The Denver Broncos hosted the Kansas City Chiefs this afternoon in a high-caliber AFC West divisional matchup. The implications on the outcome of the division and the future playoff seeding were immense. It was a knockout, drag out game, but when the clock struck zero, the Broncos were victorious by a score of 22-19. That gives Denver their tenth win of the season. Here are some instant reactions and takeaways from today’s game.
Broncos earn tenth victory, gain important ground in the AFC West and
playoff race.
Divisional games are always tough and gritty. This one was no exception. With the Los Angeles Chargers losing earlier today to the Jacksonville Jaguars, coupled with this bigtime Broncos win, Denver now has a two-game lead in the AFC West. Not only that, but they are the top team in the AFC and the presumptive #1 seed entering their BYE week. Things couldn’t have played out any better for fans across Broncos Country today.
Giving a shoutout to the Broncos’ offense.
The offense has struggled for most of the season. It wasn’t perfect today by any means, but man, they came through in the clutch. First and foremost, I thought Bo Nix looked really good today. Arguably, it was the best he looked all year. Nix did a great job getting a lot of players involved in the passing attack. He ended the game going 24-of-37 with 295 yards and really turned it on in the second half.
Second-year wide receiver Troy Franklin has been the most targeted receiver for the Broncos this season. That’s been a surprise to me. Franklin has done well getting separation and getting open. Alas, he has really struggled coming down with the ball. A great Nix deep pass early in the game went through his hands and a key third down attempt toward the end of the half hit him right in the chest.
But the second half was a bit of redemption for Franklin. On Denver’s first drive of the second half, with 35-yard over the shoulder catch on the left sideline. He also had a great catch 32-yard catch on the final drive to set up Wil Lutz for the game winning field goal.
It’s been a series of ups and downs this year, but the Nix-to-Franklin connection flourished in some key moments today. We also saw some great plays from Pat Bryant, Courtland Sutton, and Evan Engram. Maybe this is the blueprint for a more consistent passing attack in the second half. With the run game struggling today a bit without J.K. Dobbins, seeing Nix and the other players step up on offense was great.
Hats off to the defense and special teams as well!
This might have been the most complete win of the season. Overall, I don’t think there were many big issues from today’s game—outside the number of penalties—but I’ll save that discussion for after this. Marvin Mims Jr. came up big with several returns and both Wil Lutz and Jeremy Crawshaw had great games on special teams. Denver won the field position battle today and it paid off.
On top of that, Denver’s defense played really well. They gave up a few big plays but still held tough and kept the Chiefs to only 19 points. Vance Joseph’s defense, especially Ja’Quan McMillian, came up with a lot of big plays today in key situations. I’m pretty pleased with how all three phases came together today and played a complete game.
Anyone else want to vent about the officiating in today’s game?
I don’t make it a regular habit about venting over the officiating. Though what I saw today certainly merits a little bit of a talk. Did anyone else think this crew was a little bit flag happy? I sure did. It goes both ways for every team each week. We all know that, but man, I really feel the Chiefs got a major catapult from the refs today.
Multiple third and long penalties against the Broncos (particularly Riley Moss) resulted in extended drives that resulted in points for Chiefs. The first half pass interference call on Moss seemed fair. The one in the fourth quarter? It was an uncatchable ball and both players had fallen down after the Chiefs wide receiver-initiated contact. Moss was also flagged for illegal contact which overturned a Jahdae Barron pick-six in the first possession of the third quarter.
What about all those missed holding and illegal hands to the face calls on Josh Simmons? It was happening against Nik Bonitto nearly every drive and only called once. What about the missed facemask on Pat Bryant on his big catch 48-yard catch in the second half? How about the missed offensive pass interference by Tyquan Thornton on his 61-yard reception in the second half was the result of a push off?
I could go on and on. It just seemed like there were a lot of calls that bailed out the Chiefs and certainly helped them out. I’m sure Chiefs fans won’t feel that way, but I know Broncos Country is there with me. Even though Denver got the win, I thought I’d ramble on a bit about this.
