Four Takeaways from the Kansas City Chiefs' 16-14 Win Over the Denver Broncos

The Kansas City Chiefs hosted the Denver Broncos in Week 10, and there was plenty to take away from the Sunday afternoon contest.

Nov 10, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) drops back to pass during the first half against the Denver Broncos at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

The Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos met for the first time this season and on Sunday afternoon in Kansas City, the two clubs delivered a battle that certainly lived up to the AFC West rivalry hype.

It wasn't the closest of contests to start, as the road team jumped out to a 14-3 lead. Kansas City snapped out of its funk and crawled back into the game with 13 unanswered points, which proved to barely be enough to pull out the victory. Denver was in an excellent spot to make a game-winning field goal to hand the Chiefs their first loss of the 2024 season, but a blocked kick clinched things for the NFL's best team.

With that in mind, here are four takeaways from Sunday's game.

The Chiefs' offense came out flat against a tough defense

Although Kansas City did run into 10 points in the opening half of play, it wasn't a very impressive performance. The reigning Super Bowl champs punted on their first two possessions, with the second being a three-and-out. Pass protection issues cut the third one short (more on that later) and stalled a possession to a field goal. The Chiefs averaged 4.9 yards per play in the first half and got off 32 total plays to eat up some clock, but they left plenty on the field.

Speaking of which, Patrick Mahomes cost his team some points in the second half. On a deep ball to Xavier Worthy, the two-time NFL MVP led his rookie wideout out of bounds and the play was an incompletion. In the fourth quarter, he sailed a pass over Travis Kelce's head and a would-be touchdown turned into a field goal. It's hard to blame him too much given the cards he was dealt but in a close outing, those things make a big-time difference. To top it all off, play calls were stale and Kansas City averaged just three yards per carry. Denver's defense is a tough one to succeed against, so it's important to factor in context. With that said, Sunday was truly a grind-it-out style of victory.

Pass protection was a glaring issue on Sunday

The Chiefs are known for having perhaps the best interior offensive line trio in the league, but the front five as a whole hasn't been perfect this season. Early in the year, Jawaan Taylor struggled with penalties and rookie Kingsley Suamataia got benched, which forced Wanya Morris back into the lineup. On top of that, Mahomes didn't seem comfortable and wasn't playing his best football. Things had been rolling along in recent weeks but once Morris went down with an injury, the dynamic shifted on Sunday.

Suamataia, specifically, was bad and ended up being replaced by Morris later. Broncos pass rusher Nik Bonitto gave the rookie fits on multiple plays, hitting Mahomes on several occasions. Kansas City reverted to chip blocks and the screen game to counteract that, although it limited the offense. Elsewhere, the Chiefs failed to pick up a key first-half stunt and the right side duo of Taylor and Trey Smith didn't have its best game. Denver's pressure and sacks put the Kansas City attack in unfavorable positions all afternoon, thus making chain-moving drives more difficult to achieve.

Bo Nix and the Denver offense gave Steve Spagnuolo's defense more trouble than expected

In my preview of this weekend's contest, I highlighted how uninspiring the Broncos' offense is for the most part. While Sean Payton's group is roughly an average rushing unit, rookie quarterback Bo Nix was leading one of the more underwhelming passing attacks in the sport. Despite that, the 12th overall pick in this year's draft looked like a seasoned veteran in his 10th career game.

Nix was mostly efficient on Sunday, completing 22 passes for 215 yards with a pair of touchdowns as well. The Kansas City front couldn't generate consistent pressure without bringing extra players on blitzes, which puts the coordinator in conflict. Nix also found success on third downs and took advantage of blown coverages for chunk plays. This is the second game in a row that the Chiefs have looked a bit vulnerable against non-star signal-callers.

The Chiefs simply REFUSE to lose

In perhaps their most improbable win of this current run, the Chiefs secured another triumph and still haven't lost a game this season. Not only that, but they're undefeated dating all the way back to late last year. Christmas Day's defeat at the hands of the Las Vegas Raiders was the last time Reid and Co. didn't get the job done, and there have been plenty of comebacks and thrillers along the way.

CHIEFS STAY UNDEFEATED WITH A BLOCKED FG 🤯🤯

(via @NFL)

pic.twitter.com/QgamVqOupF

— KC Sports Network (@KCSportsNetwork) November 10, 2024

Usually, it's by way of defense. Sometimes, it's Mahomes and the offense. This time, it was special teams that sealed the deal for Kansas City. This win creates even more distance between the Chiefs and the 5-5 Broncos, but it also keeps the reigning champs in a good spot entering Week 11's game against the Buffalo Bills. While one individual outcome normally doesn't influence an entire season, this would've been a tough time for a first loss. Thanks to Dave Toub's group, the Chiefs aren't faced with that reality. Instead, they can head into Orchard Park next Sunday with the same exact advantage over Buffalo in the win column.

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