The Broncos lose to the Chiefs. Never heard that one before. The Broncos lose for the 12th straight time against their divisional foes. They have not beaten KC since week 2 of 2015. I was 12 years old then and in middle school. Now I'm 18 in college. It's been that long and for some reason they can't get over the hump. Here are my 2 main takeaways from the game on Sunday:
Arrowhead Anxiety
The Broncos loss in my eyes and their last couple of losses vs the Chiefs have felt like they are scared to play vs Kansas City. Denver could be playing their best football but whenever they run into KC, they implode. It's hard not to think it is a mental block at this point. Here are a few examples. In 2019 the Broncos start out 0-4 but win 2 straight in dominating fashion to go to 2-4. KC started 4-0 in that same stretch and lost 2 in a row while the Broncos won their 2 games. The Broncos and Chiefs were set to play win week 7 that year as Denver was 2-4 and KC was 4-2 and the game got much more interesting due to the 2 weeks prior to their meeting. So this was going to be a fairly good game right? Nope. Denver lost 30-6 on primetime and Mahomes didn't even play 2/3 of the game. Fast forward in the same year where the Broncos were 3-8 but won 2 in a row in week 13 and 14 with one one of them being a beatdown over the Texans thanks to Drew Lock's big day and seem to go into their week 15 matchup vs KC with some momentum. Broncos lose 23-3. Not even close. Same scenario in 2020. The Broncos start 0-3 but win 2 in a row to go to 2-3 and go into their week 7 matchup vs KC with some momentum. They lose 43-16. Fast forward to this year. Denver goes into KC winning 3/4 games and having big wins over Dallas and LA only to lay an egg on national TV 22-9. My big picture point is that for some reason it doesn't matter how well Denver is playing at the time. Once they play on the same field as KC they implode and make guys like Daniel Sorenson look like Ed Reed throwing a pick 6 to him back to back years.
2. Defense and Javonte Williams Stout
Let's start with Javonte Williams. He had 178 yards from scrimmage in his first ever start in the NFL as Melvin Gordon was out. He ran the ball hard and was basically the offense as the passing game struggled mightily. He was very impressive and proved that he could be a 3 down back as the Broncos will most likely not retain Gordon next season. Williams gave us Broncos fans a glimpse of the future once he becomes the featured back rather than splitting carries. The Defense played a great game. Sure they got a little lucky as the Chiefs had some problems with drops but to stop an offense that explosive some luck must be involved in order to be successful. PS2 added another interception to his impressive rookie resume putting him at 4 for the season. They held Mahomes to 15/29 yards passing with 184 yards and 1 INT with no passing TDs but did give up a rushing TD from him. Most importantly, Broncos fans did not have to watch Kelce slice and dice the Denver D like he has done every year which shows that Kenny Young and Baron Browning with a little bit of PS2 are better equipped to cover Kelce than Jewell and Johnson. The defense held the Chiefs to 5/12 on 3rd Down and 4.9 yards per play holding them to 267 yards total offense. This was a very winnable game for Denver but due to offensive incompetency, they could not get the job done.
I really did not have a whole lot to say after this loss like I did for other losses. Stating the flaws in the Broncos offense and special teams would make me sound like a broken record so it is not even worth stating anymore. The coaching staff is what it is. This team is what it is. They are a .500 team that you cannot count on to show up every week especially in primetime vs the Chiefs. Broncos are now in must win mode for the rest of the year. One more loss and it could be bye bye playoffs.
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