Mile High Sports
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.
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.
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...
