On November 27, 2016, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Denver Broncos played 75 minutes on a Sunday night in Denver. The last kick of the night hit the left upright and bounced in. Cairo Santos’ 34-yard field goal, struck with the overtime clock running out, gave Kansas City a 30-27 win over the defending Super Bowl champions.
A miss would have ended the game in a tie. Seattle and Arizona had tied 6-6 in October, and Washington and Cincinnati had tied 27-27 a week later. A third tie in one season would have been the first since 1973, the year before the league added regular-season overtime.
Three touchdowns, three ways
For three quarters, the defenses ran the game. Kansas City gained 49 yards in the first half and still led 9-3 at halftime. The first eight possessions of the night all ended without points. Then Denver’s Jordan Norwood muffed a punt and recovered it at his own 3, and on third down Justin Houston sacked Trevor Siemian in the end zone. Siemian fumbled, Russell Okung recovered, and Okung was touched down for a safety.
On the free kick that followed, rookie Tyreek Hill cut back across the field and ran 86 yards for a touchdown. In the third quarter, after a Denver illegal formation penalty wiped out a Santos field goal and gave the Chiefs a first down, Hill scored on a 3-yard run. With 12 seconds left in regulation, he caught the 3-yard pass that tied the game.
He was the first rookie to score rushing, receiving and return touchdowns in the same game since Gale Sayers did it twice for the Bears in 1965.
Down eight with no timeouts
Denver’s offense came alive in the fourth quarter. Siemian hit Emmanuel Sanders for 35 yards and a 17-16 lead, then threw a 76-yard touchdown to Bennie Fowler on third-and-2 right after Kansas City had used its last timeout. The Broncos led 24-16 with three minutes left.
| Time | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 4th quarter, 3:12 | Siemian to Fowler, 76-yard touchdown on third-and-2 | Broncos 24, Chiefs 16 |
| 4th quarter, 0:19 | Fourth-and-10 at the Denver 14. Alex Smith finds Hill for 11 yards to the 3 | Chiefs keep the drive alive |
| 4th quarter, 0:15 | Smith to Hill, 3 yards. Ruled down at the 1, changed to a touchdown on review | Broncos 24, Chiefs 22 |
| 4th quarter, 0:12 | Smith to tight end Demetrius Harris for two points | Tied 24-24 |
| Overtime, 8:55 | Brandon McManus 44-yard field goal on Denver’s first possession | Broncos 27, Chiefs 24 |
| Overtime, 4:23 | Santos 37-yard field goal after a 41-yard kickoff return by De’Anthony Thomas | Tied 27-27 |
| Overtime, 1:08 | McManus tries a 62-yard field goal on fourth-and-10 from the Kansas City 44 and comes up short | Chiefs take over at the Denver 48 |
| Overtime, 0:05 | Santos 34-yard field goal hits the left upright and goes in | Chiefs 30, Broncos 27 |
The tying drive went 75 yards in 13 plays. Three Denver defensive penalties helped it along, and Hill’s 11-yard catch on fourth-and-10 kept it alive.
The 62-yard gamble
Overtime in 2016 was 15 minutes. Both teams kicked a field goal on their first possession, and Denver got the ball back with a chance to win. The drive stopped at the Kansas City 44. Facing fourth-and-10 with 1:08 left, Broncos coach Gary Kubiak chose a 62-yard field goal over a punt. McManus had made kicks from 70 yards in practice, but his low kick came up short.
That gave Kansas City the ball at the Denver 48 with just over a minute to play. An offside penalty, an 11-yard catch by Hill and a 16-yard catch by Travis Kelce moved the ball to the Denver 16, and the Chiefs called their last timeout with five seconds left. Santos’ kick hit the upright and bounced inside the right post as time ran out.
“I’ve seen ‘B-Mac’ do that many times in practice,” Kubiak said. “It’s on me. I just gave them a chance. I thought we could do it and we didn’t get it done.” Cornerback Chris Harris Jr. backed the call. “We’ve got confidence in B-Mac,” he said. “We’ve seen him kick 60-yarders.”
The numbers
Denver outgained Kansas City 464 yards to 273. Siemian threw for 368 yards and three touchdowns, and Sanders caught seven passes for 162 yards. Von Miller and Houston each had three sacks. Smith completed 26 of 44 passes for 220 yards, and Kelce caught eight for 101. Hill finished with nine catches for 52 yards.
| Chiefs | Broncos | |
|---|---|---|
| Points | 30 | 27 |
| Total yards | 273 | 464 |
| First downs | 23 | 21 |
| Third downs | 5 of 17 | 9 of 20 |
| Sacks allowed | 6 | 5 |
| Penalties | 9 for 71 yards | 15 for 97 yards |
| Turnovers | 0 | 1 |
What they said
“Cairo, he kept us all in suspense with that bank shot, or the chip shot, or whatever it is,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “It was a great game to watch. I’m sure it put a couple of extra gray hairs on your head.”
“It’s amazing,” Santos said. “It’s a huge game in primetime, and as a kicker, I ask for opportunities like these so I’m happy to come through for the team.” Holder Dustin Colquitt said later that he had bowed his head when he heard the ball hit the upright, sure it had missed, until Kelce started screaming that it went in.
Hill learned about the Sayers comparison after the game. “They told me after the game,” he said. “I was like, ‘Man, that’s great.'” On the Denver side, Harris summed it up: “We beat ourselves.”
What came next
The win was Kansas City’s eighth straight against AFC West teams. The Chiefs finished 12-4, won the division and lost a divisional playoff game 18-16 to Pittsburgh. Denver lost three of its last five and finished 9-7, out of the playoffs a year after winning Super Bowl 50. Kubiak stepped away from coaching after the season. The next spring, the league cut regular-season overtime from 15 minutes to 10.
Sunday in Denver
The teams meet again on Sunday at 4:25 pm ET, 11:25 pm in Cairo. Andy Reid’s Chiefs are 5-1 after their unbeaten start ended 20-3 in Seattle, and they beat Denver 31-10 in Week 1. Sean Payton’s Broncos are 5-2 and have won three in a row. Kicking is a talking point again: Kansas City signed Justin Tucker to its practice squad this week after Harrison Butker missed five of his 16 field goal attempts.
Related WhyNFL reading: the Chiefs’ kicking question before Denver, step by step, and Sean Payton on the home crowd against the Chiefs.
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