Broncos at Chiefs Open Thread/Live Blog | Week 13
Gameday has finally arrived. The Denver Broncos are in the 'show me' State to take on the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.
Unless you've been living under a rock for the past five years, you're no doubt aware of the Chiefs' 10-game winning streak over the Broncos. If Kansas City wins on Sunday night, it will set a new record vs. Denver dating back to the 1960s.
Drew Lock and company are going to do their level best to prevent that from happening. But it won't be easy. The Chiefs are 13-point favorites at home, according to SportsBetting.com, against the team in whose head they've lived rent-free for the last half-decade.
This is a college-type spread. It's about as disrespectful as it gets for Denver but only Vic Fangio and his team can upend the oddsmakers' expectations. The Broncos have done it before. In fact, the Broncos have been the underdogs in all but one of their four wins this season.
To wit, the Broncos have upset the Patriots, Chargers, and Dolphins. The Chiefs, despite being a juggernaut, are not infallible or invincible.
Like Arnold Schwarzenegger declared in the major motion picture Predator, "If it bleeds, we can kill it!"
Go forth and do likewise, Broncos.
Meanwhile, we're going to be breaking this game down live and we want you to join us. We'll live-blog and discuss DENvsKC here in our weekly Open Thread. Dive into the conversation — it's easy — by simply scrolling to the bottom of this page and click the orange 'JOIN NOW' button.
You can log in with Facebook or Google and either way, it's free. From there, sound off in the comment section and share your takes and observations with our staff, subscribers, and fellow members of the MHH community as we react to the game in real-time.
What to Watch For
QB Drew Lock: With a win, Lock will become the first Broncos quarterback to win his eighth start by his 14th career game (all with the team). He is currently tied with Trevor Siemian (2016) for the most quarterback wins (7) through a Broncos quarterback's first 13 games.
OLB Bradley Chubb: Needs 2.5 sacks to reach double-digit sacks for the second time in his career.
TE Noah Fant: Needs 3 receiving yards to become the second Broncos tight end to reach 1,000 yards for his career by his 27th game (Julius Thomas).
RB Melvin Gordon: Needs 40 receiving yards to reach 2,000 receiving yards in his career.
RB Phillip Lindsay: Needs 87 scrimmage yards to become the 13th Broncos running back to reach 3,000 scrimmage yards for his career and needs two carries to become the 13th player in team history to record 500 career carries with the team.
K Brandon McManus: Can extend his team single-season record of 50+ yard field goals.
CB Michael Ojemudia: Needs one forced fumble to become the ninth rookie cornerback to force three fumbles in a single season.
S Justin Simmons: Needs one interception to become the second Bronco to record 16 picks during his first five seasons with the team (since the 1970 AFL/NFL merger) .
Inactives
First Quarter
Broncos receive. Touchback.
First-down give goes to Lindsay for no gain.
On 2nd-&-10, Lindsay picks up three yards.
On 3rd-&-7, Lock hits Fant for a 37-yard gain, moving the chians.
On 1st-&-10, Gordon gets the give, picking up one yard.
On 2nd-&-9, Lock ducks a sack, scambles left and throws it to Troy Fumagalli but it's picked off by Tyrann Mathieu. Chiefs take over from their own 10-yard line.
Le'Veon Bell stuffed for a 1-yard gain.
Patrick Mahomes hits Demarcus Robinson for a 19-yard gain after he makes a nice move to duck A.J. Bouye.
Broncos' defense gets off the field when Mahomes overthrows a wide-open Tyreek Hill. Punt.
Broncos move the chains on 3rd-&-3 when Lock hits Fant.
Right guard Graham Glasgow exits. Austin Schlottmann replaces him in the starting lineup.
On 3rd-&-3, the toss goes to Lindsay and he picks up the yardage.
Lock narrowly avoids another pick thanks to Frank Clark tipping the pass at the line of scrimmage. Daniel Sorensen had Lock dead to rights if the ball isn't tipped. Pick-6 averted.
On 3rd-&-10, Lock scrambles up the gut and picks up eight yards. Instead of attempting a 4th-&-2 from the Chiefs' 35-yard line, Broncos opt for a field goal try.
McManus nails it from 53 yards out. Broncos strike first blood.
Broncos 3, Chiefs 0
Mahomes makes a few clutch throws, including a 20-yarder to Robinson. Bouye burned in coverage again.
