Broncos vs. Chiefs: Score and Twitter Reaction for Thursday Night Football, Sometimes, discretion is the better part of valor, and it's OK to play for overtime.
With the extra period a half-minute away and the Kansas City Chiefs in possession of the ball, head coach Andy Reid opted to run his offense. The choice proved to be fatal as Jamaal Charles fumbled and Bradley Roby returned the ball 21 yards for the game-winning touchdown in a 31-24 victory for the Denver Broncos on the road Thursday night.
"I caused us the loss today. ... It's all on me tonight," said Charles, per Herbie Teope of ChiefsDigest.com, when asked about the game-deciding fumble.
SportsCenter noted that Peyton Manning's nine-game winning streak against the Chiefs is tied for the longest by an active player against a single team. He also holds nine-game winning streaks against the Baltimore Ravens and Oakland Raiders.
Denver's fortunes changed radically over the final few minutes of the game.
Knile Davis put the Chiefs ahead 24-17 with two minutes, 32 seconds remaining before a 19-yard touchdown pass from Manning to Emmanuel Sanders tied the game 40 seconds from the final whistle.Manning also noted after the game that he had "been in a couple crazy games...but nothing quite like that," per the Broncos' Twitter account.
Much like last week, the result papers over the cracks for Denver. This is the second game in a row in which the Broncos needed a defensive touchdown to provide the go-ahead score. In Week 1, an Aqib Talib pick-six was the difference, while Roby was the hero Thursday.
Manning had an uneven performance, at times looking hapless and others more like his former self. He finished 26-of-45 for 256 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. Two of those touchdowns went to Sanders, who caught eight passes for 87 yards.
On the bright side for Manning, he did become the second player in NFL history to pass for over 70,000 yards, per the NFL.
The running back combination of C.J. Anderson and Ronnie Hillman gained just 61 yards on 21 carries. Hillman had the longest run of the night, which went for 16 yards.
The Broncos defense shouldered much of the load, forcing five turnovers and limiting Alex Smith to 191 yards through the air. Charles gained 125 yards rushing but had little support around him.
Although losing in such dramatic fashion to a division rival will leave a sour feeling for many Chiefs players and their fans, the evening wasn't a total loss. Thursday was Eric Berry's home return following his Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis. The ovation inside Arrowhead Stadium following Berry's pregame introduction was deafening, per BJ Kissel of Chiefs.com:Berry's presence made for the most heartwarming story of the night, but the dominant storyline from the game will be the Broncos' continued offensive struggles.
Denver allowed four sacks to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 1, which didn't even properly illustrate how often Manning was under pressure from the Ravens front seven.
"I've got to go back and look at it. We're going to have to play a lot better," Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak said following the 19-13 win, per Nicki Jhabvala of the Denver Post. "We as coaches have got to figure out how we can help them play better up front because we've got to protect them."
Kubiak and his staff needed to go back to the drawing board as the issue persisted once again in the first half.
Some, however, wondered whether Kubiak could solve the problem. While Manning's Nationwide commercial jingle has been used for countless jokes at the quarterback's expense, Bleacher Report's Mike Freeman turned it around on Kubiak:Predictable play-calling and Manning's diminishing arm strength made for a toxic combination with 6:35 left in the second quarter. Marcus Peters jumped a route and intercepted a pass headed for Demaryius Thomas. The rookie corner then returned the pick 55 yards for the touchdown, per NFL Network:Peters doubled Kansas City's lead to 14 points after Charles opened the scoring on a 34-yard touchdown run earlier in the quarter.
While the Chiefs firmly looked to be in the driver's seat with halftime rapidly approaching, some poor clock management from Reid and timely offense from the Broncos turned the tide.
Manning led Denver on a 10-play, 80-yard drive that ate nearly four minutes off the clock, with the drive culminating in a 16-yard touchdown pass to Sanders, which trimmed the deficit to seven points.
Kansas City started the next drive with 2:21 left in the half. Rather than running time off the clock—the Chiefs received the ball to start the second half—Reid opted for back-to-back passing plays. On the second play, Talib intercepted a pass intended for Jeremy Maclin and returned it to the Kansas City 15-yard line.
Four plays later, Manning and Virgil Green connected on a one-yard touchdown pass to tie the game.
Melissa Jacobs of Sports Illustrated was having trouble keeping up with the latest hot takes about the game after the quick shift in momentum:Although the two teams were tied 17-17 going into the fourth quarter, you couldn't help but feel the Broncos were looking like the stronger team, in large part thanks to their defensive dominance and a major shift in offensive strategy.
Denver ran a lot more out of the shotgun, with 11 of its 15 offensive plays coming from that formation in the third quarter, per Andrew Mason of DenverBroncos.com. That limited the effectiveness of the Kansas City pass rush, as Manning was more comfortable and able to read the field.
But as much as the offense improved in the third quarter, Denver was still unable to truly make it count on the scoreboard, thus wasting what was a great defensive performance.
It looked as though that trend would carry on through the rest of the game. Instead, the Broncos walked away with another victory—albeit another somewhat unconvincing win.
Thursday represented an improvement for Manning. With that said, he still had a number of bad passes and was lucky to have only one interception. He can't continue playing like this if Denver wants to be a serious Super Bowl contender.
At least the Broncos have the early edge in the AFC West. Like Denver, the Chiefs will go as far as their quarterback can take them, which isn't necessarily a good thing. Alex Smith isn't the kind of passer who inspires a ton of confidence, and you have to wonder whether his inability to throw deep will prevent Kansas City's offense from hitting its stride.
