It's still early in the Scott Pioli/Todd Haley regime, but to me, the Chiefs' stunning upset of the Pittsburgh Steelers was reminiscent of the watershed moment of the 1990s.

Remember Oct. 7, 1991? The defending AFC Champion Buffalo Bills, featuring future Hall of Famers Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Bruce Smith and coach Marv Levy came into Arrowhead Stadium for a Monday-night game.

Now, the Chiefs weren't the decided underdogs in that game the way they were on Sunday. Heck, they might have even been favored.

The Chiefs were in their third year under general manager Carl Peterson and head coach Marty Schottenheimer and already had posted two winning seasons in KC and went to the playoffs in 1990.

But still, the Chiefs' 33-6 romp over the Bills _ a team that would go on to the second of four straight Super Bowls _ was a seminal moment in their 1990s revival of the franchise. Derrick Thomas led the defensive charge with four sacks and two forced fumbles.

The crowd of 76,120 was in a frenzy, it was the night the city's love affair with the Chiefs was officially rekindled, and any doubt about the direction of the franchise was dispelled.

The Chiefs followed that up with a 42-7 demolision of Don Shula and Dan Marino's Miami Dolphins the next week, finished the season 10-6 and made it to the second round of the playoffs, where Buffalo got its revenge with a 37-14 victory.

I'm not saying the Chiefs are going to beat San Diego this week, nor am I predicting them to even challenge for a playoff berth this season.

But maybe next year or in 2011, if Pioli and Haley get this thing turned around, we'll look back on the Nov. 22 win over the Super Bowl champion Steelers as having the same affect as that Buffalo game in 1991.