Elway marched the Broncos 39 yards in six plays to score on a 4-yard quarterback draw with 1:29 left. But Montana had the last shot at last-second magic when he threw a 5-yard touchdown pass with eight seconds left to beat Denver 31-28 on Monday night at Mile High Stadium.
Montana threw 54 passes against the Broncos, connecting on 34 for 393 yards, the last into the outstretched arms of Willie Davis, who barely managed to put his feet down in the end zone before going out of bounds. He threw for three touchdowns and an interception in the game and now has victories in every stadium in the league.
Montana was 7-of-8 for 66 yards on the game-winning, 74-yard drive.
"They were dropping off and we kept moving the ball," Montana said of the Denver defense on the game-winning drive. "(Davis) made a great catch and a great effort getting in the end zone."
The Chiefs (4-2) won at Denver for the first time in 12 games since 1982.
The stage was set for the late-game theatrics when Denver reserve tight end Jerry Evans caught the first touchdown pass of his career, a 20-yarder from Elway with 22 seconds left in the third quarter, to deadlock the game at 21-21.
After Montana led a 67-yard, seven-play drive to field-goal range, Lin Elliott kicked a 19-yarder with 4:08 remaining in the game to lift the Chiefs to a 24-21 advantage.
But the Broncos came charging back to grab a 28-24 lead with 1:29 left when Elway scampered into the end zone on the draw play. He made his run untouched from the shotgun formation with 10 Denver players on the field instead of the normal 11.
Elway finished 18-of-29 for 263 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. In the second quarter, the Chiefs' Marcus Allen ran for his 116th career touchdown, tying him with John Riggins for fourth place on the NFL's career TD list. It also ended a Chiefs' touchdown drought at nine straight quarters.
(AP, Reuters)
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