Chiefs Moonstruck By 527-Yard Performance

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Kansas City Chiefs were flying high, seemingly without a care in the world. They were thinking playoffs, thinking first place, thinking Super Bowl. The Chiefs were thinking they couldn't be stopped.

Then Warren Moon and the Houston Oilers came to town. Yesterday, Moon shot the Chiefs down with 527 yards passing, the second-most prolific performance in the NFL's 71-year history.

The Oilers strutted in with their explosive run-and-shoot offense and hung a majestic full Moon over gloomy Arrowhead Stadium, snapping Kansas City's winning streak at four games with a 27-10 victory.

The loss dropped the Chiefs (9-5) to second place in the AFC West behind the 10-4 Los Angeles Raiders, and prevented them from clinching a wild-card playoff berth.

Moon completed 27 of 45 passes, three for touchdowns. He had a chance to break Norm Van Brocklin's single-game NFL record of 554 yards passing, set in 1951, but Coach Jack Pardee called off the Oilers' air show late in the fourth quarter.

Earlier, Moon surpassed Dan Marino (521 yards) for second place on the one-game list, and the Oilers took possession for the final time with 2 minutes, 20 seconds remaining.

The record was there for Moon's taking, but the Oilers ran the ball on the game's final four downs and time expired with Moon on his knee and 27 yards short of Van Brocklin.

``I wasn't really in favor of going for it (the record) at the end,'' Moon said. ``A 500-yard day against anybody is a great accomplishment. I don't need 500-plus yards or a record to validate it. The key thing is that we won.''

One play denied Moon the record: An apparent 32-yard sideline completion to Haywood Jeffires in the first quarter was overturned by the instant-replay official.

Some erratic throws also hurt Moon.

``I wasn't as accurate as I should have been,'' he said. ``I missed some throws I should have hit.''

Four Kansas City sacks also hurt. So did a couple of dropped passes. So did the Houston coaching staff's decision to have mercy on the Chiefs.

``Sure, I wish Warren had gotten the record,'' said Kevin Gilbride, Houston's offensive coordinator. ``We talked about it on the sideline. But the question is, how do you do it gracefully? You don't want to embarrass the Chiefs.''

Moon was shunned by the NFL when he completed his college career at Washington and spent 1978 to 1983 with Edmonton of the Canadian Football League.

Moon, 34, leads the NFL in passing yards (4,401) and TD passes (32) this season. He has nine 300-yard games, tying Dan Marino's one-season NFL record.

``Seeing where I came from, and seeing how some people felt about me as I was coming out of high school and college, I feel pretty good about myself today,'' Moon said. ``I'm proud.''

After an 0-2 start, the Oilers are 8-6 and tied with Pittsburgh for first place in the AFC Central Division. The Oilers' remaining regular-season games are at Cincinnati and at home against Pittsburgh.

A victory in the final two games (at San Diego and at Chicago) still will put the Chiefs in the playoffs for the first time since 1986.

Moon had 11 completions of 20 yards or longer. He mostly stayed away from the Chiefs' outstanding starting cornerbacks, Albert Lewis and Kevin Ross, and made Jayice Pearson, another ex-Washington Husky, and Stan Petry his unfortunate victims.

Jeffires made nine receptions for 245 yards, including an 87-yard touchdown play. Tony Jones caught Moon's two other two touchdown passes.

The Chiefs, outgained 563 yards to 350, had a lone outburst: a 62-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Steve DeBerg to rookie receiver J.J. Birden with 18 seconds remaining in the first half.

``Let's face it,'' DeBerg said. ``This day belonged to Warren Moon.''