The scout for the Buffalo Bills, A.J. Smith, said he was watching the Kansas City Chiefs play the Pittsburgh Steelers in the wild-card playoff round. The Steelers looked as though they’d win until the end, when the Chiefs pulled even and won in overtime.
“Joe Montana and Marcus Allen just took it over,” Smith said.
Prime-time players do that in every sport. The Chiefs are just another team without Montana and Allen. And Allen has been the overlooked part of the picture. While Montana grabs the spotlight, Allen has been proving he is no has-been.
The Chiefs two’ newcomers did the same thing against the Houston Oilers last Sunday. If they repeat against the Bills in Buffalo in the AFC title game Sunday, every team in the league is going to trade for a new quarterback and sign an old free-agent running back.
Allen is testimony to the virtue of free agency. Al Davis had buried the 33-year-old with the Raiders, refusing to play him, trade him, or pay him what he thought he deserved. With the Chiefs, he is making more money (although his $1.6 million earned in 1993 is no more than Neal Anderson’s salary), and his numbers are his best since 1988.
Expected to play as a third-down specialist and insurance back for young Harvey Williams, Allen is the featured back.
“No, I’m not surprised,” he said. “I’ve said at the risk of sounding like a prophet or clairvoyant, I sincerely expected to play a great deal and become a factor.”
In a “told-you-so” season, Allen is sending messages to Davis he refuses to embellish with words. He doesn’t need to.
“I really don’t want to talk about the Raider situation,” Allen said Tuesday. “It doesn’t do anyone any good.”
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A year ago, Allen charged Davis was conspiring to keep Allen out of the Hall of Fame. Since 1988, Allen has been hampered by injury but primarily kept under wraps for reasons known only to Davis. Normal running backs don’t experience comebacks after 30 (see Eric Dickerson, et al.), but Allen obviously is abnormal.
Not only did he lead the AFC with 15 touchdowns, he is once again rising to the playoff occasion. His 74 yards and 21-yard clinching touchdown run helped beat the Oilers last week. In 12 playoff games during his career, he is averaging 5.4 yards a carry (202-1,102) and has scored 12 touchdowns.
Allen talked Tuesday of the Bills having “great players that rise to the occasion.”
“I don’t know if it’s just instinctive, or an innate thing for some players,” Allen said. “Obviously, experience plays a big part in that.”
Allen didn’t want to talk about how he elevates his own play. Neither did he want to dwell on the ankle injury that couldn’t sideline him last week.
“You get beat up out there all the time,” Allen said. “I don’t think anyone is healthy unless they’re not playing. I have a lot of determination and I want to play.”
Last time Allen played a playoff game in Buffalo, the Raiders got rolled 51-3. It was the AFC title game of the 1990 season, sending the Bills to their first Super Bowl.
“By halftime, I had my postgame interview answers down,” said Allen, who carried 10 times for 26 yards that day.