Instant reaction: Broncos fall short in devastating 16-14 loss to Chiefs

The Denver Broncos lost an absolute heartbreaker against the Kansas City Chiefs 16-14.

Divisional rivalry games always hit a bit harder. This afternoon’s matchup was a furious battle from start to finish.

When the clock hit zero, the Denver Broncos suffered a heartbreaking loss 16-14 to the Kansas City Chiefs after Wil Lutz had his game-winning field goal attempt blocked.

This is going to be a tough loss to get over. This was an absolute soul crushing defeat. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some instant reactions from today’s game.

Bo Nix and offense sizzle in first half, but fizzle in second half

Going up against a tough Chiefs defense on the road wasn’t going to be an easy task for Bo Nix and the Broncos’ offense. They sport one of the top units in the league and are very well coached.

In the first half, Nix and his teammates played extremely well. He was 14-of-20 for 160 yards and 2 touchdowns. He looked poised and confident and led two great scoring drives. You couldn’t have asked for a better first half.

One of the things I’m most impressed with as Nix’s rookie campaign is how well he distributes the ball. Eight different players caught passes from him in the first half alone. His extensive collegiate experience is clearly paying dividends. He’s reading the field well and getting all of his teammates involved.

I also liked seeing Devaugh Vele, Marvin Mims Jr. and Audric Estime getting a lot of snaps and playing time. I thought they flashed some great ability, and it was nice to see young players step up and make plays even in a loss.

Unfortunately, the wheels fell off the Broncos’ offense in the second half. What looked like a well-oiled machine in the first half turned out to be a rusted-out clunker. Chiefs’ defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo made great second half adjustments and started throwing the house at Nix. Their first three drives of the second half resulted in 14 plays for just 10 yards.

It wasn’t until the final possession of the game that their offense was able to do anything. They had no answers for Spagnuolo’s aggressive blitzes. Everything that looked promising at the start simply vanished. They did their job at the end and gave the team a shot to win, but it wasn’t enough.

Broncos’ defense dials up the heat on Mahomes

Vance Joseph opted not to be blitz happy against Lamar Jackson last weekend and played a lot of zone coverage. It was a deviation from what we have seem most of the season and a gamble that didn’t work.

Against Mahomes this weekend, Joseph went back to what has worked for his defense all season long. From start until finish, he sent the house after Mahomes. The Broncos had 4 sacks and a ton of pressures. After last week’s dud against the Ravens, it was nice to see the defense get back to playing quality football.

All things considered; I thought they did very well especially how much they were on the field. The defense definitely wasn’t the problem in this game.

Miscues, self-inflicted wounds, and losing the time of possession battle

I’ll give credit to the Chiefs who had a really good comeback this afternoon, but the Broncos truly beat themselves in numerous ways.

Let’s talk miscues. In the last two minutes of the first half, the Broncos offense was rolling and set to have their third scoring drive of the game. Unfortunately, Courtland Sutton dropped an absolute dime by Bo Nix and had an offsides penalty. Lutz missed his 60-yard attempt at the end of the half. That was a 3-point swing right there. Nix also took several bad sacks that really put their offense in a tough position.

Until the last drive of the game, the Chiefs sported over a 10-minute advantage in time of possession. The Broncos’ struggling in the second half and only taking a few minutes off the clock on their first three drives was a huge issue. And of course, Lutz missing another field goal at the end was the ultimate backbreaker.

You can’t expect to win games against teams like the Chiefs with these issues.

The refs bail out the Chiefs again

The refs coming up with phantom calls to aid the Chiefs is a tale as old as time itself. Sunday’s game was no different. Late in the second quarter, the refs called Brandon Jones for illegal contact despite the fact Patrick Mahomes was already sacked. It was an awful call and a big momentum changer. I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty tired of seeing this happen every week for them.