The Denver Broncos lost a heartbreaker in Sunday’s AFC West divisional showdown against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs and fell to 5-5 on the season.
Denver Broncos lose heartbreaker against Kansas City Chiefs
The Broncos’ offense has taken steps forward in terms of showing growth, but missed opportunities continue to plague them through ten weeks of play. In Sunday’s game against the Chiefs, missed opportunities defined the outcome once again.
Right before halftime, a penalty and a drop cost them three points to extend their lead to 17-10. In the second half, rookie running back Audric Estime burst off a big gain on the ground, but a holding call on Ben Powers negated it. Denver ultimately punted it away and took away potential points.
Toward the end of the third quarter, the Broncos offense got to midfield and got too fancy with an end-around play to Marvin Mims, leading to a one-yard loss. The Chiefs dialed up an all-out blitz and sacked Bo Nix for a 16-yard loss, bumping them out of field goal range, resulting in another missed three points.
There were too many points left on the field, and that mattered in their 16-14 loss against a Chiefs team that has a built-in margin of error. With a chance to win the game at the buzzer, Wil Lutz’s 35-yard field goal was blocked off the left side as Kansas City eeked out yet another close game where the ball seemingly always bounced their way.
Denver’s defense did everything in their power to help the Broncos come away with a win, sacking Patrick Mahomes four times and hitting him nine times.
Biggest turning point for the Denver Broncos – 1st/2nd half blunders
The Broncos had a 14-3 lead late in the second quarter. Nik Bonitto sacked Patrick Mahomes on third down, but the dreaded yellow flag flew out on the field, with the officials calling safety Brandon Jones for illegal contact. However, the contact in question came after Mahomes was already being taken to the ground, which becomes another asterisk-based question surrounding the Chiefs and the bounce they seemingly always receive from officials.
Kansas City then went for it on fourth down on that same exact drive on fourth and goal, and Chiefs tight end Noah Gray wasn’t set, which would have been an illegal formation. Travis Kelce’s touchdown catch on that play trimmed Denver’s lead to 14-10.
Subsequently, after that, the Broncos offense had a solid two-minute drive downfield before halftime, but an illegal formation penalty pushed them out of field goal range, and Courtland Sutton had a drop on third down that would have put them into range with around three seconds left. Wil Lutz had to settle for a 60-yard field goal, but it fell short, and Denver went into the locker room with momentum trending the other way.
The Broncos’ final drive of the game was set up because of Harrison Butker’s mistake of kicking the ball short of the landing zone, giving Nix and the offense the ball at the 40-yard line. Nix, Audric Estime, and Courtland Sutton set up the game-winning field goal.
In hindsight, the drop before the second half and the sack that took them out of field goal range in the third quarter loom larger after the loss.
Defining numbers from Broncos loss to Chiefs – KC dominates third down
Coming into today’s game, the Chiefs offense was the league’s most efficient third-down offense. They continued to thrive on third down on Sunday, burning the Broncos several times on third and long situations that helped extend Kansas City’s time of possession.
The Broncos’ defense dialed up the pressure on Mahomes, but there were several times he made them pay with his legs and his arm. It’s the cost of doing business, and the Broncos approach was the right one to have — Kansas City just capitalized more when the stakes were high.
In Sunday’s loss, the Chiefs were (7-of-16) on third down, resulting in them leading the time of possession 33:21 to Denver’s 26:39.
What did we learn? – Bo Nix, Audric Estime stood out
What are some things you can take away from Sunday’s game despite the loss? Bo Nix was impressive against the NFL’s top-ranked defense, and Audric Estime should get a majority share of the carries going forward.
Nix finished Sunday’s game 22-of-30 passing for 215 yards and two touchdowns. Estime came in and rattled off several big runs, finishing the game with 14 carries for 53 yards and several first-down conversions. He was downhill frequently against the Chiefs defense and held onto the football.
Despite the loss, Nix and Estime were bright spots as the offense came up big on the last drive of the game. Unfortunately, the special team’s blunder overshadows Nix’s day due to the loss, and in reality, we should be talking about how Nix looked against the NFL’s best defense and a Broncos win.
The duality of the NFL. Denver has to wash the stink and sting off of this loss quickly.
The Broncos dropped to 5-5 and are now 1-2 in AFC Divisional play and 2-4 in conference play.