Your Kansas City Chiefs are good enough to win a game like Sunday’s against the Denver Broncos fairly comfortably. But a series of ill-fated decisions and mistakes allowed the Broncos to play the role of closer. Somehow, with an MVP quarterback, a Super Bowl MVP running back, and an offense that ran for 220 yards against this same defense six weeks ago, Kansas City couldn’t get a yard with the game and the division lead on the line.
At the end of the day, they’re still 5-2, and in a strong position
in the AFC. But they could’ve — and maybe should’ve — won this game.
Here are a few Chiefs who stood out in the team’s second-straight loss.
5 Winners
Running back Emmett Johnson: When teams focus all of their energy on stopping Kenneth Walker, the Chiefs need a counterpunch to emerge. On Sunday afternoon, it came in the form of a breakout performance from Emmett Johnson. The rookie from Nebraska led the Chiefs in receiving (128), had the game’s biggest play (73 yards), scored a touchdown, made a special teams tackle, and returned a kick 44 yards to set up what should have been a game-winning score. Perhaps the Chiefs should have gone back to the kid at the end?
EDGE George Karlaftis: The conversation all week will be about Kansas City’s lack of pass rush, but we shouldn’t overlook Furious George’s efforts. Continuing an underrated season, Karlaftis had three batted passes, a sack, a tackle for loss and force fumble.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes: The best quarterback in the NFL had a great statistical game and delivered what should have been the game-winning score on a short pass to Rashee Rice. This loss isn’t on Mahomes.
Wide receiver Rashee Rice: Mahomes needs reliable receivers that can create yards after the catch. The return of Rashee Rice was a reminder that they have (more than) one in-house already. It was a solid game for Rashee, one that could have gone better, and something to build upon.
Tight end Travis Kelce: A middle-aged married man was still the team’s best option on the game’s final drive— Travis Kelce’s 32-yard catch and run was exactly what makes this QB/TE duo the best in history. Kelce caught 5 of 7 targets for 67 yards, continuing his strong start to 2026.
Losers
Kicker Harrison Butker: The pressure was on, and the kick was wide— again.
Wide receiver Xavier Worthy: At this point, should they just give him a package of trick plays and punt returns?
The Chiefs offensive line room: What is going on with Andy Heck’s guys? The left side of the line should be loaded with talent; instead, they mysteriously miss multiple games. The All-Everything Center has a low snap every game. The right side of the line had costly penalties in the biggest moments. And the depth still leaves a lot to be desired. Can they field a championship offensive front for the next four months?
Defensive lineman Chris Jones: Eventually, the lack of production from the future Hall of Famer in the middle would outweigh the wins from the edge. Sack Nation needs a better version of their CEO to win in the second half of the season.
Head Coach Andy Reid: The buck stops with Big Red. Once again, Reid benched the starting left guard, putting the offensive game plan at risk before kickoff. Then, the Chiefs wasted a very good performance from Mahomes (321 yds and 3 TDs). They lost more penalty yards (11-105) than they gained running the ball (24-90). They couldn’t capitalize on a breakout game from their rookie running back and instead let Denver’s do the heroics. They again struggled with short-yardage situations and left points on the field.
They still led 24-13 in the fourth quarter, and seemed poised to grind the clock out with a solid victory. But then there was that punt on 4th and 1 from the 41 (questionable decision)… leading to a long Broncos drive that nearly ended in a goal-line stand. Instead, Bo Nix found wide-open receivers in the end zone (execution failures) on 4th and 2 and on the two-point conversion.
On the ensuing drive at the Denver 30, up by a field goal, Mahomes gets sacked (bad play call and execution), and Butker missed a long field goal (everyone outside the coaching staff saw this coming, right?). This comedy of errors led to another Broncos touchdown at the two-minute warning. But even then, the Chiefs would have first and goal from the four-yard line with plenty of time to get out of Colorado with a win. Ken Walker got them to the one, but even more mistakes ended their chances as time expired — a failed pass attempt (predictable play call), a touchdown nullified by a penalty (undisciplined play), and a sack (fittingly terrible end).
When one player struggles, we can call them out. But this game showed a lack of discipline, poor execution, and questionable coaching decisions leading to a fourth-quarter collapse. One could argue Andy Reid was outcoached two weeks in a row.
Note: Applying the labels “losers” is not meant to be a judgment on the talent or character of any of these individuals. It’s just a simple way to grade their job performance in a single game. No disrespect is intended.
