The Denver Broncos beat the Kansas City Chiefs 28-24 with a goal-line stand in the final seconds on Sunday. Denver stopped Kansas City four times inside the 10-yard line, and the win gave Sean Payton his 200th career victory, including the postseason. The Broncos lead the AFC West at 6-2, while the Chiefs fell to 5-2 with a second consecutive loss.
Denver trailed 24-13 in the fourth quarter before scoring 15 consecutive points for its fourth comeback win of the season. Kansas City outgained Denver 399 yards to 294, and Patrick Mahomes went 30 of 41 for 321 yards and three touchdowns, but the Chiefs could not hold a lead they had carried into the final minutes.
Chiefs let the lead slip late
Kansas City had a chance to pad its lead late in the game, but Harrison Butker missed a 54-yard field goal wide right with 2 minutes 31 seconds remaining. The miss came after Alex Singleton sacked Mahomes for a 6-yard loss, and it left the door open for Denver.
Butker is in danger of losing his job after the Chiefs signed Justin Tucker to the practice squad last week. The 10-year veteran has missed 6 of 17 field goal attempts this season, including two misses in last week’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks. The missed kick on Sunday was his latest miss at a point in the game when Kansas City needed points to steady itself.
Broncos strike twice in 35 seconds
The Broncos needed only two plays, 56 yards and 35 seconds to take the lead for the first time. Jonah Coleman had a 51-yard catch-and-run before a 5-yard touchdown run, and Denver led 28-24 with 1 minute 56 seconds left. The speed of the turnaround left Kansas City with little time to respond, and the Chiefs had to chase the game from that point on.
Bo Nix was 20 of 32 for 222 yards and two touchdowns, and he went 5 of 6 for 84 yards and a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Coleman had 11 carries for 41 yards and a touchdown, along with four catches for 63 yards, and his catch-and-run set up the score that put Denver ahead.
The Broncos had trailed by 11 points in the fourth quarter, and the comeback was the fourth time this season the Broncos have won after trailing. The run of 15 consecutive points turned a game Kansas City had controlled into a Denver lead with less than two minutes to play.
Broncos hold at the goal line
Kansas City still had one more chance. Emmett Johnson returned the kickoff 44 yards to the Kansas City 44, and two plays later Mahomes found Travis Kelce for a 32-yard gain to the Denver 18. Johnson had been the most productive player for the Chiefs on Sunday, with five catches for 128 yards and a touchdown plus a 15-yard run, and Kelce added five catches for 67 yards.
The Chiefs had first-and-goal at the 4 with 35 seconds left. Kenneth Walker ran for 3 yards to the 1 before Patrick Surtain tackled him. Mahomes threw incomplete on the next play, and Walker was stopped for no gain by safety JL Skinner. That set up a final play with four seconds left, and after a false start, Malcolm Roach sacked Mahomes to end the game.
The stand finished a game in which Denver had been outgained by more than 100 yards and had trailed for much of the afternoon. Kansas City moved the ball well enough to reach the Denver 1-yard line in the final minute, and the Broncos stopped four plays inside the 10-yard line to keep the lead.
For Payton, the win was the 200th of his career when postseason games are counted. For Denver, the win moved the Broncos to 6-2 and into first place in the AFC West, while Kansas City fell to 5-2 after a second straight defeat. The Chiefs had outgained Denver and had Mahomes throwing for 321 yards and three touchdowns, and they still left with a loss decided on the final play at the goal line.