach Rush had only praise for his new quarterback. “For his first game with us, he did well,” Rush said. “We're trying to feed him slowly as possible on our system.” Added Hank Stram, “Kapp will help Boston. He did extremely well having been in camp only a week. He'll give that team a great lift because he's an inspirational leader.”

Alas, the high hopes for Kapp in Boston didn’t work out. The Patriots ended up at the bottom of the AFC East with a 2-12 record and the eccentric Clive Rush was replaced halfway through the season by John Mazur. Kansas City went 7-5-2 for second place in the AFC West.

The Patriots had the lowest-ranked offense in the newly-expanded NFL and Joe Kapp was the lowest-ranked passer (Taliaferro was just ahead of him) as he completed only 44.7 percent of his throws (98 of 219) for 1104 yards (5.0 yards per attempt) with just three touchdowns against 17 interceptions. Kapp’s emotional leadership couldn’t begin to compensate for a weak supporting caste.

The 1970 season proved to be Kapp’s last – the Patriots wanted him back, but with a cut in pay, and he retired (he also filed an anti-trust suit against the NFL that failed).

With the first choice in the 1971 draft, the Patriots, with a rich quarterback class to choose from, took Heisman Trophy-winner Jim Plunkett from Stanford. They also moved to a new stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts for ’71 and were renamed the New England Patriots.

1971: Dolphins Defeat Chiefs in Longest NFL Game

The Miami Dolphins came to Kansas City’s Municipal Stadium for an AFC Divisional playoff game on Christmas Day, December 25, 1971, having never defeated the Chiefs in six attempts. An expansion team in 1966, the Dolphins made the postseason for the first time just the previous year, in Head Coach Don Shula’s first season with the team. Kansas City, under Head Coach Hank Stram, had won three AFL championships over the previous decade and the Super Bowl following the 1969 season.

Both teams had 10-3-1 records during the regular season. Miami, winners of the AFC East, featured a strong ground game led by power-running FB Larry Csonka (1051 yards) and halfbacks Jim Kiick and Eugene “Mercury” Morris. Bob Griese, rapidly developing into an outstanding quarterback, could keep defenses honest by throwing to deep threat WR Paul Warfield and possession receiver Howard Twilley. Kansas City, top team in the AFC West, featured veteran QB Len Dawson passing to WR Otis Taylor (57 catches, 1110 yards) and a good stable of running backs that included HB Ed Podolak, FB Wendell Hayes, HB Warren McVea, and FB Jim Otis; the defense was well-seasoned.

The Chiefs certainly appeared to be the more experienced team as they scored on their first two possessions, delighting the 50,374 fans present, and taking a 10-0 lead in the first quarter. Jan Stenerud kicked a 24-yard field goal and then, after LB Willie Lanier intercepted a pass by Griese, Dawson threw a seven-yard TD pass to Podolak.

However, the Dolphins came back on the next series. The Chiefs were having success stopping Csonka and Kiick, so Griese threw to Warfield for a 23-yard gain to the Kansas City 21 yard line. Griese went to the air again, with a 16-yard strike to TE Marv Fleming, that set up their first touchdown on a one-yard plunge into the end zone by Csonka. The Dolphins tied the score before the half when they recovered a Podolak fumble deep in Chiefs territory and Garo Yepremian booted a 14-yard field goal.


In the third quarter, it was the Chiefs putting on an impressive show of ball control as they drove 75 yards over ten minutes on 15 plays, capped by Jim Otis crashing over from a yard out. Miami came right back again, with Griese throwing key passes to Twilley and Warfield and Kiick scoring on a one-yard TD run (pictured). It was 17-17 after three quarters.

Both teams traded turnovers, with Miami LB Nick Buoniconti recovering a fumble and Chiefs LB Jim Lynch intercepting a pass deep in his own territory. Miami’s zone defense had been neutralizing the Kansas City deep passing game, but Dawson connected with rookie WR Elmo Wright for 63 yards, and Podolak ran the final three yards to put the Chiefs back in front midway through the fourth quarter, 24-17.

The Dolphins came back with a 76-yard drive, with Griese hitting Warfield on passes of 17 and 26 yards, and Twilley catching a pass at the Chiefs five yard line. Fleming caught the resulting five-yard TD from Griese, and with less than two minutes remaining in the game, the score was tied again. However, it appeared that the home team would prevail when Ed Podolak ran the ensuing kickoff back 78 yards, finally being caught by Dolphins CB Curtis Johnson at the Miami 22. The Chiefs were well within Jan Stenerud’s range and conservatively ran the clock down to set up for the field goal attempt. In a stunning development, the typically dependable Stenerud hooked the kick to the left and missed. The game went into overtime.

Kansas City won the toss, and once again Podolak came through, returning the kickoff to the Chiefs 46 yard line. The Chiefs again drove to within Stenerud’s range, but Buoniconti blocked the 42-yard attempt for the Dolphins. It was Miami’s turn to try a field goal, but Yepremian’s attempt from 52 yards failed.

The game proceeded into an additional “sudden death” period. The Dolphins got the ball back, and on a misdirection play, Csonka rumbled 29 yards to the Kansas City 36. Now it was Miami’s turn to maneuver for a field goal, and this time it was Yepremian successfully connecting from 37 yards (pictured at top). The longest game in NFL history, which went 7:40 into the sixth period of play (22:40 altogether into overtime), was finally over, and a 27-24 win for the Miami Dolphins.


The Chiefs outgained the Dolphins offensively, 451-407. Ed Podolak (pictured at right) was truly the player of the game, putting on a spectacular show with 350 total yards (85 yards on 17 carries with a TD rushing, 110 yards on 8 pass receptions, 154 yards on three kickoff returns, and one yard on two punt returns). Dawson completed 18 of 26 passes for 246 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. Elmo Wright, like Podolak, had over a hundred receiving yards (104 on three catches) thanks to the long reception in the fourth quarter. Wendell Hayes ran for an even 100 yards on 22 carries.

Larry Csonka (24 rushes for 86 yards and a TD) and Jim Kiick (15 carries for 56 yards and a TD) were the workhorses for Miami. Bob Griese completed 20 of 35 passes for 263 yards with a TD and two interceptions. Paul Warfield led the receivers with 7 catches for 140 yards.

Miami went on to beat the Baltimore Colts for the AFC Championship, but lost in the Super Bowl to Dallas. They were still a team on the rise. Kansas City, however, was on the way down and would not appear again in the postseason until 1986.