DENVER (AP) — The one thing the Denver Broncos do really well is win close games.
asserted
Broncos → do → games
They stretched their winning streak in one-score games to 15 over the last two seasons by rallying past the Kansas City Chiefs 28-24 on Sunday and dropping Patrick Mahomes to 80-3 in his career when leading by double digits in the fourth quarter.
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They → stretch → quarter
“Obviously a big win,” Denver coach Sean Payton said after his 200th career victory.
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Payton → say → victory
“And I’m proud of the grit.
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I → ’m → grit
”
Malcolm Roach sacked Mahomes on fourth-and-goal on the final play, preserving Denver’s win that vaulted Broncos (6-2) into first place in the AFC West, a half-game ahead of Kansas City (5-2), which lost its second straight.
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which → sack → straight
The Broncos trailed 24-13 early in the fourth quarter, but Bo Nix threw a 2-yard TD pass to tight end Nate Adkins and found Jaylen Waddle for the 2-point conversion to pull Denver within 24-21.
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Nix → trail → 24
After Kansas City’s scuffling kicker Harrison Butker missed wide right on a 54-yard field goal attempt in a steady rain with 2 1/2 minutes remaining — one play after Alex Singleton sacked Mahomes for a 6-yard loss — the Broncos needed just two plays and 35 seconds to take the lead.
Nix hit rookie running back Jonah Coleman for a 51-yard gain on first down.
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Nix → scuffle → down
Coleman ran for a 5-yard touchdown on the next snap.
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Coleman → run → snap
“It’s always fun to throw it short and they run for a long time,” Nix said after recording his 15th career game-winning drive in the fourth quarter or overtime and surpassing Dak Prescott (14 games) for the most such drives by a QB in his first three seasons since the 1970 merger.
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Nix → ’ → merger
After the Broncos pushed ahead, Mahomes had just under 2 minutes to mount his own comeback.
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Mahomes → push → comeback
A 44-yard kickoff return by Emmett Johnson, who scored on a 73-yard reception in the first half, and a 32-yard catch by Travis Kelce, along with several big runs by Kenneth Walker III, helped the Chiefs get inside the Denver 5-yard line with 35 seconds left.
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Chiefs → score → seconds
Patrick Surtain II stopped Walker at the 1 after a 3-yard run on first down.
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II → stop → down
Mahomes was pressured by Que Robinson and threw incomplete on second down.
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Mahomes → pressure → down
On third down, third-string safety J.L. Skinner stuffed Walker for no gain.
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Skinner → stuff → gain
On fourth-and-goal from the 1, Mahomes threw what he thought was the game-winner to Rashee Rice over the middle, but the play was wiped out by a false start penalty on right tackle Jaylon Moore.
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play → throw → Moore
“If you could tangibly point to a crowd win,” that was it, Payton said.
uncertain
Payton → point → win
“The false start, I mean that’s like just from a play-caller standpoint, 1 to the 6 and you’re in another ZIP code with plays.
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you → mean → plays
Said Mahomes: “I mean, at the end of the day, you got to go with whatever’s called.
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whatever → say → day
But a lot of times in those big moments, the little stuff doesn’t get called like that.”
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stuff → call → that
On the do-over, Mahomes took the snap with 4 seconds left but Roach broke through the line alongside Nik Bonitto and smothered Mahomes for a 6-yard loss.
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Roach → take → loss
“They have a good defensive line,” Mahomes said.
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Mahomes → have → line
“I wish I had done a better job of getting the ball out, give somebody a chance.”
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I → wish → chance
Nix was just as nervous as the 76,831 fans in attendance watching Denver’s goal line stand.
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line → watch → attendance
“The fourth down was another crazy play by our defense,” Nix said.
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Nix → say → defense
“And I’m very thankful for the illegal shift that allowed them to snap it again.
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them → ’m → it
And it’s just an incredible stand by them.
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it → ’ → them
They just battled and battled on that drive and came out on top.”
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They → battle → top
Mahomes was also kicking himself for taking the sack before Butker’s miss.
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Mahomes → kick → miss
“I can’t put him in that position,” Mahomes said.
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Mahomes → put → position
The Broncos went three-and-out on all three of their drives in the third quarter, but Nix directed touchdown drives on both of Denver’s fourth-quarter possessions.
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Nix → go → possessions
Nix finished 20 of 32 for 222 yards with two TDs and no interceptions.
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Nix → finish → TDs
Mahomes was 30 of 41 for 321 yards, three TDs and no interceptions after struggling last week in a loss to Seattle.
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Mahomes → struggle → Seattle
Walker ran for 69 yards on 21 carries after rumbling for 173 yards against Denver in the opener, when the Broncos missed two dozen tackles in a 31-10 loss that left them smarting.
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that → run → them
“It was personal,” Bonitto said.
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Bonitto → say → ?
“It wasn’t that we lost, it was how we lost.’’
Injuries
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we → lose → ?
Chiefs: DL Peter Woods (neck) got hurt in the first quarter.
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Woods → hurt → quarter
Broncos: CB Kris Abrams-Draine (ankle) left in the second quarter and S Brandon Jones (hamstring) was ruled out at halftime.
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Draine → leave → halftime
Up next
Chiefs: Host the New York Jets next Sunday.
Broncos: Visit the Carolina Panthers next Sunday, where they’ll hope to improve on their third-down conversion rate.
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they → host → rate
The Aporia
