DENVER — The Denver Broncos celebrated Sunday after a 28-24 win over the Kansas City Chiefs, capped by a sack of Patrick Mahomes on the game’s final play that left the Chiefs’ quarterback showing visible frustration. The loss cost Kansas City its lead in the AFC West.
Kansas City held an 11-point advantage deep into the second half but surrendered the lead during an error-filled fourth quarter. “The execution just wasn’t at a high enough level,” Mahomes said. Tight end Travis Kelce added, “You can’t dwell on it… We’ve got to fix a lot. We just didn’t finish the way we should’ve.”
Before Sunday’s game, the Chiefs were 80-2, including the playoffs, when leading by 10 or more points in the fourth quarter with Mahomes as the starter. The Chiefs went scoreless in the final 15 minutes while the Broncos produced 15 points on their final two drives. The margin represented Kansas City’s largest fourth-quarter point differential in a loss under coach Andy Reid, who became the team’s coach in 2013.
Several key decisions and mistakes hurt the Chiefs late. Reid elected to punt on a fourth-and-inches near midfield early in the fourth quarter rather than attempt to convert; the Broncos then drove 80 yards on nine plays to cut the lead. On Kansas City’s next possession, Mahomes was sacked by Alex Singleton on a third-and-2 from the Broncos’ 30, losing six yards and setting up a 54-yard field-goal try that Harrison Butker missed wide right.
According to NFL Next Gen Stats, punting on that earlier fourth down would have produced the highest win probability (74.3%) versus going for it (72.5%), with a field-goal attempt ranking last (71.5%). ESPN Analytics similarly favored a punt (76.8%) over the field-goal attempt (73.4%). Reid defended the decision as being within Butker’s range.
Butker’s miss extended a stretch of struggles: since the start of last season he has missed 16 kicks — 11 field goals and five extra points — the most in the NFL over that span. Two plays after the miss, Jonah Coleman scored on a 5-yard run, following a 51-yard catch-and-run, and the Broncos took the lead. Denver needed less than five minutes on its final series to score the decisive points; Kansas City’s defense registered just two pressures on Broncos quarterback Bo Nix in 34 dropbacks.
