Here’s anatomy of costly late meltdown
The Broncos were 13 minutes from victory Monday night, and you could feel Mile High energy shifting football tides in Denver.
Holding the NFL’s most dynamic offense to fewer than 30 points? Another breakout game for running backs Royce Freeman and Phillip Lindsay? An imperfect yet resilient quarterback Case Keenum? It felt like the sort of win that reaffirmed the Broncos’ playoff chances.
This was all meaningless speculation 13 minutes later, as Denver’s 10point fourth quarter lead evaporated: Chiefs 27, Broncos 23. Here’s how it happened, an anatomy of a Denver letdown:
Fourthdown defense. Kansas City used a 12play, 75yard touchdown drive to cut Denver’s advantage to three points with less than seven minutes left. But the Broncos had ample opportunity to end the series, and most notably, defending a fourthand1 snap at midfield.
K.C. bunched two tight ends and one wide receiver offtackle with running back Kareem Hunt behind quarterback Patrick Mahomes under center. Mahomes rolled right, avoided linebacker Shaquil Barrett’s chase and hit Hunt in the near flat. Chiefs’ tight end Travis Kelce blocked linebacker Todd Davis in pursuit of Hunt, who rolled for a 22yard gain. And, Mahomes connected with Kelce in the end zone six plays later.
Punting problems. An area of perceived strength to begin the season is now undoubtedly a serious weakness — punter Marquette King. The Broncos needed to put as many yards possible between Mahomes and the end zone. King managed just a 35yard boot that rolled out at the Chiefs’ 40.
“(King) has got to perform better,” Joseph said.
Lefthand magic. Denver’s initial defensive stand showed promise after two receptions by the Chiefs’ Tyreek Hill led to a thirdand5 at midfield in the second half. Mahomes took the snap in the shotgun with four wide receivers split and the Broncos rushed six. Outside linebacker Von Miller got a clean break, chased Mahomes around the far left edge and dove at his feet just as Mahomes released the ball — with his left (nonthrowing) hand. The shot puttype throw still hit Hill in the numbers, and he reached the firstdown marker.
“I didn’t know he threw it with his left hand,” Miller said. “He’s a great quarterback.”
Secondandlong. Here is where the Chiefs were supposed to fold. Backtoback penalties (intentional grounding and offensive holding) gave K.C. secondand30. Mahomes had other plans. He employed another aweinspiring scramble to buy time and connected with wide receiver Demarcus Robinson for a gain of 23 yards. One play later, with just 7 yards to gain, Mahomes once again evaded the Broncos’ rush and found tight end Demetrius Harris for catchandrun of 35 yards with 1:54 left.
“We let them off the hook on a secondand30, which is crazy, but I can’t talk about it,” Harris said. “Y’all go back and watch the film to see what we did.”
Watch the clock. Once again, Broncos fans are left with a bitter taste of incompetent officiating after a close loss. That 35yard strike to Harris? Never should have happened. The play clock clearly showed zero for about a full second prior to Mahomes taking the thirddown snap.
“That big (delay of game no call) at the end kind of cost us there,” nose tackle Domata Peko said. “You work your tail off all week and it (stinks) to put the game in the hands of the refs. … He just said, ‘Oh, we missed it.’ ”
The NFL league office responded Tuesday with this statement: “The back judge is responsible for keeping track of the play clock. Officiating mechanics dictate that once the back judge sees the play clock expire, he then immediately looks to the ball. If it is being snapped, then there is no delay of game.”