‘Non-scholarship’ players keyed Chiefs’ romp over Denver and embody team’s growth
As Denver coach Vic Fangio last week contemplated what his team was up against Sunday in trying to snap a nine-game losing streak to the visiting Chiefs, naturally he was most conscious of superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes — 5-0 against the team he debuted against and 3-0 on a field he has made his own personal proving ground.
Prompted by Broncos’ quarterback Drew Lock’s reference to himself as playing the role of Darth Vader, Fangio said that with Mahomes at the controls coach Andy Reid has “such a Star Wars offense over there. A lot of weapons, a lot of speed, and a great quarterback who is operating this offense at a very, very high level. …
“There’s no one way to play them or people would have tried it. As you’ve seen the scores, nobody has broken that code yet.”
For the most part, anyway: Mahomes ascended to NFL MVP in his first season as a starter, stoked the Chiefs to their first Super Bowl triumph in 50 years last season and had guided them to a 5-1 start this season.
As it happened, this time around the Broncos more or less cracked the code on Mahomes … and still got thrashed 43-16 at Empower Field at Mile High.
A burgeoning new sort of force was with the Chiefs. And it made a farce of this game — the most lopsided Kansas City victory in Denver since a 56-10 thrashing in 1966.
In a snapshot, the Broncos essentially lost this game even as they managed to keep Mahomes off the field for more than 10 minutes in the second quarter.
Desirable as that may sound for Denver, the Chiefs bashed it open in that span with Daniel Sorensen’s pick-six and Byron Pringle’s 102-yard kickoff return.
Perhaps appropriately on this day for a team best-known for such megastars as Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill, Tyrann Mathieu, Frank Clark and Chris Jones, the pivotal moments of the game were delivered by largely underappreciated, uncelebrated and undrafted free agents Sorensen (Brigham Young) and Pringle (Kansas State).
“Listen, two of my favorite guys,” Reid said, smiling, after the game.
Alluding to his days as an assistant coach at non-scholarship San Francisco State, he added, “They came in not on scholarship, and they ended up earning it, man. And rightfully so.”
On a day the defense gobbled up four turnovers, including an interception and fumble recovery by Mathieu, their play was part of something broader: an intensifying sense of complete-game capacity as a defining trait of a champion morphing into a budding juggernaut.
Or at least a team clearly capable of shrugging off its vulnerabilities (such as rush defense) in the pursuit of a repeat.
Cut off an avenue, like holding them to one offensive touchdown in the first three quarters, and they carve out another path.
Plug a gap, and they exploit something else.
Because this is a team developing a more diverse arsenal of ways to beat you.
And we don’t mean just on the Star Wars offensive unit — even though that featured a reassuring extra dimension with Mecole Hardman’s dynamic first quarter, Le’Veon Bell’s Kansas City debut and, you know, Chad Henne’s first rushing touchdown since 2012.
A week after taming Buffalo 26-17 via their newfangled running game, including a record 46 rushes for a Reid-coached team and Clyde Edwards-Helaire’s 161 yards, they won not by Mahomes shredding the Broncos or with a run game now bolstered by Bell or more unforgettable offensive highlights.
Instead, they seized the game with workmanlike complementary football, fusing together all three phases of the game to confound Denver and Lee’s Summit and Mizzou product Lock in yet another way.
With the Chiefs leading 10-6 early in the second quarter and the game seeming to shape up as a contest, Sorensen jumped a Lock sideline pass and returned it 50 yards for his third career pick-six.
That seemed to change the complexion and trajectory of the game. But the Broncos scored next to cut it to 17-9 with ample time left in the game … only to instantly trail 24-9 after Pringle returned the ensuing kickoff 102 yards.
Sorensen is known as “Dirty Dan,” a nickname special teams coordinator Dave Toub once said was earned not for anything nasty on the field but because he “plays hard and he’s tough and a courageous guy.”
As such, you might remember his signature day as a Chief in last season’s playoffs when he sniffed out and snuffed out Houston’s fake punt to set up one touchdown and on the ensuing kickoff jarred the ball loose to catalyze the greatest comeback in franchise history: a 51-31 victory after trailing 24-0.
“He’s always clutch, always stepping up making those big-time plays when we really need (them)” Mathieu said.
Meanwhile, Pringle has been known for the dirty work on special teams. But he’s also come through in several crucial offensive spots now, including at Detroit last season and at Buffalo last week.
Afterward, he spoke of embracing every opportunity with all he has — a concept that seems just as applicable to the Chiefs as they gain momentum towards a repeat in all sorts of ways.
This story was originally published October 25, 2020 at 7:21 PM.