KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Maybe age isn’t catching up with Priest Holmes as quickly as everyone thought. When it mattered most, the Washington Redskins couldn’t catch him at all.

Nine days after his 32nd birthday, Holmes ran for a touchdown and caught five passes for 100 yards, including a winding, weaving 60-yard catch-and-run for the go-ahead score as Kansas City beat the Redskins 28-21 Sunday.

Santana Moss caught 10 passes for 173 yards and two touchdowns for the Redskins (3-2), who lost their second in a row after a 3-0 start. On fourth down with 14 seconds left, Mark Brunell let fly a pass toward Moss, who was streaking into the corner of the end zone.

But safety Sammy Knight seemed to get a fingertip on the ball as it sailed just out of Moss’ reach.

The Chiefs (3-2) had a career-game from defensive end Jared Allen, who sacked Brunell three times and recovered both fumbles he forced.

After a dull first half ended with the Redskins holding a 7-6 lead, the game exploded into a parade of long scoring plays.

Moss got loose on a 78-yard catch-and-run for Washington, Knight responded with an 80-yard fumble return and Holmes turned a short pass into a beauty of a touchdown play for a 28-21 Chiefs lead early in the fourth quarter.

The Chiefs took a 14-7 lead on their first possession of the second half on Holmes’ 6-yard touchdown run after he’d gone 21 yards on a short pass and officials tacked on another 14 yards for roughing the passer. Trent Green hit Marc Boerigter for a 2-point conversion pass.

But a few minutes later, after Brunell had been sacked for a 9-yard loss, Moss took a quick pass to the left flat and fled 78 yards down the sideline, making Knight miss on a desperate lunge and completing the Redskins’ longest scoring play of the season.

The Chiefs then grabbed a 21-14 lead when Carlos Hall forced Rock Cartwright to fumble and Knight scooped up the ball on the 20.

Getting the only block he needed from Derrick Johnson down field, the nine-year veteran went 80 yards almost untouched, putting the Chiefs on top 21-14 for about 5 minutes.

After Greg Wesley’s end zone interception was nullified by an illegal contract penalty against Dexter McCleon, Brunell hit Chris Cooley with an 11-yard touchdown pass in the final seconds of the third quarter.

The Chiefs had a first down on their own 40 on their next possession when Green cleared out the right side with two fake handoffs and tossed the ball back to Holmes in the flat. The muscular running back, whose 66 touchdowns from 2002-2004 are the most by any player over a three-year span, started left and then cut back against the grain.

Tony Gonzalez threw the last block to spring him and he tiptoed into the corner of the end zone.

The Redskins drove from their own 27 to a first and goal from the nine on their first possession but Allen beat Chris Samuels, sacked Brunell and stripped the ball out of his hand and fell on it at the 18.

The Chiefs drove to a first and goal on the seven. But Green was stopped on a quarterback scramble on third and goal from the 4, and Lawrence Tynes kicked a 20-yard field goal.

AP-ES-10-16-05 1638EDT


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