With the extra period a half-minute away and the Kansas City Chiefs in possession of the ball, head coach Andy Reid opted to run his offense. The choice proved to be fatal as Jamaal Charles fumbled and Bradley Roby returned the ball 21 yards for the game-winning touchdown in a 31-24 victory for the Denver Broncos on the road Thursday night.
"I caused us the loss today. ... It's all on me tonight," said Charles, per Herbie Teope of ChiefsDigest.com, when asked about the game-deciding fumble.
SportsCenter noted that Peyton Manning's nine-game winning streak against the Chiefs is tied for the longest by an active player against a single team. He also holds nine-game winning streaks against the Baltimore Ravens and Oakland Raiders.
Denver's fortunes changed radically over the final few minutes of the game.
Knile Davis put the Chiefs ahead 24-17 with two minutes, 32 seconds remaining before a 19-yard touchdown pass from Manning to Emmanuel Sanders tied the game 40 seconds from the final whistle.Manning also noted after the game that he had "been in a couple crazy games...but nothing quite like that," per the Broncos' Twitter account.
Much like last week, the result papers over the cracks for Denver. This is the second game in a row in which the Broncos needed a defensive touchdown to provide the go-ahead score. In Week 1, an Aqib Talib pick-six was the difference, while Roby was the hero Thursday.
Manning had an uneven performance, at times looking hapless and others more like his former self. He finished 26-of-45 for 256 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. Two of those touchdowns went to Sanders, who caught eight passes for 87 yards.
On the bright side for Manning, he did become the second player in NFL history to pass for over 70,000 yards, per the NFL.
The running back combination of C.J. Anderson and Ronnie Hillman gained just 61 yards on 21 carries. Hillman had the longest run of the night, which went for 16 yards.
The Broncos defense shouldered much of the load, forcing five turnovers and limiting Alex Smith to 191 yards through the air. Charles gained 125 yards rushing but had little support around him.
Although losing in such dramatic fashion to a division rival will leave a sour feeling for many Chiefs players and their fans, the evening wasn't a total loss. Thursday was Eric Berry's home return following his Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis. The ovation inside Arrowhead Stadium following Berry's pregame introduction was deafening, per BJ Kissel of Chiefs.com:Berry's presence made for the most heartwarming story of the night, but the dominant storyline from the game will be the Broncos' continued offensive struggles.
Denver allowed four sacks to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 1, which didn't even properly illustrate how often Manning was under pressure from the Ravens front seven.
"I've got to go back and look at it. We're going to have to play a lot better," Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak said following the 19-13 win, per Nicki Jhabvala of the Denver Post. "We as coaches have got to figure out how we can help them play better up front because we've got to protect them."
Kubiak and his staff needed to go back to the drawing board as the issue persisted once again in the first half.
Some, however, wondered whether Kubiak could solve the problem. While Manning's Nationwide commercial jingle has been used for countless jokes at the quarterback's expense, Bleacher Report's Mike Freeman turned it around on Kubiak:Predictable play-calling and Manning's diminishing arm strength made for a toxic combination with 6:35 left in the second quarter. Marcus Peters jumped a route and intercepted a pass headed for Demaryius Thomas. The rookie corner then returned the pick 55 yards for the touchdown, per NFL Network:Peters doubled Kansas City's lead to 14 points after Charles opened the scoring on a 34-yard touchdown run earlier in the quarter.
While the Chiefs firmly looked to be in the driver's seat with halftime rapidly approaching, some poor clock management from Reid and timely offense from the Broncos turned the tide.
Manning led Denver on a 10-play, 80-yard drive that ate nearly four minutes off the clock, with the drive culminating in a 16-yard touchdown pass to Sanders, which trimmed the deficit to seven points.
Kansas City started the next drive with 2:21 left in the half. Rather than running time off the clock—the Chiefs received the ball to start the second half—Reid opted for back-to-back passing plays. On the second play, Talib intercepted a pass intended for Jeremy Maclin and returned it to the Kansas City 15-yard line.
Four plays later, Manning and Virgil Green connected on a one-yard touchdown pass to tie the game.
Melissa Jacobs of Sports Illustrated was having trouble keeping up with the latest hot takes about the game after the quick shift in momentum:Although the two teams were tied 17-17 going into the fourth quarter, you couldn't help but feel the Broncos were looking like the stronger team, in large part thanks to their defensive dominance and a major shift in offensive strategy.
Denver ran a lot more out of the shotgun, with 11 of its 15 offensive plays coming from that formation in the third quarter, per Andrew Mason of DenverBroncos.com. That limited the effectiveness of the Kansas City pass rush, as Manning was more comfortable and able to read the field.
But as much as the offense improved in the third quarter, Denver was still unable to truly make it count on the scoreboard, thus wasting what was a great defensive performance.
It looked as though that trend would carry on through the rest of the game. Instead, the Broncos walked away with another victory—albeit another somewhat unconvincing win.
Thursday represented an improvement for Manning. With that said, he still had a number of bad passes and was lucky to have only one interception. He can't continue playing like this if Denver wants to be a serious Super Bowl contender.
At least the Broncos have the early edge in the AFC West. Like Denver, the Chiefs will go as far as their quarterback can take them, which isn't necessarily a good thing. Alex Smith isn't the kind of passer who inspires a ton of confidence, and you have to wonder whether his inability to throw deep will prevent Kansas City's offense from hitting its stride.
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