By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
It wasn't pretty, some may say it wasn't deserved, but the Kansas City Chiefs are still unbeaten after beating the Denver Broncos 16-14 at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The Broncos took advantage of a normally strong offensive line, sacking Patrick Mahomes four times against the Chiefs front five. Guard Trey Smith credits the Broncos front unit for giving the Chiefs offensive line problems all game
"Front seven as well, they do a phenomenal job of pushing us," Smith tells reporters in the locker room after the game. "You know they did a good job up front with the different looks they mixed in to give us fits, at the end of the day us players just have to try to be better."
Left tackle Wanya Morris also left the game with injury, but did return early into the fourth quarter.
Four punts combined opened the game for both teams before the first touchdown, which the Broncos scored early in the second quarter, rookie quarterback Bo Nix connecting with fellow rookie wide receiver Devaughn Vele for a six yard touchdown. The Chiefs answered with a Harrison Butker field goal on the next drive.
But Denver kept the upper hand in the first half, again scoring on a passing touchdown from Nix, this time to Courtland Sutton who created some separation from Trent McDuffie to catch the pass which dropped right into his hands for a 32 yard score.
The Chiefs used their final drive of the first half to narrow the lead however, driving 11 plays before Mahomes found tight end Travis Kelce for a two yard touchdown pass. Kansas City did get one more opportunity to score, but were unable to, as Will Lutz missed what would have tied a career long 61 yard field goal, and Mecole Hardman fielded the ball in the back of the endzone and attempted to take it back, before eventually being taken down, leaving Kansas City trailing 14-10 at the halftime break.
With the touchdown catch in the second quarter, his second touchdown of the season, Kelce’s future Hall of Fame resume added another franchise milestone, the touchdown being his 76th career score. Kelce is now tied with legendary Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez for the most receiving touchdowns in team history.
The lone score of the third quarter was a field goal by Butker, this time from 28 yards away, putting the Chiefs within one point. Butker again was called on to kick in the fourth quarter, this time after Mahomes just missed a touchdown pass to Kelce, knocking through a 20 yard field goal to give Kansas City their first lead of the game.
Trailing 16-14 with 5:57 remaining, the goal was simple for the Broncos, use up as much clock as possible, and don't give the Chiefs the ball back. And Denver did accomplish that goal, driving all the way down to the Chiefs 12 yard line, calling a timeout with one second remaining to set up a game winning field goal for Lutz, easily within his range.
But, as they have all season, the Chiefs found a way to pull off the win, as the ball was snapped the left side opened up, allowing linebacker Leo Chenal to dart through, and knock away the kick, which cornerback Joshua Williams scooped up, and Kansas City's sideline along with the entirety of Arrowhead Stadium erupted in celebration as the Chiefs improved to 9-0.
"Kind of right below the palm, it was just a good push by everybody and I got through," Chenal told reporters following the game at the podium. "We've been talking about it for awhile, win one of those, and we did in a big moment."
Chenal says he can't even begin to explain the emotions he felt after saving the Chiefs unbeaten season
"Glory to Jesus Christ and everything, cause I was really praying for something to happen because it's so easy to like, that moment is so heavy, you know there's a second on the clock, they're going to kick the field goal, and you feel the weight of the moment," Chenal says.
The Chiefs also had walk-off wins this season against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 1, Cincinnati Bengals in Week 2 and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 9.
Head Coach Andy Reid says there wasn't much to say to his team in terms of a message following the game, stating that the game told the story
"You know for it to end like that, I haven't been around a lot of those walk off blocks, so I'm going to enjoy it but I'm also going to get to work fixing the other things we need to fix before we go to Buffalo," Reid tells reporters. "But, you know you enjoy every one of these the best you possibly can, because it's tough in this league, the parity in this league is ridiculous."
Mahomes was 28 of 42 passing for 266 yards with one touchdown, he also rushed three times for 19 yards. Kareem Hunt was the leading rusher with 14 carries for 35 yards, adding seven catches for 65 yards. Kelce had eight catches for 64 yards and a touchdown.
Next up the Chiefs hit the road to face the Buffalo Bills. Kickoff will be at 3:25, pregame at 2pm on KFEQ and Q Country 92.7.
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