On 3rd-&-4, Mahomes' pass is tipped by Shelby Harris. Incomplete.
Harrison Butker pounds through the 35-yard field goal. We're all tied up.
Broncos 3, Chiefs 3
Lock hits Gordon for an 11-yard gain on a nicely-executed dump-off screen.
End of quarter.
Broncos 3, Chiefs 3
Second Quarter
Broncos start with a 1st-&-10 from their own 35-yard line.
Glasgow has returned to the lineup.
On 3rd-&-2, Lock hits Nick Vannett but the ball is behind him the receiver, forcing him to adjust instead of running open and is tackeld short of the sticks by Sorensen. Lock was pressured in fairness, but you want to see a more accurate ball there to give his receiver a chance to convert the third-down.
Punt. Hill fair-catches.
Mahomes has second pass tipped, this time by big DeShawn Williams.
Chiefs moving the ball. Mahomes connects on passes to Travis Kelce and Hill.
On 3rd-&-3, Mahomes connects with Kelce who's tackled right at the sticks by Simmons. First down.
On 1st-&-10 from the Broncos' 40-yard line, Bouye breaks up a Mahomes pass targeting Mecole Hardman.
On 3rd-&-10, Vic Fangio brings the zero blitz and Mahomes goes deep for Hill, who'd beaten Bouye but it's incomplete. Great effort by Bouye to hit Hill as he caught the ball, forcing the incompletion and forestalling a sure-fire touchdown.
Upon review, it looked like the ball might not have touched the ground, thus giving Hill the catch and the score but the Chiefs rushed the punting unit out too fast.
KJ Hamler fair-catches the punt on the Broncos' 10-yard line.
On 3rd-&-3, left guard Dalton Risner pulls and opens a massive hole for Gordon, who runs for 65 yards and deep into Chiefs' territory.
Lock completes to Fant, who picks up 11 yards.
Gordon breaks through the line but gets bottled up on the goal-line.
On 2nd-&-Goal from the inch-line, Broncos get flagged for illegal shift, backing them up five yards.
On 2nd-&-Goal, Lock hits Tim Patrick for a quick touchdown. The extra point is good.
Broncos 10, Chiefs 3
Chiefs drive all the way to the Broncos' 1-yard line. But on 3rd-&-Goal, Hill gets forced out of bounds on a reverse for a 5-yard loss. Butker hits the chip-shot 24-yarder.
Broncos 10, Chiefs 6
Tyree Cleveland returns the kickoff 31 yards to the Broncos' 36-yard line.
Lock gets Frank Clark on the hard count. Offsides. Extra five yards.
Broncos stall on third down. McManus takes the field to attempt a 57-yarder. It's wide left. No. good.
Chiefs move the ball quickly, getting deep into Broncos' territory with under a minute to go.
On 2nd-&-5 with 00:07 to go, Mahomes' pass is tipped once again by Harris.
Chiefs trot out Buker who hits the chip-shot field goal.
End of half.
Broncos 10, Chiefs 9
Third Quarter
Bell picks up 20 yards on a first-down carry out of the shotgun.
Mahomes is on-fire, connecting with Kelce and Hill and moving down deep into Broncos' territory.
In the red zone, Mahomes scrambles for a 1-yard gain on 2nd-&-9.
It'll be 3rd-&-Goal from the Broncos' 8-yard line. Broncos have great coverage, forcing Mahomes to hold onto the ball. Jeremiah Attaochu gets home and sacks Mahomes.
Butker hits the 31-yard field goal attempt. Chiefs take their first lead of the night.
Chiefs 12, Broncos 10
Cleveland returns the kickoff 24 yards to the Broncos' 28-yard line.
On 1st-&-10, Lindsay carries for no gain.
Lindsay picks up three yards on second down.
On 3rd-&-7, Lock hits Hamler short of the sticks but the rookie wideout makes a nice move to break the tackle and pick up the first down.
Gordon picks up five yards on first down.
On 2nd-&-5, Lock play-fakes and hits Patrick for a 21-yard gain.
On first down, Lock play-fakes and hits Cleveland for an 11-yard gain. Broncos now on the Chiefs' 24-yard line.
Hamler picks up eight yards on a jet sweep but is tackled inches from the sticks.
On 3rd-&-Inches, Lock keeps and worms his way through. Chain gang measures, confirms first down.
On 1st-&-10, Lock boots right but there's nothing open and he wisely throws it out of bounds.
