With Broncos Looming, Bono Mired In Slump

Mike Shanahan sat in front of his television Monday night to scout the upcoming opponent and watch his former pupil, Steve Bono.

What the Denver Broncos coach saw was a Kansas City offense that was struggling and a quarterback who didn’t look like himself.

“I know Steve quite well,” said Shanahan, who coached Bono for two seasons when they were together with the San Francisco 49ers. “(Bono’s pass) usually comes out with just a perfect spiral. Steve’s a guy who doesn’t complain. He’ll play with pain. He’s not going to complain. He’s going to play hurt and get the job done.”

Or as in recent games, not get the job done. If Shanahan had been paying attention, he would have seen Bono missing open receivers in other games and not just in Monday night’s 13-6 loss at Miami.

He played that night with a sore right thumb and the top of his right ring finger encased in a splint. Those are the injuries to which Shanahan referred. The problem, in truth, predates Miami. Bono’s completion percentage has rapidly been slipping since around the midway point of the season.

Bono said the hand was not a factor in Monday’s game, a thought echoed by his coaches. But 15 completions in 37 attempts is pitiful in an offense that turns lame if the connection on short passes is not made.

Bono knows it. He said the footballs used in Monday’s game were slick, but mostly he blamed himself. “I need to look at what I’m doing,” Bono said, “and get it fixed.”

The Chiefs need a better completion percentage than most teams because of the nature of their offense. They rely on short passes so they have to complete a lot of them to get the ball downfield.

Offensive coordinator Paul Hackett would like to see a completion percentage of about 65. Bono’s has slipped to 56.2, worse than all but seven of the 29 other starting quarterbacks entering Sunday’s game against Denver at Arrowhead Stadium.

“He’s got to improve his play,” Hackett said. “There is no cloak here. The quarterback is the key to this offense.”

Even Hackett isn’t sure what the Chiefs have in Bono.

“It’s the first season he’s playing full time,” Hackett said. “My sense is that he’s absolutely capable of (completing the necessary percentage). But we are looking at the first full year for him, so we’re still learning about Steve.”

Bono did a decent job of turning himself around against the Dolphins. He was 4 of 15 in the first half. Then he connected on 5 of 6 passes on the Chiefs’ only touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. He threw what could have been a game-winning touchdown pass on their next possession, but Tamarick Vanover dropped it in the end zone.

On the next play, Bono reverted to previous form. A fourth-down fade pass to Webster Slaughter was underthrown.

Hackett prefers to dwell on Bono’s interception rate. He has thrown nine picks in 454 attempts, meaning 2 percent of his passes fall into opponent hands. That’s lower than all but six of the league’s starting quarterbacks.

Bono’s hand appears to be mending fine, but he will continue to wear the splint.

White “feels great”

Defense end Reggie White was expected to play today against the New Orleans Saints after reporting no problems with an injured hamstring, Green Bay defensive coordinator Fritz Shurmur said.

“I saw him today and he said it felt great,” Shurmur reported in New Orleans.

The injury forced White, the all-time NFL sack leader, to skip the Packers’ game last week in Tampa, the first absence from a game in his 11-year career.

Mayors rally for Cleveland

Mayors from NFL cities across the country ended a two-day conference in Cleveland with plans to look for new ways to quell the dollar-driven wanderlust of pro sports franchises.

The conference was organized by Cleveland Mayor Michael R. White, who is fighting to prevent Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell from moving his team to Baltimore next year. White’s administration has tied the move up in the courts.

Cleveland is far from alone - the Houston Oilers are leaving for Tennessee, and there have been rumblings among the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Cincinnati Bengals, the Seattle Seahawks and several other teams.

Seattle Mayor Norm Rice, outgoing president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, announced the formation of a study group to consider the problem further and report at the conference’s meeting next month.

A Feb. 12 trial date was set for Cleveland’s lawsuit seeking to block the Browns from moving until their Cleveland Stadium lease expires in 1998.

Ex-Seahawk Hunter arrested

Cornerback Patrick Hunter of the Arizona Cardinals has been cited for drunken driving after refusing a breath test and becoming “agitated and agressive” under questioning, police in Chandler, Ariz., said.

Hunter played nine years with Seattle.