Chiefs beat Broncos in all facets for Week 7 road win

The Chiefs scored in all three facets of the game to put away the Broncos on the road.

It turns out the addition of Le’Veon Bell to the dangerous offense of the Kansas City Chiefs was all for nothing in Week 7. Given the tremendous defensive performance and special teams excellence displayed on the road in Denver, the Chiefs put away the Broncos at Mile High with ease in a dominant 43-16 win.

The Chiefs defense stymied the Broncos offense early with a pair of three-and-outs forced that allowed K.C. to go for an early lead. The Chiefs went up early with a picture perfect opening drive that highlighted Mecole Hardman‘s speed. Clyde Edward-Helaire punched it in for his second rushing score of the season with an incredible run breaking several tackles.

A fumble on the ensuing drive by backup tight end Nick Keizer gave away the ball back to the Broncos on the Chiefs next drive. Given the excellent field position, Drew Lock came through with a nice deep pass to Tim Patrick before the Broncos quarterback ran it in himself for Denver’s first six points. Brandon McManus missed the extra point to keep the Chiefs up 7-6

After the Chiefs marched another seven plays and 53 yards, Harrison Butker kicked a 40-yard field goal to make it 10-6. The Broncos then fumbled the ball after rookie defensive tackle Tershawn Wharton punched the ball free from Melvin Gordon to give the Chiefs the ball back once again—making up for Nick Keizer’s earlier turnover.

Unfortunately the Chiefs couldn’t do anything with it and gave the ball back. From there, however, the defense got on the board as Dirty Dan Sorensen jumped Noah Fant‘s route and picked off Lock for a pick-six. Suddenly the Chiefs were up 17-6.

The Broncos were able to move the chains enough to kick a 43-yard field goal on the following drive to bring the deficit back to 8, but the Chiefs added an instant touchdown in response when wide receiver Byron Pringle took the next kickoff 102 yards for the team’s first return touchdown of the year. The Chiefs were up 24-9 and they would carry this lead into halftime.

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In the third quarter, the Denver defense did a solid job of slowing or even stopping the Chiefs offense with only six points on three drives as multiple drives stalled in the red zone. The Chiefs were abysmal on third down all afternoon and ended up kicking two short field goals despite having the ball with the goal line in sight.

Somehow the Chiefs offense roared back to life in the fourth quarter. The defense forced their fourth turnover when Broncos receiver K.J. Hamler coughed up the ball to safety Tyrann Mathieu. From there, Mahomes moved the chains 57 yards and got his first touchdown throw of the day with a 10-yard toss to Tyreek Hill.

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The Broncos responded with their best drive of the game, a nine-play effort marked by long passes to Noah Fant and aided by a couple Chiefs penalties. Melvin Gordon punched in a three-yard run to make it a 37-15 lead for the Chiefs. After a failed onside kick, the Chiefs had a short field and brought in their backups en masse, including quarterback Chad Henne, running back DeAndre Washington, and wide receiver Marcus Kemp. It wasn’t pretty but a Shelby Harris unsportsmanlike conduct penalty moved along a short drive that ended with a touchdown run for Henne.

With a final score of 43-16, the Chiefs not only continued their dominance over the Broncos and the rest of the AFC West, but they also moved to 6-1 on the season. Up next? The winless New York Jets in Week 8.