Kansas City, Mo. ? Dante Hall was right on target in his kickoff return and equally unerring in his postgame remarks.

Kansas City’s return artist did not have to be slippery during his 97-yard touchdown return of the opening kickoff by Denver. He did not have to be particularly agile. All he had to do was follow a forest of perfectly executed blocks.

He didn’t even think he should be interviewed by reporters at the end of Kansas City’s 45-17 victory.

“The guys did a great job of blocking, and I think you should go talk to those guys because all I had to do was run,” said Hall, who also had a kickoff return for a touchdown against San Diego.

“I didn’t even get touched. Every time a returner does not get touched, that’s the result of great blocking. There was no holding on that play, just flawless execution and a great play call by (special-teams coach) Frank Gansz.”

Hall’s kickoff return gave the Chiefs a 7-0 lead just 13 seconds into the game and had the same effect as a boxer who lands a solid punch to the nose in the first round.

The Broncos never seemed to recover.

“It’s definitely a great start,” Chiefs quarterback Trent Green said. “But I’m sure, from their standpoint, they’re thinking they still haven’t done anything offensively. So for us to go out our first series and put together a nice drive and go up 14-0 gave us even more confidence. We haven’t had too much of a problem starting games. It’s been finishing.”

Nobody had a bigger day than cornerback Dexter McCleon, who tied his career-high with two interceptions, both of which were converted into touchdowns.

The first one went right to McCleon, as though he were the intended receiver.

“We were sitting in zone coverage,” he said. “I was kind of surprised that they threw the ball. I think (quarterback Jake Plummer) misread the coverage a little bit. At the same time, the pressure was coming up front so he was forced to let it go early. In one of the blitzes we heard Jake say, ‘Oh, no’ as soon as he released the ball. It was sort of like a punt to me.”