The 1994 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 25th 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 32nd 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 ...

and the 35th overall. They failed to improve their 11–5 record from 1993 and finishing with a 9–7 record and Wild Card spot in the 1994–95 playoffs. The Chiefs lost to the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...

27–17 in the Wild Card round. Alongside celebrating the NFL's 75th anniversary season, Hall of Fame

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Joe Montana Joseph Clifford Montana Jr. (born June 11, 1956) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons, primarily with the San Francisco 49ers. Nicknamed "Joe Cool" and "the Comeback Kid", ...

retired following the season. By playing their first four games vs. the

NFC West The National Football Conference - Western Division or NFC West is one of the four divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It currently has four members: the Arizona Cardinals, the Los Ang ...

, the Chiefs became the first AFC team to play its first four games against NFC teams since the

AFL–NFL merger The AFL–NFL merger was the merger of the two major professional American football leagues in the United States at the time: the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL). It paved the way for the combined league, w ...

. The first team to play four inter-conference games to open a season were the 1992 Los Angeles Rams. 1994 was the first season that the playing surface at Arrowhead Stadium was natural grass. It had previously been

TartanTurf Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. It is most often used in arenas for sports that were originally or are normally played on grass. However, it is now being used on residential lawns and commer ...

from 1972-1993.

Offseason

NFL draft

Personnel

Staff

Roster

Season summary

After an opening day win over the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

, the Chiefs faced the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

on September 11. Facing his old team,

led the Chiefs to a 24–17 win at Arrowhead. But after opening the season at 3–0, the Chiefs dropped 2 in a row to the

Rams In engineering, RAMS (reliability, availability, maintainability and safety)Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...

. On October 17, a 6-yard pass and a tightrope run into the end zone ended the Chiefs' 11-year drought in

Mile High Stadium Mile High Stadium (originally Bears Stadium until 1968) was an outdoor multi-purpose stadium located in Denver, Colorado from 1948 to 2001. The stadium was built in 1948 to accommodate the Denver Bears baseball team, which was a member of the ...

and the Chiefs faced a 4-point deficit on

Monday Night Football ''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, A ...

. The final drive in the final 82 seconds took nine plays, all of them Montana passes except one run of 10 yards by

Marcus Allen Marcus LeMarr Allen (born March 26, 1960) is an American former football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons, primarily with the Los Angeles Raiders. Considered one of the greatest goal line and short- ...

; Montana's final pass was a five-yard score to Willie Davis for the 31–28 Kansas City win. For the game, Montana hit 34 of 54 pass attempts for 393 yards and 3 touchdowns and the Chiefs, now 4–2, had now thrust themselves back into the playoff hunt. The game was tied 14–14 at the half. Lin Elliott's field goal with 4:08 left in the game temporarily put the Chiefs ahead 24–21. A

fumble set up the Broncos' final touchdown, but Montana and his inspiring confidence resulted in the comeback. Montana would have another great season, passing for 3,283 yards. The rushing game improved from

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

as the Chiefs rushed for 1,732 yards and twelve touchdowns (up from the previous year's 1,655 yards). Allen's game trailed off from 1993 as he gained 709 yards to lead the team (to 764 the previous year), while rookie Greg Hill managed only 574 yards for the season. Fullback

Kimble Anders Kimble Lynard Anders (born September 10, 1966) is a former American football fullback in the National Football League. Early years He played college football at the University of Houston where he produced 261 carries for 1,359 yards and 16 TDs ...

was the leading receiver with 67 receptions. The defense showed flashes of brilliance as it improved to seventh in fewest points allowed from 1993's ninth, and as had become the standard, was led by perennial

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 ...

ers

Derrick Thomas Derrick Vincent Thomas (January 1, 1967 – February 8, 2000), nicknamed D.T., was an American football linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). Considered one of the greatest pass rushers of all time, he p ...

and Neil Smith. Defensive back

Dale Carter Dale Lavelle Carter (born November 28, 1969) is a former American football cornerback in the National Football League. He played for the Kansas City Chiefs, Denver Broncos, Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints, and Baltimore Ravens. Professio ...

had a superb year and was also chosen for the Pro Bowl. On December 24, Marcus Allen gained 132 yards rushing as the Chiefs beat the

Los Angeles Raiders The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural 1960 season to the 1981 season and then agai ...

19–9 in the last Raider's game ever as host in Los Angeles. The win secured a fifth-straight playoff spot for the Chiefs.

Preseason

Regular season

Schedule

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1: at New Orleans Saints

Week 2: vs. San Francisco 49ers

Week 3: at Atlanta Falcons

Week 4: vs. Los Angeles Rams

Week 6: at San Diego Chargers

Week 7: at Denver Broncos

Week 8: vs. Seattle Seahawks

Week 9: at Buffalo Bills

Week 10: vs. Los Angeles Raiders

Week 11: vs. San Diego Chargers

Week 12: vs. Cleveland Browns

Week 13: at Seattle Seahawks

Week 14: vs. Denver Broncos

Week 15: at Miami Dolphins

Week 16: vs. Houston Oilers

Week 17: at Los Angeles Raiders

Postseason

Schedule

Game summaries

AFC Wild Card Playoffs: at (3) Miami Dolphins

Standings

* Kansas City finished ahead of the Los Angeles Raiders based on head-to-head sweep (2–0)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1994 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 th ...