NFL 2019-20 Thursday Night Football Week 7 Review: Chiefs Defense Looks Dominant in Win Over Broncos, But Mahomes Injury Leaves More Questions Lingering

Kansas City Chiefs 30

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Denver Broncos 6



Denver came out roaring in the beginning with a touchdown drive that seemed to indicate that they would take advantage of the notoriously weak and vulnerable Kansas City defense all night.

Royce Freeman ran it in from one yard out to cap the drive with a touchdown, and the Broncos appeared to be in business, taking the early 6-0 lead. But then, they went for the two-point conversion, which was a bit of a surprise. They tried to run it up the middle, but the Chiefs were ready, shutting it down, and denying Denver.  

Turns out, that was a sign of things to come. The Broncos only looked good on offense for that one drive, and once it ended with that failed two-point conversion, they never looked in sync again. It was an early sign that this would be a different night, when the Chiefs defense looked not only like a capable unit, but like an elite one, in fact. That the KC offense was apparently in tune last night was not a surprise. That their defense, which had looked like the weak link for the team all season, and last season as well, suddenly toughened up and looked like one of the dominant defensive units in the league for the rest of the game, however, was a surprise. Denver's offense never got going again, and the Chiefs were able to methodically build on the lead, until the game was completely out of reach for the Broncos, who looked horrendous on offense for the entirety of the rest of the game, after that first impressive drive.

When Kansas City took over, Mecole Hardman caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from Mahomes, and the Chiefs converted the extra point for a narrow 7-6 edge. 

The Broncos, like a lot of other teams, took some big gambles against KC in this game. One of them was a fake punt that went absolutely nowhere, because the Chiefs were ready for it. To be honest, there was such a delay, the play took so long to get off the ground, that it felt suspiciously like something sneaky was coming. Perhaps KC sensed it, too, because it looked like they knew exactly what the Broncos were up to. By this point in the game, it felt like nothing the Broncos were trying was actually working. After that brilliant early touchdown drive, Denver looked messy and unable to produce anything. Denver’s running game ground to a virtual halt, even though the Kansas City defense is usually notoriously weak against the run. But not on this night.  

One scary moment for Kansas City was when Patrick Mahomes went out of the game in the second quarter after a quarterback sneak to get a first down on 3rd and 1, near the goal line. Mahomes stayed down after picking up the first down, even though he was on top of one of his own lineman. But he looked to be in severe pain, as he held his head and did not move his right leg. Apparently, it was his right knee, and they were able to pop it back in place. He was able to walk off the field completely under his own power, although Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, the commentators, were mentioning that it is impossible to tell the severity of an injury, even if the player walks off the field completely under his own power, like Mahomes did. One way or the other, however, Mahomes was done for this night. In his place came Matt Moore, who KC had picked up not long ago to take over in the event that Mahomes went out, just like he did on this night. Apparently, it was a good decision, and came in handy.  

Kansas City was not able to punch it in for a touchdown, and had to settle for a field goal.  

However, the Chiefs would be able to get a touchdown, but it was their defense, not their offense, that got it. Just a few minutes after Mahomes went out of the game, with Denver now in control of the ball, Joe Flacco fumbled the ball after being hit by Anthony Hitchens, and it was recovered by Kansas City linebacker Reggie Ragland, who easily ran it the ten or fifteen yards into the end zone. And suddenly, despite the absence of Mahomes, the Chiefs were up by two touchdowns midway through the second quarter.  The Chiefs defense was more solid than usual on Thursday. They were able to get to Flacco for six sacks in the first half alone. They played Denver very tough after yielding that early touchdown, and seemed to have Flacco rattled.  Before going out of the game with that injury, Mahomes completed 10 of 11 passes for 76 yards, and one touchdown.                

All season long, Kansas City has been blasted for their inability to clamp down on the run. Apparently, the defenders were a bit tired of hearing it, and did something about it in this game. Kansas City completely shut down the Denver run on this day, and also produced an incredible level of pressure on Broncos quarterback Joe Flacco, including an impressive nine sacks, and allowing a total of only 71 yards rushing.              

There was not much offense for Denver at all more generally on this evening. Joe Flacco completed 21 of 34 pass attempts for 213 yards, with no touchdowns or interceptions. But he was rushed and sacked a lot, and just looked completely out of sync and frustrated all night long. The Chiefs hardly looked like they had a defense that was a liability on this night.              

After Mahomes went down, Matt Moore stepped in as quarterback for KC. He completed 10 of 19 passes for 117 yards and one touchdown, and mostly provided leadership, if not explosiveness, for Kansas City for the duration of the game.              

Had Denver won, they would have pulled to within a game of the Chiefs, who would have fallen behind the Oakland Raiders for first place in the AFC West. But instead, the Broncos fall to 2-5, and are now a seemingly hopeless three games behind the Chiefs.              

With the win, the Chiefs snap that two-game losing streak with a dominant performance, and find themselves once again at 5-2, and for now, alone atop the AFC West.              

My prediction: Inaccurate             



Broncos’ offensive line manhandled by Kansas City as Chiefs rack up nine sacks, hold Denver to 71 yards rushing   
It was an alarmingly bad performance from a unit that had been showing marked improvement as of late by Kyle Newman, The Denver Post, October 17, 2019

https://www.denverpost.com/2019/10/17/broncos-offensive-line-manhandled-by-chiefs/