KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The emotion of another close defeat to the Chiefs left a stain Sunday which many Broncos found difficult to shed.
Case in point: . The undrafted wide receiver who spent last season on the practice squad caught his first NFL touchdown here. Yet, the first attempt by reporters to ask Patrick about that monumental moment fell flat.
“We lost,” he said. “It don’t really matter, honestly.”
However, a few minutes later following a 30-23 defeat, Patrick eventually opened up about the play he won’t soon forget.
The Broncos trailed 16-7 with 54 seconds left in the second quarter after an eight-play, 92-yard Chiefs’ drive capped with a touchdown strike to wide receiver Sammy Watkins. Denver wasted little time for a response. Quarterback Case Keenum hit wide receiver for 42 yards, but after consecutive incompletions the Broncos faced third-and-long at the K.C. 24 with 12 seconds left in the half.
Patrick lined up as the outside wide receiver toward the right, far boundary. Keenum took the shotgun snap and Patrick ran a go-route to the corner of the end zone. The Chiefs played zone coverage, and when cornerback Orlando Scandrick left Patrick to cover the near flat, safety Ron Parker was late arriving in help.
Keenum fired the football. A wide-open Patrick hauled it in.
“I knew I was going to get it because the safety was pressing and too far inside but I didn’t know the cornerback was going to fall off like he did,” Patrick said. “I was just trying to secure the catch and be ready to embrace the hit.”
Patrick also ignited Denver’s offense in the first quarter with an end-around run, typically reserved for Broncos’ wide receiver , and he gained 13 yards. The coaching staff installed the play for Patrick last week. He had never run an end around, not even in college.
“It was good to get a play like that, get the feeling of the game early and getting the first down, it got me engaged and ready to work,” Patrick said. “I was just trying to secure the catch and be ready to embrace the hit.”
It’s unknown whetherrookie wide receiver (knee) will play against Houston next week; another absence that points toward the Broncos likely finding more ways to get Patrick the football.
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