Arrowhead Pride
In their Christmas night matchup against the Denver Broncos, the Kansas City Chiefs were facing what amounted to a preseason game. With a long list of players out for the season with injuries — and no opportunity for the team to reach the playoffs — it was primarily a chance for young Chiefs to show their stuff. The team had lost all three of its 2025 preseason games, so Thursday’s 20—13 defeat to one of the AFC’s top teams wasn’t a surprise, but Kansas City did avoid the beatdown that almost everyone had expected.
The Chiefs won the coin toss and deferred. Harrison Butker’s kickoff hit the end zone, bringing the Broncos out to their own 35-yard line to start the opening drive. Quarterback Bo Nix immediately found rookie running back R. J. Harvey for a nine-yard pass. A play later, Harvey moved the Broncos to midfield on a second down carry. The Chiefs held the Broncos to a third-and-2 on the next set of downs, but Nix connected with Harvey again to the Kansas City 36. Running back Jaleel McLaughlin carried for six yards before Nix found wideout Troy Franklin to the 25. A Harvey carry and Nix pass to wide receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey set up third-and-1 — and Nix moved the chains on a quarterback sneak. The drive would then stall after Harvey was held to no gain on third down. The Broncos only managed a four-yard completion before Nix fell incomplete on third down. After 13 plays taking eight minutes of the opening frame, kicker Will Lutz was good on a 27-yard field goal to give the Broncos a 3-0 lead.
Running back Brashard Smith fielded Lutz’s kickoff in front of the end zone and returned to the Chiefs’ 26-yard line. Running back Isiah Pacheco took carries on the first two plays — gaining nine combined yards. Kareem Hunt took the carry on third-and-1 for a new set of downs. Pacheco took another carry on first down for one yard. Oladokun’s first pass attempt appeared to net a first down to Xavier Worthy — but the wideout stepped out of bounds making the catch. Oladokun was incomplete on a deep pass on third down. Matt Araiza came on to punt and sent the ball to the Denver 11-yard line. Return man Marvin Mims fielded the punt and advanced eight yards to start the Broncos’ second possession at their own 19.
Nix went right to Mims on the drive’s first play but the two could not connect. On a second down run, Nix went out of bounds at the 17 for a two-yard loss. On third-and-12, cornerback Kristian Fulton made a dramatic pass breakup on a pass intended for Humphrey. The tipped ball landed in the hands of linebacker Nick Bolton for an interception. The Chiefs took over at the Denver 35-yard line.
The drive started with another short Pacheco run followed by a short pass from Oladokun to Gray. On third-and-6, Oladokun...
