NASHVILLE, Tennessee, 27 December 2004 — Jake Plummer broke out of his slump and kept the Denver Broncos in the playoff race.

Plummer threw for 303 yards and two touchdowns and Reuben Droughns scored three touchdowns as the Broncos beat the Tennessee Titans 37-16 yesterday to stay in at least a tie for the AFC’s final wild-card slot going into the final week of the season.

Denver (9-6) had lost three of its last four games with two of those losses to teams with losing records, including last week’s 45-17 rout at Kansas City. Plummer hurt Denver more than he helped with nine interceptions and only two touchdowns in that stretch.

Against a defense missing six starters, Plummer was intercepted once, giving him an NFL-high 20 interceptions this season. But he otherwise was superb, going 21-for-26.

Denver handed the Titans (4-11) their fifth straight loss by shutting down Billy Volek, who was trying to become the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for 400 yards in three consecutive games. Reggie Hayward had three of the Broncos’ six sacks, and the defense also forced two turnovers and limited Tennessee to a season-low 153 yards offense.

Chiefs 31 Raiders 30: In Kansas City, Missouri, Lawrence Tynes followed Dante Hall’s 49-yard kickoff return with a 38-yard field goal with 22 seconds to go. It was the fourth win in a row for the Chiefs (7-8), whose Super Bowl hopes were dashed by a 1-3 start and a four-game losing streak in November.

Sebastian Janikowski scored the last nine points for Oakland (5-10) on three field goals, including a 46-yarder with 1:03 left that followed a fumble by Chiefs quarterback Trent Green. But Hall, who already has two touchdowns on kick runbacks this year, got loose on the ensuing kick and was not stopped until Janikowski got him on the Raiders 36.

Tynes, who had missed from 50 yards and had another attempt blocked, had no trouble with his first NFL game-winner even though his holder, punter Nick Murphy, had only been signed at midweek. Green hit 32 of 45 passes for 358 yards and two touchdowns to tight end Tony Gonzalez, who has 54 career TDs, tied with Wesley Walls for third all-time at tight end.