Into Thin Air
- Updated: November 18, 2013
The Chiefs had followed a certain formula in forging a 9-0 record, one based on sacks, turnovers and just enough offense to get by.
That all came apart, as did their unbeaten record, at Sports Authority Field Sunday night. Their 27-17 loss to the Broncos gave plenty of ammo to their critics, including one Denver columnist who labeled them as frauds. It also made pretty clear they’re going to need a lot more offense than this to beat the big boys.
“It’s terrible. It’s not fun,” said Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith. “It’s a big game and big environment. To come here and come up short hurts and stings.”
Now tied with the Broncos for the AFC’s best record at 9-1, they’ll get another shot at them at home in two weeks, when things will have to be different.
“We aren’t going to lose our confidence,” K.C. linebacker Derrick Johnson said. “We are a good team and we are 9-1 right now. At the same time, we need to figure out a way to beat Denver. It is just just one game and we didn’t do what we usually do.”
It’s not that their No. 1-ranked defense didn’t come to play. But it needed to play great, not just good.
So was Manning’s defense – or was it the inept Chiefs’ offense? In addition to Danny Trevathan forcing that key fumble in the first quarter, the Denver “D” came up with the other big play of the night when backup LB Steven Johnson, in for the injured Trevathan, stopped Jamaal Charles on the goal line, forcing a field goal.
That brought the Chiefs back to within 17-10 but the entire night, you never got the feeling that the Chiefs could muster the drive that would make it a game. The K.C. defense forced three straight punts to start the second half but each time, the Chiefs punted it back until Ball scored his second TD of the game to cap off a six-play 65-yard drive that made it a two-score game with 2:22 left.
It was big, too big. Before tonight, the Chiefs’ biggest deficit in a game was seven points.
“There are plenty of things we’ll learn from here and get those fixed,” said Chiefs coach Andy Reid, whose record fell to 13-2 after a bye. “To start with, when you have an opportunity to score touchdowns against this team, you need to score touchdowns and not kick field goals. We had opportunities there to score points after the stops and we didn’t follow up offensively. We’re a young football team. We’ll get it worked out.”
“It’s good in some ways,” Smith said. “We have to find a way to deal with it. How many teams have ever gone undefeated in the history of pro football? We see them again in two weeks but we have to prepare for another big division game. These games keep getting bigger.”
The Chiefs could be back on top of the division when they meet in the rematch. They play the Chargers next week while the Broncos travel to Foxborough for a Manning-Tom Brady showdown against the Patriots. The Broncos could be without Wes Welker who suffered a concussion and went back into the game.
“We’re not even thinking about the game two weeks from now,” Broncos LB Shaun Phillips said. “We’re going to enjoy this one and get ready for a really good New England team and Tom Brady. If we skip them, we’re going to have a loss. We can’t do that.”
Sunday night, they didn’t.
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