Fangio Explains Why Broncos 'Had a Hard Time' Covering Chiefs TE Travis Kelce

Travis Kelce lit up the Broncos in Week 15.

Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

As the Denver Broncos stumbled and slid to their ninth-straight loss to the Divisional-rival Kansas City Chiefs, it was all the same familiar faces that did the damage. Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce was a recurring nightmare for the Broncos defense on Sunday with an explosive skill-set that seemingly never fails to baffle and bruise them.

The Pro Bowl tight end hauled in 11 receptions (on 13 targets) for 142 yards, tearing the heart and fight out of the Broncos defense, which poses the question as to why a defensive magician like Vic Fangio can’t at least conjure up a way to apply the brakes on him.

“We gave a lot of attention to [Tyreek] Hill, which left 87 [Kelce] in some one-on-one situations, not always," Fangio said post-game. "We had a hard time covering him obviously."

All that attention Fangio paid Tyreek Hill did little to mitigate the dynamic wideout's impact on the game, to say nothing of Kelce. Hill finished with five receptions (seven targets) for 67 yards and two touchdowns. 

One of the main reasons for the Broncos bringing in the defensive-minded NFL vet as the team's 17th head coach was for Fangio to dream up a blueprint that would allow Denver to catch up to the Chiefs and blunt their multiple weapons. The nature of the team's 23-3 Week 15 loss took some real heart away from several Broncos who were growing in confidence after back-to-back wins under rookie QB Drew Lock.

Star pass rusher Von Miller was particularly downbeat and cut straight to the heart of the issues in the game's aftermath when explaining how Denver was at wit's end trying to stifle the reigning NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes and his explosive weapons.

“Mahomes is a great QB and they’ve got a great team, running and passing,” Miller said. “It’s probably easier for him to pass in these conditions because he’s getting Kelce one-on-one down the field.”

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Coach Fangio continues to offer up simplistic answers in his assessments of his team's ongoing problems, but that’s sure to offer cold comfort to Broncos County right now. Snowbound conditions had offered fans some hope that the Chiefs passing game might be held in check by the Broncos but that was quickly dismissed by Mahomes and company. Fangio had no answers or adjustments to halt the onslaught of five consecutive scoring possessions to open the game.

“I think their passing game was not affected by it much and the way their passing game is, I did not expect it to be," Fangio said post-game. "We just could not make a play in coverage. We played a lot of coverages, and we had a hard time making a play, both throwing the ball and the pass rush."

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Knowing full well what your opponent is going to do and still getting beaten to the punch is that much more gut-wrenching as the Broncos 2019 season fades into oblivion. Without some serious offseason reinforcements at key positions, it’s likely that the Chiefs will continue to scratch away at the Broncos open sores for the foreseeable future. 

The talent gap is currently far too wide for Denver to bridge. Even more troubling is that the Broncos defensive guru seems to be at a loss, racking his brains to find the solution as much as fans all are. 

But to no avail. The Chiefs outscored the Broncos in two 2019 contests under Fangio 53-9. This season's litmus test vs. Kansas City woefully exposed the Broncos' lack of Xs and Os answers, as well as their lack of depth at every level of the defense, but especially the secondary. 

Follow Keith on Twitter @KeithC_NFL and @MileHighHuddle.