The 1984 Kansas City Chiefs season was the

franchise Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...

's 15th season in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

, the 22nd as the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

, and the 25th overall. Pro Bowl safety

Gary Barbaro Gary Wayne Barbaro (born February 11, 1954) is a former free safety who played seven seasons in the National Football League from 1976 to 1982 and one season in the United States Football League (USFL) in 1984. A third round selection by the Kans ...

became the most notable Chiefs player to defect to the rival

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

, signing with the

New Jersey Generals The New Jersey Generals were a franchise of the United States Football League (USFL) established in 1982 to begin play in the spring and summer of 1983. The team played three seasons from 1983 to 1985, winning 31 regular season games and losing ...

on February 2 after sitting out the entire 1983 campaign due to a contract dispute. Barbaro's departure and the trade of cornerback Gary Green began a youth movement that produced the most vaunted secondary in team history. Cornerbacks Kevin Ross and Albert Lewis, and safeties

Deron Cherry Deron Leigh Cherry (born September 12, 1959) is an American former professional football player who was a free safety for the Kansas City Chiefs in the National Football League (NFL) from 1981 to 1991. Cherry was a free safety and punter at Rut ...

and

Lloyd Burruss Lloyd Earl Burruss Jr. (born October 31, 1957) is a former American football safety who played for the Kansas City Chiefs from 1981 to 1991 in the National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American foo ...

accounted for a combined 13

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

appearances for the Chiefs in the years to come. All-America defensive tackle

Bill Maas William Thomas Maas (born March 2, 1962) is a former American football defensive tackle who played for the Kansas City Chiefs (1984–1992), and the Green Bay Packers (1993). Maas was selected to the Pro Bowl in 1986 and 1987. In 1984 Maas was ...

and offensive tackle

John Alt John Michael Alt (born May 30, 1962) is a former professional American football offensive tackle in the National Football League. He played his entire NFL career with the Kansas City Chiefs from 1984 to 1996. A graduate of Columbia Heights (MN) H ...

were both selected in the first round of the

1984 NFL Draft The 1984 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held May 1–2, 1984, at the Omni Park Cent ...

. Maas was named

NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Various entities present a National Football League Rookie of the Year Award each season to the top rookie(s) in the National Football League (NFL). The NFL considers the (rookie) of the year awards by the Associated Press (AP) to be its official ...

, while Alt eventually became the cornerstone of the club's offensive line later in the decade. Kansas City's defense registered a team-record 11 sacks in a 10–6 win against

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

on September 30, coming one sack shy of the NFL single-game record. Quarterback

Bill Kenney William Patrick Kenney (born January 20, 1955) is an American former quarterback who spent nine years in the National Football League with the Kansas City Chiefs from 1980 to 1988 and a former politician who spent 8 years as a Missouri State Se ...

suffered a broken thumb during the preseason and was sidelined until the season's seventh week. Second-year backup Quarterback

Todd Blackledge Todd Alan Blackledge (born February 25, 1961) is a former American football quarterback in both the NCAA and National Football League. In college, he led the Penn State Nittany Lions to a national championship. A member of the famed Class of 19 ...

opened the first six contests of the season and had the club at 3–3. Kenney returned to the starting lineup against the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

on October 21, but inconsistency marked the rest of the season as the club dropped four of first five contests after his return. However, the team rattled off three consecutive wins to conclude the year at 8–8. The Chiefs were also involved in infamy during the Week 10 game against the Seattle Seahawks, in which the Chiefs quarterbacks threw six interceptions, four of which were returned for touchdowns in a 45–0 loss.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Undrafted free agents

Personnel

Staff

Roster

Schedule

Preseason

Regular season

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1: at Pittsburgh Steelers

Week 2: at Cincinnati Bengals

Week 3: vs. Los Angeles Raiders

Week 4: at Denver Broncos

Week 5: vs. Cleveland Browns

Week 6: vs. New York Jets

Week 7: vs. San Diego Chargers

Week 8: at New York Jets

Week 9: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Week 10: at Seattle Seahawks

Week 11: vs. Houston Oilers

Week 12: at Los Angeles Raiders

Week 13: at New York Giants

Week 14: vs. Denver Broncos

Week 15: vs. Seattle Seahawks

Week 16: at San Diego Chargers

Standings

References

External links

1984 Kansas City Chiefs
at

Pro-Football-Reference.com Pro-Football-Reference.com is a website providing a variety of statistics for American football. It is one of the few sites that provides information on both active and retired players. The site provides statistics for teams dating back to 1920. ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:1984 Kansas City Chiefs season

Kansas City Chiefs seasons

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...