Chiefs Manage to Win Without Montana : AFC: After shaky start, Krieg plays well enough to rally team from 9-0 deficit to 17-15 victory over winless Bengals.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. —  A day without Joe Montana does not necessarily have to be a day without a quarterback, the Kansas City Chiefs are discovering.

Dave Krieg, who played miserably in a 30-0 loss in his first start in relief of an injured Montana, looked shaky at first, but straightened out to put Nick Lowery in position for the game-winning kick in the Chiefs’ 17-15 victory over winless Cincinnati Sunday.

Chief Coach Marty Schottenheimer described the game as “not pretty,” but Krieg was more charitable after completing 10 of 20 passes for 140 yards.

“It was not as artistic as you would like,” said the NFL’s highest-paid backup quarterback. “But we won the game. That’s the bottom line.”

The Bengals (0-5) gained 227 yards to 203 for the Chiefs (4-1). The Bengals led, 9-0, at one point and took a 15-14 lead on Doug Pelfrey’s fifth field goal, a 34-yarder, with 5:59 to play.

But Krieg chose the next moment for his longest gainer of the day, a 28-yard pass play to J.J. Birden that carried to the Bengal 39 and led to Lowery’s 37-yarder with 2:43 left.

“I thought David did a fine job,” Schottenheimer said. “He put the drive together at the end that we needed to get the job done.”

With Montana showing a tendency to be injury-prone--his latest malady is a pulled hamstring--and Krieg being so ineffective in his other start, anxiety was high around Kansas City all week despite the Bengals’ winless record.

“I just tried not to think about that stuff,” said Krieg, who started every game for the Chiefs last season. “There’s enough pressure to go out there as it is.”

Second-year pro David Klingler led the Bengals on a 72-yard march, converting four times on fourth down, to set up the fifth Pelfrey field goal, which tied a team record. But the Bengals, who have scored only four touchdowns all season, failed to stop Krieg.