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KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- The Detroit Lions finally looked like they missed Barry Sanders. The Kansas City Chiefs did just fine without Kimble Anders and Bam Morris. With key plays from the offense, defense and special teams, the Chiefs cruised to a 31-21 victory over the Lions, who were denied their first 3-0 start in 19 years. The surprising Lions had won their first two games without Sanders, the NFL's second all-time leading rusher who stunned the football world by retiring just prior to training camp. Undaunted, Detroit defeated Seattle and Green Bay with solid defense and a balanced attack led by second-year quarterback Charlie Batch. Batch met his match in the Chiefs (2-1), who held the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos to one touchdown last week and were tough again today. They prevented the Lions from converting their first eight third-down plays. "We came in here anticipating they would put pressure on us and that's what they did," said Batch, who was sacked four times. "It was really up to us to go out there and make it happen. And we didn't do it." Batch completed 16-of-34 passes for 213 yards and two touchdowns. He also was picked off two times in the fourth quarter and was outplayed by Elvis Grbac, who was 20-of-29 for 234 yards and two TDs. Anders gained a career-high 142 yards last week but suffered a torn Achilles tendon and is out for the season. Bam Morris got the start but went down early with a hamstring injury. Kansas City turned to Donnell Bennett, who rushed for 73 yards and a TD, and Rashaan Shehee, who added 46 yards and a score. "We're struggling around with our backs," Cheifs coach Gunther Cunningham said. "Bam got hurt a little bit. The other two guys stepped up and we rushed for about 155 yards, which is what I like to see." "It's not so much coming in cold, it's when you see a guy go down and you know you're the next guy in, you know you have to step it up," Shehee said. Cornerback Cris Dishman had an interception after a pooch punt, Tamarick Vanover had a couple of long punt returns and Pete Stoyanovich kicked a 51-yard field goal for the Chiefs, who went 30-11 in September in the 1990s. Kansas City has won 44 straight home games when scoring at least 21 points. Ron Rivers rushed for 66 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries and rookie Sedrick Irvin added a TD run for the Lions, who were outgained 155-118 on the ground and have lost their three last three meetings with the Chiefs. "We're playing with different people (on the offensive line)," Lions coach Bobby Ross said. "That's a little difficult to line up with different people almost every week on the offensive line. That's a difficult thing to get corrected. "I thought Ronnie Rivers played a great game. He really ran hard. He ran well. Sedrick Irvin came in and played well. Overall, our running game was not bad. I was not disappointed with that." Late in the first quarter, a 20-yard punt return by Vanover set up Grbac's 16-yard TD pass to tight end Tony Gonzalez, who had seven catches for 72 yards. Irvin answered on the ensuing drive with a 16-yard scoring scamper before the Chiefs took control. Bennett's 44-yard run set up Shehee's six-yard scoring jaunt that gave Kansas City the lead for good with 4:18 remaining in the first half. "When Bam went down, the mentality was whoever steps in will do the job," Grbac said. "They will hit the holes hard and click and get some yards." "As long as we score, diversity is great," Chiefs center Tim Grunhard said. "But the main thing is that we score. It was a good game for us. We did some things we wanted to do. We were able to wear them down a little bit." The Lions were forced to punt and Grbac employed the two-minute offense to set up Stoyanovich's long kick that gave the Chiefs a 17-7 halftime lead. "When we tied it up 7-7, I thought we were very much in the ballgame," Ross said. "We gave them that 44-yard run and that seemed to take a little out of us. The 51-yard field goal at the end of the first half hurt us, too. They did a very good job in the two-minute offense and Stoyanovich kicked it through and that was a big play." Vanover brought back a punt 17 yards and Grbac connected with Derrick Alexander for 20 yards before finding Joe Horn with a 25-yard TD pass 10 minutes into the third quarter, widening the lead to 24-7. The Lions abandoned the running game and Batch hooked up with Walter Rasby for a three-yard TD pass with 1:24 left in the third quarter. A bad snap on the extra point left Detroit trailing by 11 points. The Chiefs lined up for another long field goal but Stoyanovich punted to the Lions 10. Three plays later, Dishman made his 38th career interception, returning it 25 yards to the 23. After Gonzalez caught a third-down pass, Bennett went in from the 7 for a 31-13 advantage with 10:38 to go. "I told him that if he (Bennett) got in real good shape, he'll score," Cunningham said. "I think he's done a real good job switching over in mid-stream from fullback to halfback. He runs hard." Detroit's next possession ended with an interception by James Hasty at the Kansas City 4. The Chiefs chewed up most of the remaining time, although Batch and Rivers teamed up on a 31-yard TD off a screen pass. "We didn't fall apart. It could have been a blowout," Batch said. "We battled back and put a couple of drives together and made it interesting."
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