Broncos vs Chiefs Final Score: Denver Holds Kansas City Out at the Goal Line in the Final Seconds to Win 28-24
Denver trailed 24-13 in the fourth quarter, scored the game's last 15 points, then stopped Patrick Mahomes at the goal line on the final play - a false start wiped out the apparent winning touchdown, and Malcolm Roach's sack ended it. The Broncos (6-2) take over first place in the AFC West.
Sunday's late window saved its best finish for Denver. The Broncos rallied past the Kansas City Chiefs 28-24, sealing the win when Malcolm Roach sacked Patrick Mahomes on fourth-and-goal on the game's final play, the Associated Press reported in a file opened and read directly by the desk this run (via TSN). The win - Sean Payton's 200th as a head coach - vaulted Denver (6-2) into first place in the AFC West, a half-game ahead of Kansas City (5-2), which lost its second straight.
Denver trailed 24-13 early in the fourth quarter. Bo Nix threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to tight end Nate Adkins and found Jaylen Waddle for the two-point conversion to pull the Broncos within 24-21. After Alex Singleton sacked Mahomes, Harrison Butker missed wide right on a 54-yard field goal attempt in a steady rain with about two and a half minutes left, and Denver needed just two plays and 35 seconds to take the lead: Nix hit rookie Jonah Coleman for 51 yards, and Coleman ran 5 yards for the touchdown on the next snap.
Mahomes nearly answered. A 44-yard kickoff return by Emmett Johnson and a 32-yard catch by Travis Kelce helped Kansas City reach the Denver 5 with 35 seconds left. Patrick Surtain II stopped Kenneth Walker III at the 1, Mahomes threw incomplete under pressure from Que Robinson, and J.L. Skinner stuffed Walker for no gain. On fourth-and-goal from the 1, Mahomes appeared to throw the game-winner to Rashee Rice - but the play was wiped out by a false-start penalty on right tackle Jaylon Moore, moving the ball to the 6. On the do-over, with 4 seconds left, Roach broke through alongside Nik Bonitto and smothered Mahomes for a 6-yard loss.
The numbers behind the stand: Nix finished 20 of 32 for 222 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions, and recorded his 15th career game-winning drive in the fourth quarter or overtime - the most by a quarterback in his first three seasons since the 1970 merger, per the AP. Mahomes was 30 of 41 for 321 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, and the loss dropped him to 80-3 in his career when leading by double digits in the fourth quarter. It was Denver's 15th straight win in a one-score game over the last two seasons.
