The 1984 Kansas City Chiefs season was the franchise's 15th season in the National Football League, the 22nd as the Kansas City Chiefs, and the 25th overall.
Pro Bowl safety Gary Barbaro became the most notable Chiefs player to defect to the rival United States Football League, signing with the New Jersey Generals 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 and Lloyd Burruss accounted for a combined 13 Pro Bowl appearances for the Chiefs in the years to come.
All-America defensive tackle Bill Maas and offensive tackle John Alt were both selected in the first round of the 1984 NFL draft. Maas was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, 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 on September 30, coming one sack shy of the NFL single-game record.
Quarterback Bill Kenney suffered a broken thumb during the preseason and was sidelined until the season's seventh week. Second-year backup Quarterback Todd Blackledge 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 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
1984 Kansas City Chiefs draft Round Selection Player Position College 1 5 Bill Maas Defensive tackle Pittsburgh 1 21 John Alt Tackle Iowa 2 34 Scott Radecic Linebacker Penn State 3 61 Herman Heard Running back Southern Colorado 4 90 Mark Robinson Safety Penn State 5 117 Eric Holle Defensive end Texas 5 134 Jeff Paine Linebacker Texas A&M 6 146 Rufus Stevens Wide receiver Grambling State 7 173 Kevin Ross Cornerback Temple 8 202 Randy Clark Defensive back Florida 9 229 Scott Auer Tackle Michigan State 9 240 Dave Hestera Tight end Colorado 10 258 Al Wenglikowski Linebacker Pittsburgh 11 285 Bobby Johnson Running back San Jose State
Undrafted free agents
+ 1984 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeDon BrackenPunterMichiganDavid LittleTight EndMiddle Tennessee State
Personnel
Staff
Roster
Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap 1 New Orleans Saints L 20–34 0–1 Arrowhead Stadium 34,230 Recap 2 at St. Louis Cardinals L 10–14 0–2 Busch Memorial Stadium 30,223 Recap 3 Cleveland Browns W 31–13 1–2 Arrowhead Stadium 33,074 Recap 4 at New England Patriots L 7–36 1–3 Sullivan Stadium 22,721 Recap
Regular season Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap 1 September 2 at Pittsburgh Steelers W 37–27 1–0 Three Rivers Stadium 56,709 Recap 2 September 9 at Cincinnati Bengals W 27–22 2–0 Riverfront Stadium 47,111 Recap 3 September 16 Los Angeles Raiders L 20–22 2–1 Arrowhead Stadium 75,111 Recap 4 September 23 at Denver Broncos L 0–21 2–2 Mile High Stadium 74,263 Recap 5 September 30 Cleveland Browns W 10–6 3–2 Arrowhead Stadium 40,785 Recap 6 October 7 New York Jets L 16–17 3–3 Arrowhead Stadium 51,843 Recap 7 October 14 San Diego Chargers W 31–13 4–3 Arrowhead Stadium 62,233 Recap 8 October 21 at New York Jets L 7–28 4–4 Giants Stadium 66,782 Recap 9 October 28 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 24–20 5–4 Arrowhead Stadium 41,710 Recap 10 November 4 at Seattle Seahawks L 0–45 5–5 Kingdome 61,396 Recap 11 November 11 Houston Oilers L 16–17 5–6 Arrowhead Stadium 44,464 Recap 12 November 18 at Los Angeles Raiders L 7–17 5–7 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 48,575 Recap 13 November 25 at New York Giants L 27–28 5–8 Giants Stadium 74,383 Recap 14 December 2 Denver Broncos W 16–13 6–8 Arrowhead Stadium 38,494 Recap 15 December 9 Seattle Seahawks W 34–7 7–8 Arrowhead Stadium 34,855 Recap 16 December 16 at San Diego Chargers W 42–21 8–8 Jack Murphy Stadium 40,221 Recap 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