KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Everyone loves the underdog. In 31 NFL cities, fans sit in
stands grumbling about the starting quarterback, thinking "Give the backup
a chance. He'll do better." Kansas City is no exception.
Elvis Grbac and Rich Gannon were debated for two years at Arrowhead Stadium. Grbac, signed off the San Francisco roster in 1997, was
brought in as the franchise quarterback at the tender age of 27. Then coach
Marty Schottenheimer dubbed him the quarterback of the future, but he failed
to completely grasp the present. Schottenheimer eventually called on Gannon.
|  | | Rich Gannon made plays all day against the Chiefs like this 8-yard scramble. |
A grumbling crowd of 79,025 left Arrowhead on Sunday realizing
their one-time backup is now the difference in a series once dominated by
the Chiefs. It was Gannon who rallied the Raiders from a 17-point deficit
last January to beat the Chiefs in overtime. It was Gannon who led the
Raiders to a 20-17 come-from-behind victory Sunday that put the AFC West
under their control.
"Rich Gannon is a great quarterback," said former Chief
and current Raider Andre Rison. "He doesn't get enough credit for being the
athlete that he is. He creates opportunities to make plays. I knew that when
we were 13-3 in Kansas City in 1997 and they pulled him from the starting
ranks."
How Chiefs fans remember. Gannon took over as the Chiefs' starter and posted five consecutive victories to end the regular season.
Schottenheimer opted to use Grbac in the playoffs, and though his numbers
were good (24 of 27 completions), the Chiefs were upset at home by Denver,
14-10.
That's the difference. Grbac looks pretty in the pocket.
He's tall at 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds. His feet move quickly on play-action passes, and he
throws a nice spiral. Gannon isn't conventional. He lacks arm strength, but
he makes up for it with tenacity and leadership.
Two years after his departure, Gannon has transformed the
Raiders from a bunch of underachieving superstars who found ways to lose
into the best team in the AFC West. With Grbac, the Chiefs can't break out of
the rut of being a franchise trapped between 7-9 and 9-7.
"We've been perceived as a team that will find a way to
fold at the end," Raiders coach Jon Gruden said. "Those days are done. I
think we proved that last year when we have 13 games decided by a touchdown
or less. We've come from behind in five games this season."
Chiefs fans paid the ultimate respect to Gannon by cheering
him during pregame introductions. That's unusual because Chiefs fans hate the Raiders as much as the players. In the back of their minds, they wonder if the Chiefs would have lost to the Broncos had Gannon started that '97 playoff game.
"I love it here," Gannon said. "I always have. I wanted
to stay. I've always had very fond memories of this place. But I was getting
a lot of stuff along the sidelines."
He probably deserved it because he ripped the heart out of
the Chiefs and their homefield advantage. Statistically, he was 28-for-33
for 244 yards and two touchdowns, but for leadership, he pitched the perfect
game.
"This is the best game that he has played since I have been
with him," Gruden said. "His improvisation, his ability to see blitzes was
something. He made three great audibles."
He made more unbelievable scrambles. After falling behind
17-7 at the half, Gannon executed three scoring drives totalling 31 plays in
which only two was longer than 12 yards.
If that wasn't enough, he did it with a slight concussion.
During the third quarter, he was hit in the head and needed a play to
regroup himself.
"My mindset going against Rich is it's going to be a
dogfight to the last second," Grbac said. "We're pretty much similar kinds of guys. He runs around and makes plays. I'm the kind of guy who will sit in the pocket forever and try to throw it down the field. He knows how to bring
his team back and I know I can."
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This is the best game that (Gannon) has played since I have been with him. His improvisation, his ability to see blitzes was something. ” |
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— Jon Gruden, Raiders head coach |
Grbac is the pocket passer, while Gannon pulled magic from his pocket.
Take, for example, his game-tying touchdown drive. The Raiders had a
third-and-17 at the Oakland 39, trailing 17-10. Gannon scrambled an eternity
waiting for someone to get open.
Along the right sideline, he saw fullback Jon Ritchie. With a
sidearm toss, Gannon hit Ritchie, who angled himself between a defender and
the sidelines to make the first down.
"That was shock when he threw it sidearm," Ritchie said. "Before
he threw it, he wasn't even looking at me. He's always pulling plays like
that out of his magical hat. He's scrambling, gaining unconventional yards.
It's fun for us."
When pass plays break down, Gannon will run. He had eight rushes for 38
yards. His best play of the game was a fourth-and-1 on that same drive from
the Chiefs' 35-yard line.
The play call was a quick 17-yard pass to Tim Brown, but Gannon was
pressured so he scrambled. He bought enough time to see that Ritchie was an
option for a short completion, but Gannon wanted to go long. Brown kept
running and was down at the Chiefs' 2.
Gannon found him for the completion, and two plays later, scrambled
around long enough to hit Tyrone Wheatley for a 2-yard touchdown pass to
tie the score at 17.
"I wasn't supposed to be 30 yards downfield, but that's the way it
worked out," Brown said. "I knew what kind of guy he was when we signed him.
I compared him to Jeff Hostetler. I thought, 'Okay, I have a scrambling guy
who will push the pocket up a little more. Maybe I'll get some balls late as
opposed to on time.' "
Gannon outdid himself driving the team from the Raiders' 14 to the
Chiefs' 25 with a little over two minutes remaining in the game. He called an
audible or two, and even stunned Rison, the former Chief.
"He audibled to a slant to get us in field-goal range, and I kept
saying, `Are you serious about this one," said Rison, who caught a 7-yarder
to the Chiefs 25 with 30 seconds left. "A lot of quarterbacks couldn't do
what he did on that drive. A couple of times, he looked at me and gave me
old Chiefs signals. He's a football player."
A football player who is a winner. The Chiefs face an interesting
decision at the end of the season. They have a $20 million cap number on
Grbac next year and they will likely renegotiate hi s contract and keep him
as their starter. After all, he's 30 and has a career record of 28-19.
But it's Gannon who is on the path with the Raiders to advance into
the playoffs and maybe beyond. Grbac needs to learn Gannon's instincts.
"It's all instinctive," Gannon said. "I would be lying to you if
I say that I drop back and just look around. I'm 35."
Like fine wine, Gannon's matured into a classic.
John Clayton is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.
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