Number one bizarro finish for a game this Sunday, and maybe for several Sundays. <<CLEVELAND (TICKER) -- Dick Vermeil was the beneficiary of another bizarre finish.
When it appeared the Kansas City Chiefs were headed for a season-opening loss, a 36-yard run by tackle John Tait and a penalty against linebacker Dwayne Rudd set up a 30-yard field goal by Morten Andersen with no time left as the Chiefs escaped with an improbable 40-39 victory over the Cleveland Browns.
The Chiefs were trailing 39-37 with three seconds left when Trent Green was nearly sacked by Rudd, but instead lateraled to Tait, who rumbled for 36 yards before being shoved out of bounds. However, after the near sack, Rudd flung his helmet in celebration, thinking the game was over and was whistled by referee Ron Blum for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Since a game cannot end on a defensive penalty, which took the ball half the distance to the Cleveland 13, the Chiefs were given an extra play and Anderson drilled the winning field goal. ADVERTISEMENT
"They were rushing three and the linebacker was blitzing," Green said. "I was trying to buy time, he was spinning around and I knew I was going down. John was the first guy I saw and I knew it wasn't a forward pass. Instead of going down to end the game, I flipped it to big John to see what happens."
"I just took off and saw some guys on the left side blocking for me," Tait said. "I've had dreams about things like this. But in the dreams, I scored a touchdown but I'll take this."
Rudd confirmed afterwards that he thought he had sacked Green>> |
