The number of remaining Rich Gannon doubters probably equals how many people predicted the backup quarterback could lead the Kansas City Chiefs to a 35-point victory over San Francisco.
Gannon, who has started the last four games while Elvis Grbac recovers from a broken collarbone, threw three touchdown passes and scrambled out of three sack situations Sunday as Kansas City (10-3) won 44-9 to snap the 49ers' 11-game winning streak.The Chiefs, winners of three straight, are 3-1 with Gannon as a starter.
"Rich Gannon has done things, but nobody wants to write about that," said wide receiver Andre Rison, who caught two touchdown passes and finished with five catches for 117 yards. "Today he showed the whole world he's a starting quarterback. He just happens to be here behind Elvis Grbac."
Gannon benefited from not having to carry the entire load for the Chiefs:
- Kansas City's defense scored twice, recorded five sacks and three takeaways and didn't give up a second-half touchdown for the eighth straight game. Both defensive scores came after punter Louie Aguiar made the 49ers start inside their own 5-yard line.
- The Chiefs' offensive line didn't give up a sack and also paved the way for 153 rushing yards, the most given up by the 49ers this season.
"When I come in here Monday and vote for the game ball recipient, it goes to the offensive line," Gannon said.
- Marcus Allen ran three yards for a touchdown and threw his second scoring pass of the year, a 1-yarder to tight end Ted Popson.
- And tight end Tony Gonzalez, who caught a pass from Gannon for one score, set up another touchdown by blocking a punt.
"They did about everything they wanted to do on the field," San Francisco cornerback Rod Woodson said.
For the 49ers (11-2), it was the worst loss since Dallas beat them 59-14 in October 1980 - and it could have been worse. Joe Phillips recovered a fumble by backup quarterback Jeff Brohm late in the fourth quarter, but Chiefs coach Marty Schottenheimer passed up a 39-yard field goal opportunity and called a running play on fourth-and-8.
The 49ers also lost Garrison Hearst - their first 1,000-yard rusher since 1992 - for four to six weeks with a broken collarbone. Hearst was injured in the second quarter after a 45-yard run that gave him 1,019 yards on the year.
"I thought we got frustrated and the wheels came off a little bit," coach Steve Mariucci said. "It snowballed and we couldn't seem to stop it."
The Chiefs took control of the game with 21 second-quarter points and led 28-6 at halftime.
Gonzalez figured in two second-quarter scores little more than two minutes apart. He caught a 2-yard touchdown pass with 9:06 left to put the Chiefs up 14-3, then blocked Tommy Thompson's punt and returned it to the 3-yard line to set up Allen's 3-yard score with 7:04 remaining.
Popson, who missed the last four games with a concussion, made it 28-3 with 26 seconds left before the 49ers drove for Gary Anderson's second field goal as time ran out.
Rison, who gave Kansas City a 7-0 lead with a diving 6-yard catch in the first quarter, made it 35-9 in the fourth with a 29-yard catch as he fell out the side of the end zone.
Phillips and Donnie Edwards tackled Terry Kirby in the end zone for a safety that made it 37-9, and Mark McMillian picked off Brohm and went in from 12 yards out for the Chiefs' final score with 4:13 left in the game.
Brohm came in midway through the fourth quarter, after the Chiefs had sacked starter Steve Young four times. The hardest hit Young took, though, came in the first period on a play that had already been whistled dead for an illegal procedure penalty.
Linebacker Anthony Davis hit Young in the back on the play, and afterward there was some confusion about whether Davis had heard the whistle. Both Mariucci and Schottenheimer said they did not hear one, but Young said it was audible on the field.
"Everyone else stopped," Young said. "But football is football. Once you step on the field, whatever happens, happens."