text: The club's defense began to flex its muscle, beginning with a 21–7 win at Denver on October 22. The contest, played in a Rocky Mountain snowstorm, featured the 100th rushing TD of Marcus Allen's career. The Chiefs won a home game for the third time on a last-second return score that concluded in Arrowhead's west end zone when cornerback Mark Collins scooped up a fumble for a 20–13 win against Houston. Kansas City clinched a division title with a 29–23 victory at Oakland on December 3 en route to a franchise-best 13–3 regular season record and a team-record sixth consecutive postseason berth. The Chiefs were represented by seven players in the Pro Bowl, more than any other AFC team. In the playoffs, the Chiefs dropped an AFC Divisional Playoff Game against the underdog Indianapolis Colts on January 7—a blustery afternoon with the temperature at 11 degrees and a wind chill of −9. Three interceptions and three missed field goals from placekicker Lin Elliot contributed to the 10–7 loss at Arrowhead.
  1996
  Kansas City entered the 1996 campaign with essentially the same lineup as the club boasted in 1995 and were featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated along with Green Bay as pre-season Super Bowl favorites. Kansas City made its third American Bowl appearance, this time against Dallas in Monterrey, Mexico. The club started the season with a 4–0 record for the first time in team history, but the season's lofty expectations came crashing down as the squad lost three of its next four games. A three-game winning streak, including a victory over the eventual Super Bowl champion Packers, put the club back in post-season contention at 8–3.