The 1989 season was the Kansas City Chiefs' 20th in the National Football League, their 30th overall and their first under head coach Marty Schottenheimer and general manager Carl Peterson. They improved on their 4–11–1 record from 1988 and finished with an 8–7–1 record. The Chiefs did not qualify for the playoffs in for the third straight year but did send four players to the Pro Bowl. The Chiefs Week 11 10–10 tie against the Cleveland Browns remains the most recent tie in Chiefs history.
Background The Chiefs had changed coaches before, but never had the organization gone through the complete overhaul it did between the 1988 and 1989 seasons. On December 19, 1988, Lamar Hunt hired Carl Peterson as the team's new president/general manager. On January 5 Peterson fired head coach Frank Gansz, just two weeks after taking over. On January 24 he hired Marty Schottenheimer, who was fired by Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell. Schottenheimer also cleaned house, bringing over several assistants who would later become NFL head coaches including Tony Dungy, Herman Edwards (who would later be head coach of the Chiefs), Bruce Arians and devoted Schottenheimer disciple Bill Cowher. Dungy and Cowher would eventually be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, with Cowher specifically mentioning Schottenheimer by name as someone who belongs in the Hall.
With Peterson's help, Schottenheimer also made several roster changes, including drafting future hall of famer Derrick Thomas. Thomas later became a key part to the Chiefs defense in 90s and became one of the most popular players with fans in franchise history before his premature death in February 2000.
The team also signed Hall of Fame center Mike Webster after initially hiring him as an offensive line coach. While his signing wasn't controversial at the time, multiple lawsuits following his death in 2002 proved that Webster was already disabled when the Pittsburgh Steelers (the team he's most associated with) chose to leave him unprotected in Plan B free agency and that Webster likely shouldn't have continued playing when signing with the Chiefs; the brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) would be initially discovered during his autopsy.Late Steelers great Webster's case launched the CTE brain debate emotion based reference Pittsburgh Post-Gazette May 14, 2013 He would go up against the Steelers at Three Rivers Stadium in Week 8 in what would prove be the Chiefs last trip to Pittsburgh for 17 years and the team's last-ever trip to Three Rivers Stadium; the two teams would meet 8 times in the ensuing years (including in the wild card round in the 1993 playoffs), all at Arrowhead Stadium, before the teams played at the Steelers current home Heinz Field in 2006.
Season summary The Chiefs started the season at Denver on September 10 but the Chiefs lost the opener, 34–20. The very next Sunday the Chiefs downed the Los Angeles Raiders 24–19, garnering Schottenheimer's first win as Chiefs' head coach.
The Chiefs would start the season 1–4, but soon turned things around. On October 22, Christian Okoye carried the ball 33 times for 170 yards as the Chiefs defeated the Dallas Cowboys at Arrowhead Stadium, 36–28.
On November 26, Kansas City cruised past the Houston Oilers, 34–0 to start a 3-game winning streak to give themselves a chance to make the playoffs.
On December 17, using a bruising running game and a smothering defense, the San Diego Chargers marched into Arrowhead Stadium and crushed the Chiefs' playoffs dreams. They bulldozed their way to 219 yards rushing, 176 by Marion Butts, and won 20–13. The all but eliminated the Chiefs from any chance of making the playoffs. Chiefs' quarterback Steve DeBerg was ineffective because of the chilling 18-degree weather and completed just 14 of 33 passes. Okoye constantly found his path blocked, holes jammed. The Chiefs had one final opportunity to tie the game, driving from their own 36 yard line to the San Diego 19. DeBerg's next pass into the end zone was intercepted, ending the Chiefs' chances and the game. The loss left the Chiefs needing a win at Miami on Christmas Eve, combined with losses by Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and the Raiders that day and Cincinnati on Christmas Day to make the playoffs.
The next week, the Chiefs did bounce back and defeated the Miami Dolphins for the second time in the season, 27–24 and had a winning record in the first Peterson-Schottenheimer season at 8-7-1. The Bengals, Colts and Raiders also lost that weekend; however, the Steelers won their game and final AFC Playoff spot, finishing 9-7 overall.
DeBerg passed for 2,529 yards in his second season with the team. Okoye led the NFL in rushing with 1,480 yards. Stephone Paige led the receivers with 44 receptions. Rookie linebacker Derrick Thomas recorded 10 sacks.
Okoye was named to the Pro Bowl along with defensive stars Albert Lewis, Kevin Ross and Thomas.
Offseason
NFL draft
Undrafted free agents
+ 1989 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeMichael HarrisGuardGrambling StateBrett HolleyPunterArizonaRobert Oliver Wide receiverWestern MichiganMark PorterKickerKansas State
Personnel
Staff
Roster
Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap 1 vs. Minnesota Vikings L 13–23 0–1 Liberty Bowl 63,528 Recap 2 August 20 New York Giants L 7–45 0–2 Arrowhead Stadium 36,820 Recap 3 August 27 at Chicago Bears W 22–17 1–2 Soldier Field 56,343 Recap 4 New York Jets L 13–15 1–3 Arrowhead Stadium 41,105 Recap
Regular season Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap 1 September 10 at Denver Broncos L 20–34 0–1 Mile High Stadium 74,284 Recap 2 September 17 Los Angeles Raiders W 24–19 1–1 Arrowhead Stadium 71,741 Recap 3 September 24 at San Diego Chargers L 6–21 1–2 Jack Murphy Stadium 40,128 Recap 4 October 1 Cincinnati Bengals L 17–21 1–3 Arrowhead Stadium 61,165 Recap 5 October 8 at Seattle Seahawks W 20–16 2–3 Kingdome 60,715 Recap 6 October 15 at Los Angeles Raiders L 14–20 2–4 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 40,453 Recap 7 October 22 Dallas Cowboys W 36–28 3–4 Arrowhead Stadium 76,841 Recap 8 October 29 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 17–23 3–5 Three Rivers Stadium 54,194 Recap 9 November 5 Seattle Seahawks W 20–10 4–5 Arrowhead Stadium 54,489 Recap 10 November 12 Denver Broncos L 13–16 4–6 Arrowhead Stadium 76,245 Recap 11 November 19 at Cleveland Browns T 10–10 4–6–1 Cleveland Stadium 77,922 Recap 12 November 26 Houston Oilers W 34–0 5–6–1 Arrowhead Stadium 51,342 Recap 13 December 3 Miami Dolphins W 26–21 6–6–1 Arrowhead Stadium 54,610 Recap 14 December 10 at Green Bay Packers W 21–3 7–6–1 Lambeau Field 56,694 Recap 15 December 17 San Diego Chargers L 13–20 7–7–1 Arrowhead Stadium 40,623 Recap 16 December 24 at Miami Dolphins W 27–24 8–7–1 Joe Robbie Stadium 43,612 Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries
Week 1: at Denver Broncos
Week 2: vs. Los Angeles Raiders
Week 3: at San Diego Chargers
Week 4: vs. Cincinnati Bengals
Week 5: at Seattle Seahawks
Week 6: at Los Angeles Raiders
Week 7: vs. Dallas Cowboys
Week 8: at Pittsburgh Steelers
Week 9: vs. Seattle Seahawks
Week 10: vs. Denver Broncos
Week 11: at Cleveland Browns
Week 12: vs. Houston Oilers
Week 13: vs. Miami Dolphins
Week 14: at Green Bay Packers
Week 15: vs. San Diego Chargers
Week 16: at Miami Dolphins
Standings
References