Offense — C
The Broncos had tied their season-high for rushing yards at 190 when Melvin Gordon took the fourth-quarter handoff from the Kansas City 9-yard line. But then disaster. Melvin Ingram stormed into the backfield unblocked, forced Gordon to fumble and Nick Bolton scored on an 86-yard return touchdown. It ruined an efficient game for the Broncos’ offense, who were 7 of 12 on third down and averaged 6.7 yards per play. Drew Lock rushed for two touchdowns, but passed for only 162 yards on 12-of-24 passing (59 of those yards on two plays). Lock missed receiver Jerry Jeudy on second-and-9 from the Chiefs’ 13 and trailing 28-21. Gordon rushed 12 times for 110 yards.
Defense — C
The Chiefs went 8 of 14 on third down. They ran 74 plays to the Broncos’ 54. They didn’t turn it over. And when they needed to run out the final 4:37 of the clock, they did just that. Even without receiver Tyreek Hill for most of the game (heel injury), Mahomes was 27 of 44 for 270 yards and two touchdowns. He improved to 9-0 against the Broncos and was terrific when plays broke down (scrambles of 11, 11 and 25 yards). Cornerback Michael Ojemudia was a bright spot with two pass break-ups and a team-best 11 tackles in his first start of the year. Defensive end Shelby Harris had the only sack of Mahomes.
Special teams — B
Not much going on with the Broncos’ special teams, which is a good thing. Punter Sam Martin drew a roughing-the-punter penalty to extend the Broncos’ second drive, which Lock capped with a five-yard touchdown run. Martin had a poor 36-yard punt in the second half that allowed Kansas City to start at its own 43, but it did not capitalize. Kicker Brandon McManus had touchbacks on all of five of his kickoffs and made a 31-yard field goal. The return game had no attempts (five touchbacks on kickoffs and two on punts). It was notable that Diontae Spencer was inactive, replaced by Mike Boone (kicks) and Kendall Hinton (punts).
Coaching — D
Vic, Vic, Vic. Granted, the analytics probably told Fangio to kick the field goal on fourth-and-9 from the Chiefs’ 13 and trailing by 7, but he had to know Kansas City wouldn’t give the football back, right? Just like in losses to Cleveland and Las Vegas this year, the defense couldn’t make a final stop to give their offense a chance. Fangio, his secondary missing three starters, relied on a four-man rush that produced only one sack. Fangio dropped to 0-8 against the Chiefs and 5-13 in the division. Offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur dialed up an early trick play (Courtland Sutton 16-yard pass) and the Broncos had 28 rushes compared with 24 passes.