On 2nd-&-10, Lock is hit as he throws, targeting Jerry Jeudy. Incomplete. But the Bashaud Breeland flagged for pass interference.
On 1st-&-Goal, Lock fades to Patrick in the end zone, who tip-toes inbounds. Touchdown.
Broncos retake the lead. The two-point try is no good.
Broncos 16, Chiefs 12
Mahomes has the Chiefs on the move, hitting Hill for a massive gain that crosses the 50-yard line.
Mahomes hits Kelce, who shucks Bouye's tackle and picks up 14 yards.
On 3rd-&-6, the Broncos again throw good coverage at Mahomes, so he pulls down the ball and b-lines for the pylon, outrunning Malik Reed to move the sticks.
On first down, Mahomes takes a shot at the end zone, but it's wide of the mark. Simmons in coverage.
On 2nd-&-10, Mahomes gets the Broncos to jump offsides and with a free play, he hits a wide-open Kelce over the top, who slides over Kareem Jackson's knee-tackle for the first Chiefs touchdown of the day. Extra point is good.
Chiefs 19, Broncos 16
On 1st-&-10, Lock hits Patrick for an 8-yard gain.
On 2nd-&-2, Gordon runs hard, picking up three yards to move the chains.
End of quarter.
Chiefs 19, Broncos 16
Fourth Quarter
Broncos start at their own 36-yard line.
On 1st-&-10, Lindsay is bottled up for no gain as Mathieu storms off the left edge on the run blitz.
Gordon picks up three yards on second down. Brings up a huge 3rd-&-7.
Chiefs bring the house and Lock throws deep off his back foot, trailing. Incmplete. Targeting Hamler in coverage. Lock is lucky he wasn't picked off again there.
Bell picks up three yards on first down.
Mahomes goes deep on 2nd-&-7, firing incomplete to Kelce. Bradley Chubb got pressure, hitting Mahomes' arm as he threw.
On 3rd-&-7, Broncos get pressure but Mahomes converts, hitting Kelce over the middle. Bouye and Simmons in coverage.
Mahomes runs the option, tosses it to Darrel Williams who picks up five yards.
Williams rushes for 10 yards on 2nd-&-5.
On 1st-&-10, Mahomes hits Sammy Watkins for a big gain over the middle. Fangio challenges and the call on the field is reversed.
On 2nd-&-10, Mahomes fires over the middle and Jackson breaks it up, almost picks it off.
On 3rd-&-10, Mahomes fires deep as the Broncos blitz, hitting Hill for the touchdown. Broncos get lucky, as the Chiefs are flagged for holding, wiping the touchdown off the board. Duke Dawson burned in coverage there.
On 3rd-&-20, Mahomes buys time and fires over the middle to Kelce but it slips right through his hands. Incomplete. Chiefs punt. Fair-caught by Hamler.
Dawson flagged for unnecessary roughness. Half the distance to the goal.
Can Lock drive the field? Starting from his own 8-yard line?
Gordon picks up five yards on first down and picks up one more yard on second down.
On 3rd-&-4, Gordon picks up eight yards, moving the chains.
On 1st-&-10, Lock fires incomplete to Jeudy. Lindsay did a nice job picking up the blitz.
On 2nd-&-10, Lock fires at Patrick over the middle incomplete but the receiver stumbled because he was interfered with. Refs call pass interference, moving the chains.
On 1st-&-10, Hamler gets the reverse again, picking up six yards as he's upended. He fumbled but refs ruled him down. Broncos recovered.
On 2nd-&-4, Lindsay picks up only a yard.
On 3rd-&-3, Lock fires over the middle to Hamler. Incomplete. Broncos punt. Chiefs will start on their own 15-yard line with 6:07 to go in the game.
Williams picks up seven yards on first down.
Mahomes scrambles and completes to a wide-open Watkins for 14 yards.
Williams picks up five yards on the ensuing first down.
On 2nd-&-5, Williams gains 12 yards. Broncos' defense wearing down late in this game.
Broncos get the Chiefs off the field on third down after calling their last timeout.
Butker comes in to attempt the 43-yard field goal. It's good but Chiefs flagged for delay of game.
From 48 yards out, Butker nails it. Chiefs extend lead.
Chiefs 22, Broncos 16
Lock has 1:04 left and zero timeouts.
Lock picked off on 4th-&-5 by Mathieu. Ball game.
Chiefs 22, Broncos 16
