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KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- After treading on dangerous waters throughout the game, the Seattle Seahawks turned to Ricky Watters to virtually sink the division title hopes of the Kansas City Chiefs. Watters ran for two touchdowns and caught another for a score as the Seahawks distanced themselves even further from the Chiefs in the AFC West with a key 31-19 victory. Watters rushed for 107 yards on 24 carries and added four catches for 67 yards. He had a two-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, caught a 22-yard touchdown scoring from Jon Kitna in the third quarter and ran it in from five yards out with 2:43 left in the game to seal the victory, set up by his own 45-yard jaunt to the Kansas City 5. "It was a total team win," Watters said. "We knew coming in here that we would have to put our best foot forward and we did. We have a lot of heart. To come in here and get a win is great for the team, for the organization and it is great for everybody." Continuing its surprising turnaround under first-year coach Mike Holmgren, Seattle (8-2) posted its fifth straight victory and moved three games ahead of the Chiefs and 2 1/2 ahead of the Oakland Raiders in the AFC West. The Seahawks have not made the playoffs since 1988. "If you can't take care of business in your division, than the playoffs are pretty hard," Holmgren said. "We have a very strong, competitive division and I have said that from the beginning. We take a lot of time to plan these games." Holmgren's previous team, the Green Bay Packers, started off 8-2 twice during his tenure there and went to the Super Bowl each time. Kitna completed 14-of-33 passes for 235 yards and two touchdowns, and Sean Dawkins reeled in five catches for 114 yards. Donnell Bennett's second touchdown of the game from one yard out with 6:49 left in the fourth quarter cut Seattle's lead to 24-19, but the Chiefs failed to convert on the two-point conversion pass. After forcing the Seahawks to punt on their next possession, the Chiefs went three and out. Starting from their own 42, the Seahawks turned to Watters to provide all 58 yards in the five-play drive, leading to his third score of the day. "Defensively we had a chance to stop them," Kansas City coach Gunther Cunningham said. "We had three timeouts left and we give them a 45-yard run. We stop them on first and second down and then let them score on third down. We've got to look at every phase of the game and make sure we come back. I won't accept anything less than that." Kansas City (5-5) suffered its third straight loss and lost for the first time in five home games this season. Seattle entered the third quarter up 14-13, but extended its lead to four on a 38-yard field goal by Todd Peterson. After the Chiefs' offense went three and out on two consecutive possessions, Kitna connected with Dawkins on a 45-yard scoring strike as Seattle moved out to a 24-13 with 3:13 left in the third quarter. "We stalled because they came up with some different things and we had to change our protections," Grbac said. "Give them credit." Elvis Grbac engineered a 13-play, 71-yard drive on Kansas City's first possession of the game which led to a 29-yard field goal by Pete Stoyanovich. He completed 4-of-5 passes for 44 yards, including a 12-yard pass to Derrick Alexander on 3rd-and-10 to the Seattle 18. Seattle put together its own 13-play drive which lasted 5:41, beginning on its own eight-yard line and ending with Watters' two-yard touchdown run. Watters also had a 14-yard run and caught a 25-yard pass in the drive. But the Chiefs regained the lead over five minutes later when Bennett scored from one yard out. He had seven carries for 36 yards, including an 11-yard run to the Seattle 4. Seattle struck back on its next possession as Kitna guided his team down the field 75 yards in nine plays, completing 4-of-7 for 65 yards and adding a 10-yard run. His 22-yard touchdown pass to Watters gave Seattle a 14-10 lead. The Chiefs started on their own 39 with 1:46 left in the half, but fumbled on first down as Rashaan Shehee coughed up the ball after a hit by linebacker Chad Brown and recovered by defensive back Darryl Williams. But the Seahawks gave the ball right back to Kansas City as Kitna fumbled after a five-yard run, and linebacker Marvcus Patton recovered at the Kansas City 45. With 1:23 left, Kansas City went 43 yards on 12 plays, leading to a 29-yard field goal by Stoyanovich with two seconds to go. Grbac was 30-of-49 for 322 yards, his highest total since joining the Chiefs as a free agent last season. Alexander caught eight passes for 101 yards and Bennett had 60 yards on 17 carries.
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