Montana, Chiefs Have Nothing on Rams : Pro football: Kansas City suffers first loss of year and quarterback suffers first shutout of career, 16-0.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. —  The miracle comeback had to be there all day in the minds of those watching and playing. Two touchdowns and a pair of two-point conversions, and shake down the thunder, though the odds be great or small, Joe will win over all.

Instead of one more miracle finish for Kansas City quarterback Joe Montana, however, the Rams made him eat dirt.

The Rams (2-2) not only handed Montana his first defeat in eight starts in Arrowhead Stadium, 16-0, before 78,184, but they also became the first NFL team to shut out a Montana-led team.

“No way did I think this game was over until Jerome (Bettis) got the last first down with less than two minutes to play,” Ram cornerback Darryl Henley said. “I can’t tell you how many times it’s happened to me before up north (San Francisco) with Joe Montana doing his thing.”

The Chiefs had Montana, the momentum, a 3-0 record and a promise from Coach Marty Schottenheimer that if they did their duty and dispatched the Rams, they would have an additional day off in the upcoming bye week.

The Rams, however, were also motivated. Coach Chuck Knox, advised of the bait being dangled before the Chiefs, pulled his team together, and announced: “Men, I want a level playing field: We win this game and you will not have to report back to work until Wednesday.”

No contest. The Rams not only earned two paid holidays, but a measure of respect in defeating one of the AFC’s top teams.

“You knew Chuck Knox would come in and make the game shorter and close by controlling the ball,” Schottenheimer said. “He did one better than that--it wasn’t even close.”

The Chiefs suffered their first shutout at home since being blanked by the Rams by the same score on Oct. 20, 1985. Montana was last shut out on Sept. 9, 1978, in a 3-0 loss to Missouri while he was playing for Notre Dame.

“We came in here and the fans were calling us all kinds of names,” safety Anthony Newman said. “You could tell the way the players for the Chiefs were lollygagging around in pregame warm-ups, laughing and all that, that they didn’t have any respect for us. They had a bye coming up, figured they had the Rams and were in for a rest. They forgot one thing: They had to play the game.”

The Chiefs opened the game on offense with Montana, who required medical attention before the game for flu, directing the team with apparent ease. Once inside Ram territory, however, the Ram defense became irritated.

Defensive end Fred Stokes began to harass Montana on almost every pass attempt, and as a result, the Chiefs were stuck at the Ram 34-yard line on fourth and 13. Instead of calling on a kicker, the Chiefs went for it, and a scrambling Montana was forced into throwing the ball short of his intended receiver.

The Ram offense took over, and Chris Chandler, starting in place of an injured Chris Miller, put his team in position for a 29-yard Tony Zendejas field goal.

The Chiefs’ offense was forced to punt after gaining four yards on three plays, and the Rams took possession at their 28. Bettis was stopped for no gain on first down, and Chandler took aim at wide receiver Jessie Hester on second down.

Wide receiver Flipper Anderson, meanwhile, was also running a pass route in the same vicinity as Hester. Cornerback Dale Carter jammed Anderson and forced him out of bounds before tripping and falling to the turf. Anderson returned to the playing field as Chandler’s pass was flicking off Hester’s fingertips. Anderson caught the ball and ran untouched into the end zone for a 72-yard touchdown.

“We designed that play,” Knox said with a smile.

Down, 10-0, Montana got the ball at his 22 and immediately came under pressure again from the Rams’ defensive line. Montana tried to throw the ball away to avoid being sacked, but tossed it instead into the waiting arms of linebacker Roman Phifer at the Chiefs’ 20. Five plays later, Zendejas kicked a 23-yard field goal, and the Rams, who were two-touchdown underdogs, had a 13-0 lead.

“The Chiefs showed us no respect,” said tight end Troy Drayton, who had three catches for 20 yards. “We had to gain our respect back. When you don’t get respect, you’re going to take it personal. Today we proved they are vulnerable just like every other team in the NFL.”

A team directed by Montana, however, is supposed to be immune to such indignity. But on this day, the Chiefs actually had Steve Bono warming up on the sideline.

The Chiefs advanced as far as the Rams’ 29 in the second quarter, but once again went for it on fourth down rather than kick. On fourth and eight, Montana failed to connect with Willie Davis.

The Rams took over, moved to the Chiefs’ two-yard line with nine seconds to play in the half and no timeouts remaining, and failed to score when running back Howard Griffith couldn’t hold Chandler’s pass in the end zone.

The stage was set for Montana’s second-half comeback, but instead of scoring touchdowns, Montana finished the day having been intercepted three times.

“I was real proud of our team,” said Knox, who received a Gatorade dousing after the victory. “We came into a pressure situation, a stadium with 80,000 people and all the noise and we made the big plays we needed to win.”

Chandler completed 13 of 21 passes for 207 yards and Bettis ran 35 times for 132 yards, his third consecutive game of more than 100 yards.

“Chris Chandler did a great job for us,” cornerback Todd Lyght said. “He came in and ran the offense to perfection and never put the defense in bad position. Then he turned the game over to Jerome, who was just great.”

Lyght danced at midfield during the final seconds while pointing at the Chiefs’ sideline. “I just wanted to let K.C. know who beat them,” he said.