Chiefs report card: Defense, special teams take home highest marks in thorough mauling
Make it 10 straight over the Broncos overall and six in a row in Denver for the Chiefs after Sunday’s 43-16 victory Sunday.
The Chiefs matched a season best with four takeaways and came up with a special teams touchdown on Byron Pringle’s kickoff return. The game was so one-sided Andy Reid got to clear the bench in the fourth quarter.
KC STAR OF THE GAME
Safety Dan Sorensen made a perfect read on a Drew Lock pass hurried by a furious Chiefs pass rush. He jumped in front of tight end Noah Fant for the interception and returned it 50 yards for a touchdown.
Sorensen has a nose for the end zone. The interception was his second in as many weeks and ninth of his career. He’s turned three of those picks into touchdowns. Sorensen also delivered several hard hits to help limit the Broncos’ running game. Honorable mention go to return specialist Byron Pringle, safety Tyrann Mathieu and cornerback Charvarius Ward.
Reason to hope: The Chiefs won a blowout and didn’t have a great game on offense. Credit the Broncos for coming up with a game plan to slow Patrick Mahomes.
Reason to mope: Nick Keizer’s fumble? A bad play. It was good for Keizer’s confidence to contribute a 22-yard reception later in the game.
Next: The Chiefs return to Arrowhead Stadium to face the winless New York Jets next Sunday. It’s the first time this season the Chiefs will play on successive Sundays. Kickoff is at noon and the game will be televised by CBS (Ch. 5).
REPORT CARD
Passing offense: B
Clyde Edwards-Helaire dropped a touchdown pass and that was Patrick Mahomes’ first opportunity to keep alive his consecutive regular-season game streak with at least one scoring pass. But the streak lives because of Mahomes’ 10-yard pitch to Tyreek Hill in the fourth quarter. It stands at 17 games.
Mahomes was sacked three times and the Chiefs missed on six third-down attempts. Chad Henne appeared in his first game since 2018 and completed both of his pass attempts, one to Marcus Kemp and other to Deandre Washington.
Rushing offense: B
Edwards-Helarie’s 11-yard touchdown run to cap the Chiefs’ first possession was his best play of the season. Five Broncos had an opportunity to bring him down. None did.
Le’Veon Bell went 6-11 in two seasons with the Jets. He’s off to a winning start in his new uniform. Bell went for 16 yards on his first rushing attempt and finished with 39 yards on six carries.
Henne capped the Chiefs’ scoring with a 2-yard run. That was his first rushing touchdown since 2012, when he played for the Jaguars.
Passing defense: A
Smart move by coordinator Steve Spagnuolo to put pressure on second-year quarterback Lock, the KC native who was making his ninth career start. The Chiefs recorded three sacks, and pressure on Lock forced the throw that turned into a Sorensen pick six. Charvarius Ward and Bashaud Breeland combined for a fourth-down stop on K.J. Hamler’s reception in the third quarter.
Rushing defense: C
The Broncos were better off running than passing. Phillip Lindsay has given the Chiefs fits in his young career. He rolled to 79 yards on 8.7 yards per attempt but left with a possible concussion during the game. Melvin Gordon added 68 yards and Lock logged the first rushing touchdown of his career. The Broncos rushed for 168 yards.
Special teams: A
Wow. Best game of the season, by far, for Dave Toub’s squad. Almost everything worked. Let’s start with Byron Pringle’s 102-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. He’s a K-Stater, so of course he scores on returns. The blocking on that return was primo.
Tommy Townsend had a punt that landed inside the 1. Harrison Butker moved his extra-point operation to the hashmark, and that helped for a while. But he missed his final attempt Sunday. He did convert field goals of 40, 31 and 26 yards on a snowy field.
Demarcus Robinson made an alert play recovering and advancing an onside kick.
This story was originally published October 25, 2020 at 6:29 PM.