Malcolm Roach sacked Patrick Mahomes on fourth-and-goal on the final snap, and the Denver Broncos rallied from 11 points down in the fourth quarter to beat the Kansas City Chiefs 28-24 on Sunday, November 1, at Empower Field at Mile High.
Denver improves to 6-2 and moves into first place in the AFC West, a half-game ahead of Kansas City at 5-2. The Broncos have now won 15 straight one-score games over the last two seasons, and they handed Mahomes just his third loss in 83 career games in which he led by double digits in the fourth quarter. It was also the 200th career win for Sean Payton. Kansas City has lost two in a row.
Mahomes and Emmett Johnson strike
Mahomes was sharp from the start. After a Wil Lutz field goal gave Denver a 3-0 lead, he led a seven-play, 69-yard drive and found Rashee Rice for an 11-yard touchdown. Lutz answered with a 45-yarder early in the second quarter, but the Chiefs then pulled off the biggest play of the first half. On third-and-10 from their own 27, Mahomes hit Emmett Johnson on a short pass to the left, and the running back took it 73 yards for a touchdown and a 14-6 lead.
Denver responded with a 12-play, 69-yard drive that took 6:25, and Bo Nix hit Jaylen Waddle for a 1-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal with 1:15 left in the half. Mahomes needed only 56 seconds to set up a 45-yard Harrison Butker field goal, and Kansas City led 17-13 at the break.
Three-and-outs, then a comeback
The Broncos went three-and-out on all three of their third-quarter drives. Kansas City used that time to put together an 11-play, 63-yard march, and Mahomes threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Noah Gray with 1:38 left in the quarter to make it 24-13.
Nix turned things around in the fourth. He led a nine-play, 80-yard drive and, on another fourth-and-goal, threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to tight end Nate Adkins with 8:55 to play. Nix then hit Waddle for the two-point conversion, cutting the lead to 24-21.
Kansas City answered with an 11-play drive that took 6:24 off the clock and reached the Denver 30. On third-and-2, though, Alex Singleton sacked Mahomes for a 6-yard loss, and Butker’s 54-yard attempt in steady rain sailed wide right with about 2:36 left. “I can’t put him in that position,” Mahomes said afterward.
Denver needed only two plays to take the lead. Nix threw a short pass to rookie running back Jonah Coleman, who turned it into a 51-yard gain, and Coleman ran in from the 5 on the next snap to make it 28-24 with 1:56 to go. It was Nix’s 15th career game-winning drive in the fourth quarter or overtime, the most by a quarterback in his first three seasons since the 1970 merger. “It’s always fun to throw it short and they run for a long time,” Nix said.
The goal-line stand
Mahomes still had time. Johnson returned the kickoff 44 yards, Travis Kelce caught a 32-yard pass, and Kenneth Walker III carried the Chiefs inside the Denver 5 with 35 seconds left. Pat Surtain II stopped Walker at the 1 on first down. Mahomes threw incomplete under pressure from Que Robinson on second down, and backup safety J.L. Skinner stuffed Walker for no gain on third.
On fourth-and-goal from the 1, Mahomes found Rice over the middle for what looked like the winning touchdown, but right tackle Jaylon Moore was called for a false start. From the 6, with 4 seconds left, Roach broke through alongside Nik Bonitto and dropped Mahomes for a 6-yard loss to end the game. “If you could tangibly point to a crowd win,” that was it, Payton said. Mahomes said, “A lot of times in those big moments, the little stuff doesn’t get called like that.”
The numbers
- Patrick Mahomes: 30 of 41 for 321 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions; sacked twice.
- Emmett Johnson: five catches for 128 yards and a touchdown, plus a 15-yard run and the 44-yard kickoff return.
- Chiefs receivers: Rice had seven catches for 53 yards and a touchdown, and Kelce five for 67.
- Kenneth Walker III: 21 carries for 69 yards, after running for 173 against Denver in the opener.
- Bo Nix: 20 of 32 for 222 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, plus the two-point pass.
- Jonah Coleman: 41 rushing yards and the winning touchdown, plus four catches for 63 yards.
- Broncos defense: Singleton had 14 tackles and a sack, Roach had the final sack, and Surtain made eight tackles.
- Wil Lutz: 2 of 2 on field goals (39 and 45 yards). Butker was 1 of 2.
Kansas City outgained Denver 399-294 and did not turn the ball over, but it was penalized 11 times for 105 yards. Denver converted only 2 of 11 third downs, yet it was 3 for 3 in the red zone and 2 for 2 on fourth down, with both conversions coming on touchdown passes.
What it means
Denver lost 31-10 at Kansas City in the opener, and that game stayed with the Broncos. “It was personal,” Bonitto said. “It wasn’t that we lost, it was how we lost.” They have now won four in a row and lead the division. The worry is third down: Denver is just 10 for 48 on third down over this winning streak.
For Kansas City, a second straight loss stings after a game in which Mahomes played well. The Chiefs lost defensive lineman Peter Woods to a neck injury in the first quarter. Denver lost cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine to an ankle injury in the second quarter, and safety Brandon Jones was ruled out at halftime with a hamstring injury.
What comes next
Kansas City hosts the New York Jets next Sunday. Denver visits the Carolina Panthers.
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