Mile High Report
The Denver Broncos squared off against the Kansas City Chiefs in a primetime Christmas matchup. It was a fast-paced game that had football fans on the edge of their seats. It wasn’t pretty and a lot closer than it should have been. Nevertheless, the Broncos were able to topple the Chiefs at Arrowhead to secure win 13 on the season. Let’s get into some instant reactions from today’s game.
The Broncos’ offense controlled the clock and the pace of the game.
The Broncos didn’t look great on offense last week against the Jacksonville Jaguars. They desperately needed to start things off on the right foot in tonight’s matchup versus the Chiefs. The first drive of the game took eight minutes off the clock. A 15-play, 52-yard drive was capped off by a 27-yard Wil Lutz field goal to give Denver the early lead.
Sadly, their second drive was an absolute disaster. Bo Nix missed Marvin Mims out left with a bad throw, made the wrong read on second down with an RPO, and had his third down pass intended for Lil’ Jordan Humphrey batted away and picked off by Nick Bolton which led to a touchdown for the Chiefs.
Denver’s third drive wasn’t much better resulting in a punt after just 7 plays and 14 yards. Prior to the end of the half, the Broncos were moving the ball quite well. A 17-play, 84-yard drive looked like it would result in a touchdown. However, multiple drops by Courtland Sutton in the red zone prompting them to settle for another Lutz field goal.
The Broncos only amassed 151 yards of total offense in the first half. They had 10 first downs and had possession for almost 20 minutes of play yet found themselves down 7-6 at the half. That’s what happens with a myriad of drops and a turnover.
Denver’s first drive of the second half was another lengthy one. After marching 82 yards down the field on 18 plays, Nix was able to scramble for 9 yards to give the Broncos the lead, and it took 10 minutes off the clock. With a tie ball game at 13-13 in the fourth quarter, the offense once again had a tone-setting drive that melted minutes off the scoreboard. A gargantuan 20-play, 60-yard drive ended with a Nix pass to RJ Harvey for a touchdown. The subsequent extra point gave Denver a 20-13 lead. And that’s what made the difference in the game.
The Broncos’ offensive game plan had a lot of short passes. Luke Wattenberg being out probably had a lot to do with that. Chiefs Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo dialed up a lot of interior blitzes and pressure that was tough to handle early on. That rattled third-year player Alex Forsyth and caused problems for both Ben Powers and Alex Palczewski who rotated left guard. Nix was often flushed out of the pocket and had little success or consistency throwing on the move.
Thankfully, things got a lot better in the...
