The Kansas City Chiefs went to Mile High and put away a division rival in the Denver Broncos despite the loss of quarterback Patrick Mahomes to injury.
The Kansas City Chiefs took care of business against the Denver Broncos in ways that provide plenty of hope for the franchise moving forward, but any advances on special teams and defense is still overshadowed by the team’s loss of starting quarterback Patrick Mahomes due to injury.
On a night in which the Chiefs dominated the Broncos in every facet of the game and enjoyed a long-awaited defensive coming out party, they also saw the league’s reigning MVP and their best player go down with a knee injury. The timeline for Mahomes’ potential return won’t be known until he undergoes an MRI on Friday.
Early in the second quarter, the Chiefs were driving toward the end zone and trying to convert a short fourth down conversion. A quarterback sneak was called and Mahomes ended up laying helpless at the bottom of the pile with a patella injury. He had to be helped off of the field and the team even called for a medical cart despite not needing it in the end.
Despite the loss of Mahomes, the rest of the Chiefs came alive against a Broncos team that came in with the momentum in their favor. The Chiefs had lost two consecutive games to the Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans at Arrowhead Stadium while the Broncos had won two in a row. On a short week, the Broncos were hosting the Chiefs in a key division game as K.C. was beset by injuries—names like Eric Fisher, Andrew Wylie, Chris Jones and Kendall Fuller were all missing.
The Chiefs defense had their best outing of the year by far as they put together 9 sacks on Joe Flacco thanks to the Broncos porous offensive front. Anthony Hitchens, Frank Clark and Alex Okafor each had two sacks on the night, while Armani Watts, Reggie Ragland Emmanuel Ogbah also got in on the action.
The Chiefs run defense came into the game as one of the NFL’s weakest units against the run held the Broncos celebrated duo of Phillip Lindsay and Royce Freeman to a total of 71 yards. Together the pair averaged only 3.4 yards/carry on the night.
The Chiefs were not without their issues. Matt Moore struggled to move the ball in relief of Patrick Mahomes for the most part. The team also committed six penalties on the night, many in the first half that continued the team’s sloppy play as of late. Still it was a valiant effort i the face of injuries, including that of Mahomes, on a short week.
From here, the Chiefs now move to 5-2 on the season and enjoy 10 days off before their next game against the Minnesota Vikings. Meanwhile, the Broncos will visit the Indianapolis Colts in Week 8 as they try to stay afloat in the AFC.