The Broncos offense disappeared, letting a win slip away in K.C.
Nov 11, 2024, 4:00 AM
The narratives will be predictable on a reaction Monday. Broncos Country will be inundated with two storylines.
One, they’ll hear about the moral victory in Kansas City. Denver did everything needed to win, but suffered a heartbreaking loss at the final gun when a 35-yard field goal was blocked at Arrowhead.
They’ll also be told that Bo Nix turned the corner. The rookie quarterback put together a 13-play drive that burned the final 5:57 of the game to give his team a chance to beat the back-to-back defending Super Bowl champs on the road.
Both narratives have a shed of truth to them. But both are also wildly overstated.
Should the Broncos have won the game? Yes. They had what amounted to an extra point in the final second to pull off the upset victory. But that doesn’t mean they deserved to win.
Denver wasn’t the better team on Sunday. Even if it felt like it.
Kansas City had more total yards, outgaining the Broncos 300 to 260. They had more first downs, putting up 19 to 16. They dominated time of possession, with a 33:21 to 26:39 margin. And not coincidentally, the Chiefs wound up with more points, winning 16-14.
The Broncos weren’t better in any way, shape or form. They played the two-time champs pretty even, but they didn’t do enough to win.
There were certainly some encouraging signs. They harassed Patrick Mahomes all day, sacking the future Hall of Fame QB four times in the game, but pressuring him on almost every passing play. And they had some youngsters step up on offense, with Audric Estime rushing for 53 yards, Devaughn Vele reaching the end zone on one of his four receptions and their quarterback coming up big in the clutch.
Trailing 14-13 with 5:57 to play, Nix and company took over at their own 40-yard line. The rookie pieced together a methodical drive, taking 13 plays to go 43 yards, but burning the entire clock to prevent Mahomes from having a chance in the end.
Along the way, Nix was 5-of-5 for 31 yards. His highlight play on the drive, perhaps his best throw as a Bronco, was a third-and-six dot to Courtland Sutton on a crossing route. The completion put Denver in a position to bleed the clock; it should’ve been the pass that clinched the win.
But that drive doesn’t excuse the Broncos total ineptitude in the second half. Leading 14-10 at halftime, Denver did nothing after intermission.
On their first drive, they went three-and-out, gaining just two yards. They followed up with an eight-play drive that netted just 10 yards. Then, the Broncos went three-and-out again, losing two yards.
That’s 14 plays for a total of 10 yards. Denver had the lead when taking over on each possession. They did nothing to put the Chiefs away.
Nix made some plays during the game, to be sure. He was 22-of-30 for 215 yards and two touchdowns. He showed flashes, without a doubt. But the end results simply weren’t enough.
The Broncos aren’t going to beat the Chiefs scoring 14 points. They certainly aren’t going to win when getting shut out in the second half at Arrowhead.
The fact that they even had a chance was a bit of a miracle. Mahomes had to miss two wide-open touchdowns, one on a deep ball to Xavier Worthy and the other on a gimme to Travis Kelce, for Denver to remain within striking distance.
But that won’t disrupt the narratives today. Instead, the moral victory will be the story, obscuring the issues that led to the loss.
Could Denver have won on Sunday? For sure. Should they have gotten the W? That’s debatable.
The Broncos had a chance to pull off the upset. But they weren’t good enough in the second half to get the job done.
And that was on the offensive side of the ball. Denver’s defense only gave up six points after intermission. If the Broncos did anything other than getting shut out in the final 30 minutes, that would’ve been good enough to win.
That doesn’t mean Sean Payton didn’t do a good job getting his team ready to play and putting them in a position to win. The head coach certainly did.
And that doesn’t dismiss the fact that Nix performed well during his first trip to Kansas City. The rookie quarterback wasn’t rattled a bit.
But the Broncos offense didn’t answer the bell on Sunday. That’s on Payton. That’s on Nix. That’s on everyone.
As a result, a win that would’ve put Denver in the driver’s seat for a wild-card berth slipped through their fingers. That should be the story today.
