The Kansas City Chiefs have not lost to the Denver Broncos since 2015, the year the Broncos last won the Super Bowl. That year the Chiefs nearly beat them twice or this streak would be even longer. Barack Obama was our President, Star Wars Episode VII was the highest grossing movie, and “Uptown Funk” by Bruno Mars was the top song. So, it’s been a while. The Broncos are my 32nd favorite team, so it’s always good to keep them down. Here’s to hoping the Chiefs can do it again in Week 18 of this season, on January 9, 2022.
The Good
The acquisition of DE Melvin Ingram just continues to pay dividends. On the Broncos first possession he almost single handedly ended their drive with two (2) great plays in the backfield. He has allowed us to do so many things better.
I loved the early screen play to Clyde. Coming out of LSU this was what we thought we would see. Maybe it will be indicative of things to come.
The defensive stop to end the half was critical. To allow the Broncos to have a 20 play 95 yard drive and get absolutely nothing from it since they failed to convert on 4th and 2 was special.
Darrell Williams had a great night. 2 large gains through the air. At least someone can catch it consistently.
Juan Thornhill had a nice pick, but really tried to do much.
He ended up losing yards as normally happens when you try to cross the field after going backwards and set up the blindside block that pushed us back quite a bit.
I loved the decision by Andy to kick the FG in the 4th. Going up 13 is really nice. You are a FG away from being up 16 which requires 2 touchdowns and two 2 point conversations. Your defense has held the Broncos to 3 points, it was the only call to make.
Pringle on special teams blocking a Bronco into his own player was priceless. I still don’t get the officials explanation. I don’t see how a penalty could ever be called when our player never touched the ball carrier.
Dirty Dan with a huge interception to seal the game.
I am glad for him after the criticism he has received this season. He has been a good player for us over the years and I’m glad we are using him much better. He added a nice tackle on the 2 point conversion as well.
The Broncos
Chiefs fans often refer to the Broncos as Donkeys, Donks, or even Doinks. After Harrison Butker’s 56-yard field goal went off the inside of the left upright and “doinked” in for 3 points. It’s worth noting because it’s not the first time Butker has hit the uprights when playing the Broncos. This tweet was from November 8, 2020.
Byron Pringle had 2 critical drops on a 1st half drive that made it nearly impossible to overcome. Between the 2 drops he caught a first down so it was good that Patrick didn’t seem to lose faith in him, but I sure have. Why can’t we find a solid number 2 receiver? It would open up so much. Not to be outdone the defense had chances for 4, count them 4 interceptions that hit players in both hands all 4 times.
I could not understand why if you have the Broncos backed up to their own 2-yard line you would put in your backup defensive line. I assume it’s to defend the run, but it would be nice to put pressure on the opposition there.
Kelce had yet another drop in the first half. So many of our drives have ended due to those continuing issues of all of our receivers. Hill had 2 drops on the same drive, one ending up in a Mahomes interception. It was a high throw but if you get both hands on it you need to catch it. I counted at least 5 drops by the offense tonight and another 4 by the defense lol.
Mahomes seemed off target again tonight. What Cris Collinsworth said was interesting. Sometimes Mahomes uses a higher degree of difficulty than maybe needs to happen.
The 1st half clock management was puzzling. You have a chance to call timeouts prior to the 2 minute warning and yet we saved them. Then just going conservative seemed odd. I realize you are on your own 10 yard line, but you have Patrick Mahomes. Go for the throat there.
I was surprised the Broncos went for it on 4th and 7 to keep their drive alive, but they did, and it worked, so kudos. I just didn’t see Fangio as that type of coach.
Penalties on the offense really stalled a few drives.
I don’t know why we punted at the end of the 3rd quarter? The quarter would have run out. We are up 10 at the time. I’m betting it allowed us to punt with the wind at our backs and of course ended up with a turnover.
The Ugly
I didn’t understand the early call on Kelce.
He wasn’t even looking at the defender when they called pass interference on him. Kansas City remembers Carl Cheffers. Thankfully it was a well officiated game.
The only thing the Chiefs defense struggled with was containing Javonte Williams. He had 102 yards rushing.
He’s the best back I’ve seen in a long time. Nearly impossible to take down. This topic really doesn’t belong here as the Chiefs defense played another amazingly good game, but I wanted to mention how impressive this kid is.
It dawned on me that someone in Broncos history had to actually think orange and blue would go well together. When they showed those shoes with the old Bronco colors, it just has to be one of the ugliest combinations there is.
That’s 12 straight wins over this hated rival. At times it felt like we could have pulled away in this game, but we waited a bit to do so… but a win is a win. Hanging onto 1st place is nice. We have a really hard schedule the rest of the way, but so does everyone we are competing with for the number 1 seed. If we win out I have little doubt we get that first week playoff bye.
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Shawn Sorter — ArrowheadOne
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