KC Chiefs 30, Denver Broncos 23: Insta-reaction from Arrowhead!
This is about as good as it can be, you guys. This moment, this gorgeous fall day, the Chiefs packing Arrowhead Stadium a bit beyond normal capacity with thousands of standing-room-only tickets sold because the Broncos are in town.
And the performance — offense, defense, basically everything but Harrison Butker’s extra point — was about as good as it can be.
The Chiefs beat the Broncos 30-23 as, basically, the best version of themselves.
It’s often said that the mark of a team is how it performs when things aren’t going well, but it’s also pretty fun to watch a team when pretty much all things are going well.
Patrick Mahomes did Patrick Mahomes things again, Tyreek Hill flashed the speed, Kareem Hunt did another hurdle, Sammy Watkins and Travis Kelce are a brutal cover in the red zone, the offensive line was dang near perfect, and the defense limited a team that scored 45 points in its last game and had three extra days to prepare for this one.
Let us isolate the bad parts: Anthony Hitchens’ injury, Mahomes sailed an interception, Orlando Scandrick appeared to give up a touchdown at the end of the half because he thought about freelancing an interception, and the offense didn’t do its part late.
Really, that’s about it.
This may have been the defense’s best and most consistent pass rush, highlighted by Breeland Speaks’ first professional full sack. Dee Ford beat both the left and right tackle with speed rushes — he has three sacks — and Chris Jones had a sack.
Tanoh Kpassagnon made one of the best plays of his young career in the first half, reading the run to his side, shedding the blocker, and finishing with a terrific and athletic tackle behind the line of scrimmage. It was on third down, and the loss pushed the Broncos back to a 55-yard field goal attempt, which sailed right.
The Chiefs scored their first touchdown on the ensuing possession. Later, after a Broncos touchdown closed the gap to 10 and the Chiefs punted, Ford had a strip-sack.
Football old heads would call this complementary football.
The kids would say that hasn’t happened enough.
We are only at the season’s halfway point, and how a team plays in January is more important than October, but this was the first opponent the Chiefs have played twice — and they were better this time than the first.
Assuming the Patriots beat the Bills Monday night, the Chiefs still have what is effectively a half-game lead for home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. As much as anything else, that may end up determining whether these Super Bowl hopes are realized.
But right now, this team is good enough.
- The Chiefs have been so good on offense that anything other than success stands out. They had a chunk of it early, too. Travis Kelce and Sammy Watkins dropped passes, and then a penalty took away a chance to go for it on fourth and goal inside the 1. That didn’t last long, obviously, and it’s notable that the first two touchdowns went to Kelce and Watkins.
- Both of those touchdowns were interesting in their own way, too. On the first, Patrick Mahomes kept the safety away with his eyes, then threw a dart to Kelce on a slant — before Kelce made his break. On the second, the Chiefs were able to get Watkins isolated against a linebacker, one-on-one. He and Mahomes saw it at the same time. Mahomes led him enough for his speed to win, and they had a score.
- I’ve mentioned this before, but part of why the Chiefs were attracted to Watkins was his efficiency in the red zone. The Bills used him as a home run threat, but all but one of his eight touchdowns with the Rams last year came in the red zone. His touchdowns with the Chiefs have been for 10, 12 and 13 yards. Watkins’ contract was bigger than many expected, and the Chiefs may have overpaid. But they saw his ability in the red zone as a nice complement to Tyreek Hill’s speed, and a means of unclogging Kelce a little.
Sam Mellinger
Sam Mellinger is a Kansas City Star sports columnist.
This story was originally published October 28, 2018 at 3:11 PM.