The 5 most pivotal plays from the KC Chiefs 2019 regular season

Week 7: Anthony Hitchens‘ sack leads to Reggie Ragland‘s touchdown in Denver

Scene: Let’s be honest. You probably have this entire game blocked from your memory. No one really paid attention after the 2nd quarter, when Mahomes went down with a serious knee injury. The entire season seemed to hang in the balance while the other 45 Chiefs tried to play a football game. Remarkably, as we look back on that night, it was what happened after Mahomes left the game that may have been the single-most pivotal moment of the entire season.

The Chiefs traveled to Denver with a 4-2 record, but mired in a two-game losing skid. The Broncos were the exact opposite: having started the year 0-4, they had won two straight with a chance to get back in the AFC West race by beating their rival Chiefs. The Broncos were boldly confident, knowing that if they could get a win that night, it would move them to 3-4 and just one game behind Kansas City at 4-3.

Fast forward to the early 2nd quarter. The Chiefs led 10-6 and were driving a short field, thanks to a foiled attempt at a fake punt. Instead of kicking a field goal on 4th-and-1, Andy Reid opted to go for it.

We all know what happened next. As Mahomes left the field with a dislocated kneecap, the game itself felt suddenly inconsequential. Backup quarterback Chad Henne was already on injured reserve. The team handed the keys to August free agent signee Matt Moore, who had not had any reps of any kind with the first team. Not even in practice.

On the play he was injured, Mahomes gathered the first down at the Denver 3-yard-line, but after two trivial handoffs and a futile pass attempt from Moore, the Chiefs ended up kicking the field goal anyway.

At this juncture, the team led 13-6, but it didn’t feel as if the Chiefs would be able to hang onto that lead. And even more importantly than just one game, it was as if everything was stuck on pause. It still felt like your favorite pet had just died, knowing that your MVP quarterback was possibly gone for the year. And let’s not forget that while Mahomes was in the locker room, several other key starters were in street clothes on the sidelines as well. All was dark.

But then something happened.

The Broncos took possession and began hammering away at the Chiefs, handing off to running back Royce Freeman. Linebacker Reggie Ragland stuffed the 240-lb. Freeman, but it was the next play that was the crossroads for the Chiefs’ Super Bowl run.

Quarterback Joe Flacco lined up under center on 2nd-and-9 at Denver’s 26-yard-line. Ragland showed blitz, and when he came through, he got picked up (err, sort of) by 190-lb. running back Phillip Lindsay. The problem for Flacco was that linebacker Anthony Hitchens was right behind Ragland on a disguised blitz.

As Flacco sensed pressure, he rolled to his right, but Hitchens tracked him down like a tiger chasing a three-legged wildebeest. Flacco didn’t stand a chance. Before the Broncos signal caller could throw it away, Hitchens sacked him for a nine-yard loss. The ball came free, and Ragland corralled it at the 5-yard-line before walking it into the end zone. Now nursing a 20-6 lead, it almost seemed like maybe the Chiefs could hold onto this one and get out of Denver with a victory.

As we look back on this game, perhaps this is where the narrative for the Chiefs changed the most. This was the night the team turned from “offensive juggernaut with a terrible defense” into a complete, well-rounded team. After the Ragland touchdown, the Broncos offense remained utterly handcuffed, as evidenced by their drive results: Missed FG, punt, punt, punt, punt, punt, downs, punt, end of game.

Without Hitchens’ sack and forced fumble, leading to Ragland’s touchdown, would the Chiefs have held on? How would the season have changed if Kansas City fell flat after Captain Mahomes went down? Would they have had the confidence to take Aaron Rodgers and the Packers down to the wire the following week, or to beat the Minnesota Vikings the week after that?

Perhaps we’ll never know what transpired within the Chiefs locker room to rally the troops. Something definitively changed that night, and it sparked a flame that carried over into the rest of the year. The Chiefs left Mile High Stadium with much in doubt, as Mahomes’ status was unknown, but the defense gained a new identity that night.