Initial thoughts from the Broncos’ 20-13 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 17 at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium:
1. An ugly Christmas present: Playing for a penalty against the Chiefs in Kansas City during a tie game, with two minutes left in the fourth quarter, on national TV? That takes some guts, man. Chris Jones bailed Sean Payton out. Either that, or Jones didn’t get the memo on how a Christmas night game in Kansas City was about Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift, not the Broncos chasing the No. 1 seed. Meanwhile, one sack. One. That’s it. We knew Chris Oladokun had a little Marcus Mariota in him. Just not enough. On paper, you worried the Broncos defense might get tired chasing the Chiefs’ third-team QB around all night, the way they did chasing Mariota around last month. Kansas City tackle Chukwuebuka Godrick was making just his second NFL start. Esa Pole was making his third. Is Denver that good? We’ll find out for certain when the Chargers roll into town Week 18.
Broncos-Chiefs report card: Sean Payton controls time-of-possession in ugly Christmas win
2. Refs gifting KC, Andy Reid?: Officials working the Chiefs-Broncos Christmas Day sure seemed to give all kinds of gifts to Kansas City early. Broncos guard Ben Powers was whistled for a false start with 3:35 left until halftime, even though multiple replay angles showed the only thing moving on Powers’ person was a wiggling finger while in his stance as a Chiefs defender went flying across the neutral zone. It got goofier midway through the third quarter, as an Evan Engram first-down catch at midfield was wiped out when officials called Engram for offensive pass interference. Yet again, replays showed nothing untoward. With 3 minutes left in the third quarter, the Broncos had been hit with four penalties for 52 yards. The Chiefs hadn’t been flagged once — even with all those backups. Interesting.
Broncos outlast Chiefs on Christmas night, 20-13, move to doorstep of AFC title
3. Red zone blues: Every field goal attempt comes with context. Super Bowl teams don’t finish drives in the red zone, on the road, by settling for three late. The Broncos in the first half saw at least two dropped touchdowns stall drives. Denver went into halftime extending their streak of no TDs in the red zone into three trips (0 for 3) over the last two games against the Chiefs and Jaguars. The Broncos had managed touchdowns on five previous red-zone trips, including a 4 for 4 afternoon against the Green Bay Packers. It’s one of the reasons why some national pundits, and even the faithful in Broncos Country, aren’t sure what they’re going to get from this team in the postseason.
4. Al Michaels was off his game: Did the Grinch steal Al Michaels’ two-deep? The Amazon Prime play-by-play man is a living legend, but the velvet voice’s fastball was wanting in the first half. At one point, Broncos wideout Lil’Jordan Humphrey was introduced by Michaels as “Lil Humphrey.” Pat Surtain, the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year, was referred to as “Sur-TANE.” And Michaels called the tipped ball that led to a Nix interception along the sideline with 2:53 left in the first quarter and … then got conspicuously quiet, even though Kansas City linebacker Nick Bolton had clearly maintained possession with both his toes inbounds. We believe in miracles on Christmas Day. We’re also wondering how many Christmases on the call Michaels has left in the tank.
Want more Broncos news? Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis.