KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- Elvis Grbac gave the San Diego Chargers some early life before sucking it right back out of them.
Grbac overcame an early interception return for a touchdown by firing three of his career-high five scoring passes to rookie Sylvester Morris, leading the Kansas City Chiefs to an easy 42-10 victory over the troubled Chargers.
The Chiefs signal-caller's sixth pass of the afternoon was picked off at the San Diego 44 by safety Mike Dumas, who raced 56 yards for the game's opening score with 10:33 remaining in the first quarter.
John Carney's 54-yard field goal with 1:19 remaining in the opening period gave San Diego a 10-0 lead before Grbac took over.
"My stomach was churning right about that time," Kansas City coach Gunther Cunningham said. "I'd be dishonest if I didn't say that. We've been through a lot of tough times."
The 6-5, 240-pound eight-year veteran completed 20-of-33 passes for 235 yards and matched Hall of Famer Len Dawson's club record for touchdown passes in a game.
"First quarter, they came out with a good game plan defensively," Grbac said. "(Offensive coordinator) Jimmy Raye came up with an adjustment where we went to a slot formation and it really mixes up their defensive coverage."
"Elvis has been throwing the ball very well in practice," Cunningham said. "His competitive attitude has been tremendous at practice and it was there last week. I think he made a decision that he wasn't going to let it get to him. He's going to come back firing and I think we found another weapon in Sylvester Morris."
Grbac began his assault on the Chargers and Dawson's record when he found Morris with a 36-yard scoring strike that pulled Kansas City within 10-7 with 10:12 remaining in the first half.
Running back Tony Richardson was the recipient of a one-yard TD toss from Grbac, putting the Chiefs (1-2) ahead to stay, 14-10, 46 seconds before intermission.
Grbac's dominance continued early in the third quarter when he capped a seven-play, 59-yard march with a nine-yard TD pass to Morris, who amassed 92 yards on five catches.
"Like I said a few weeks ago, (Morris) is a guy that has a great talent," Grbac said.
"It was a great day," Morris said. "We just wanted to take advantage of what San Diego gave us. We got down 10-0 early, but Elvis got us in the huddle and he composed us."
Tight end Troy Drayton caught Grbac's two-yard pass in the end zone with 4:38 left in the third quarter, extending the advantage to 28-10 before the Chiefs' dynamic duo again hooked up.
The 21st pick overall out of Jackson State, Morris snapped Grbac's 20-yard TD pass less than three minutes into the fourth quarter.
"On that last touchdown catch that he had with an instant I knew I had 1-on-1 coverage on the backside," Grbac said. "I just threw the ball up in the air. That was the first thing that went through my mind. I just have to get the ball in the air so he can go up, jump and get it. He's such a strong kid with his talent, size and strength. He can do those types of things."
Rookie running back Frank Moreau capped the scoring on a one-yard dive with 1:57 to play.
Moses Moreno had a mediocre afternoon, comleting 11-of-22 passes for 107 yards, before being knocked out with a shoulder injury in the fourth quarter.
"I had the ball in my right hand and went down face first, the guys came out at me and I hear a pop. Then the pain started," Moreno said of his injury. "We dictated the outcome of this game. It is on our shoulders. There was nothing Kansas City did differently. That is the name of the sport."
Ryan Leaf, who lost his starting job this week to Moreno, proceeded to fire an interception on his first possession before finishing 6-of-13 for 62 yards for the 0-3 Chargers. San Diego lost its first four games in 1992.
"It felt good to play," Leaf said. "I was just trying to go out there and give us some spark. I was trying to do the things we worked on all week. There were some good things, but it was a poor game overall."
Grbac began what proved to be the winning drive on the Chargers' 45 with 47 seconds left in the first half. He hit Morris with a 22-yard pass before Scott Turner's pass interference call moved the ball to the 1. From there, Grbac rolled right and hit Richardson for a 14-10 lead.
Richardson and Moreau combined to rush for 98 yards on 24 carries for the Chiefs, who avoided their first 0-3 start since 1980.
Defensive ends Dan Williams and Eric Hicks had two sacks apiece for Kansas City, which outgained the Chargers, 349-187.
"It's hard for quarterbacks to hear, especially when they get inside Arrowhead," Hicks said. "We take great pride on working on ball drills where we get off the ball. It just worked out well for us today. We were in the backfield all day and when you get pressure like that, it's hard for them to make their plays work."
Grbac fired three incompletions to start the second half and the Chargers appeared to be gaining momentum when Moreno drove them to the Chiefs' 33. But Carney missed a 51-yard field goal and Grbac and Kansas City rolled thereafter.
"What I told the team was that the game did not have to be that way," San Diego coach Mike Riley said. "We let it slip away and then it really fell away after that. We dropped too many balls today early, we started playing bad, we busted assignments, thing that don't have to happen and then we really have to go back to work on. That's my fault."
Morris capped the ensuing drive with his nine-yard catch in the end zone, giving the Chiefs a 21-10 cushion.
"We just stayed in our normal routes and just got into situations where I was open," Morris. "Everything was working today."
