KANSAS CITY, Mo.—First Jay Cutler’s leg healed up. Then, so did his spirits.
A week ago, Denver was coming off an embarrassing 44-7 rout in Detroit and Cutler was nursing a deep bruise to his left leg and fearing he might not play at Kansas City.
He did play on Sunday, and the Broncos (4-5) got two touchdowns in a 9-second span in the third quarter for a 27-11 victory over the Chiefs (4-5).
“After the MRI came back and said I was good to go, I knew from that point I was going to play,” said Cutler, who was 17 of 29 for 192 yards, including an 18-yard touchdown pass to Daniel Graham. “Being a quarterback and one of the captains, I take a lot of pride in that in being out there. I know they are fighting for me.”
Now, the aching quarterback is the one wearing a Chiefs uniform. Only, this one may not get his job back for a long, long time.
Brodie Croyle, a second-year pro, replaced Kansas City’s shaken-up, turnover-prone Damon Huard in the third quarter and may well be the starter in the next game at Indianapolis. Croyle was expected to emerge as the No. 1 this year but coach Herm Edwards turned to Huard when Croyle played inconsistently in the preseason.
“I haven’t decided anything,” Edwards said. “I’ll think about it Monday and then we’ll talk about what we’re going to do at quarterback on Tuesday.”
Huard had two interceptions to go with a fumble that Nate Webster returned for a touchdown on the play when he got knocked woozy.
“I just had a tough day today,” Huard said. “You can put this one right on me. To turn the ball over the way I did, you’re not going to have a chance to win. So, it’s not good enough.”
In the decisive series in the third quarter, Dre’ Bly intercepted Huard and set up a 20-yard touchdown run by Selvin Young, who had 109 yards rushing subbing for the injured Travis Henry.
On Kansas City’s next play from scrimmage, defensive end Elvis Dumervil crashed into Huard and knocked the ball loose. After Webster’s touchdown return, the Broncos led 20-8 en route to just their sixth win in their last 21 games overall.
Croyle finished the game, going 17-for-30 for 162 yards, with one interception.
“I did some good things,” he said. “We moved the ball for the most part.”
It was the third home loss and second in a row for Kansas City, which was without running back Larry Johnson, who injured his foot the week before. Whether Johnson will be back any time soon remains anybody’s guess. But president and general manager Carl Peterson said Sunday he does not believe he’s out for the year.
“If we thought Larry was done for the season, he would have been done for the season. That’s not a difficult decision to make. He’s not done for the season,” Peterson said.
Priest Holmes, a three-time Pro Bowler, had 65 yards on 20 carries in his first start in more than two years.
“I feel great,” he said. “I look forward to running that hill tomorrow and doing the things you have to do to build that base and make yourself better.”
Holmes also lost 14 yards on a third-and-two run from the 5. Clearly, the more effective backup running back in this game was Young, who had his first 100-yard effort and first NFL touchdown.
Notes:@ Denver came into the game giving up a league-worst 161.5 yards on the ground but let the Chiefs rush for only 67. … Bernard Pollard blocked a Denver punt for a safety, the third blocked punt of his career. It was the Chiefs’ first safety since tight end Mikhael Ricks blocked a Pittsburgh punt out of the end zone in 2001.
