ANALYSIS: 104.3 The Fan reacts to the Broncos 30-27 loss to the Chiefs

After a late comeback bid on the road fell short, the Denver Broncos fell to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 8, 30-23. Here’s how the 104.3 The Fan staff reacted:

Mike Pritchard (“Pritchard and Cecil”):

Orlando Franklin and John Davis:

DMac (“The Drive”):

There are many football reasons why the Broncos lost to the Chiefs. I will let the football guys break those down for you.

I want to talk about what mattered most at the end of the day. Basic math.

No matter how poorly you may have played, you were down 10 points with three minutes to go with one timeout. OK. Fine. How do you win that game? Never mind winning a 60-minute game that’s tied. How do you win a game when you are losing by 10 with three minutes to go with one timeout? That’s all that matters at that point.

There are some beyond obvious things here. First, you need to score twice. Start there. One score doesn’t matter. So you need to get into field goal range. Once you are in field goal range, you should immediately — and I mean immediately — kick the field goal. Had the Broncos done that, they would’ve been down seven with more than two minutes to go.

This gives you a ton of options. You now don’t have to go for an onside kick. Why would you? The odds of recovering an onside kick are slim, especially compared to stopping your opponent when they most likely will just run the ball or you force them to throw. Either way, you have a chance to get them to punt, which gives you a scoring chance or gets the ball back to your offense with at least a minute to go from around your 30.

Of course, it’s not gonna be easy, but you give yourself a chance. If it doesn’t work out, fine. If your kicker misses the field goal, fine. If the Chiefs get a couple of first downs to wind down the clock, fine. Those are all physical football things. You have to get better at physical football.

But the fact your coach can’t understand or comprehend the fundamental concepts of math and strategy is enough reason you can’t have him as your coach.

Almost every single fan on his or her couch could’ve managed that situation better. That’s inexcusable. You have to be better than the couch potatoes.

VJ isn’t all at fault. The personnel department and ownership situation are obviously under the microscope these days. The distraction that was the Halloween party and Chad Kelly didn’t help. It didn’t kill them, but it didn’t help, and fans will reasonably have issues with the lack of focus. But, the Broncos have proven twice that they could have beaten the Chiefs who are really good.

While the Broncos don’t have championship talent, they do have better talent than their record, which, of course, means they are being let down by their coaches and would justify an immediate change.

It’s time.

Well, they will all coach for their jobs against the Houston Texans, but they shouldn’t have the chance.

Mike Evans (“Schlereth and Evans”):

The Broncos defense did their job again. They held Kansas City below its season average for the second time this season.

This Case Keenum offense just isn’t explosive enough. He doesn’t push the ball down the field enough, and this offensive line just flat out stinks.

Zach Bye (“Stokley and Zach”):

The Broncos loss vs the Chiefs reminded me of too many other losses this season — playing just well enough to lose.

Did the Broncos have bright spots? Yup. Did they show toughness at times? Absolutely. Did Case look the part at points? He did. But “at points” and “at times” won’t beat the Chiefs.

In the NFL getting close will get you benched. In the NFL getting close will get you fired.

Are the Broncos a bad football team? They didn’t look like one on Sunday, but how you looked in a loss is nearly irrelevant.

Next week vs Houston now becomes a must win for the Broncos yet again in order to keep the season alive and to keep a select few employed.

Sandy Clough