Broncos Win Second Straight, Beat Chiefs 17-10

The Denver Broncos shot an arrow in Kansas City and dipped its point in poison. The arrow may fly through the air and leave no trace, but a Broncos win at Arrowhead leaves a trail like snake in the AFC West.

The Broncos came away with a 17-10 win, which marks the first time since October 2009 that the team has won two consecutive games. This was also the team’s third consecutive road win.

Running is usually a sport’s punishment. Today it was highly rewarding for the Broncos. Prior to today, whenever the Broncos ran over 100+ yards against the Chiefs, they had a 38-20 record. They hit the century mark in the first quarter on 14 carries and zero pass attempts. By halftime, they had 28 carries and 4 passes (no completions). It didn’t matter that the offense was so imbalanced, the Broncos had 10-0 lead at the mid-way mark.

Just like marathoners are susceptible to hitting the wall, the Broncos running backs hit a wall after the team relied on them arguably too much to start the game. By the end of the first quarter, Willis McGahee and Knowshon Moreno were in the locker room receiving X-rays and treatment. McGahee (hamstring) and Moreno (knee) never returned to the game.

Third string running back Lance Ball should receive a game ball for his career day. He had 96 yards on 30 carries. He kept the chains moving, put the Broncos into third and manageable situations, and helped them to 13 rushing first downs out of 16 total first downs. The Chiefs knew that the Broncos were going to run on 85% of their plays, yet they couldn’t stop it. The team had 245 rushing yards on the day.

The Tim Tebow question mark remains, but today he was the real deal Holyfield Holy-turf despite going 2-of-8 passing. The most important pass came on his second completion of the game in the fourth quarter when he hit Eric Decker in stride for a 56-yard touchdown. The perfectly thrown ball was the longest TD pass of his career and it came at a time when the Broncos were up by just three points and in a 3rd and 11 situation. In addition to throwing a TD, he ran the ball into the end zone himself from 7 yards out on the Broncos very first drive. Denver only had to convert one third down on the drive and Tebow ended up with his second rushing TD of the season.

Tebow’s game isn’t the prettiest to watch, but when has football been a pretty sport? A win is a win, zero turnovers is a way to a coaches heart, and non-stop effort is the way to the heart of fans. Tebow is Tebow. He reels in the wins like a large bass, and puts the team in a position to win nearly every time.

Credit the Broncos’ coaching staff for their play calling today. From never giving up on the run to allowing Tebow to take some chances down the field to the triple option play that they called in the first half, this game was called and executed beautifully.

The DDDDDenver DDDDDDefense did its duty and then some. The combination of Elvis Dumervil and Von Miller were way too much for Matt Cassel and his offensive line to handle. Cassel ended the day 13-of-28 for 93 yards and 1 TD. Dumervil had 2.5 sacks and Miller had 1.5 sacks. The Broncos defense was constantly in Matt Cassel’s castle, swords a blazing.

The Broncos held the Chiefs to 10 points and forced them to go 2-of-11 on third downs and 0-of-2 on fourth downs. When Cassel wasn’t sacked, he was hurried and/or forced to scramble on multiple plays. Like the Broncos, the Chiefs looked to the run. Jackie Battle had 9 carries for 61 yards, but most of those yards came on one 34-yard run.

The Broncos won in the most unconventional way possible. Whether or not it works in the long run remains to be seen. What we can say for certain is the Broncos have won the last three of four, and the excitement level is at least a Mile High in Broncos Country deep blue sky.

Cheers to another win and a Broncos team that is finally coming to life at the right time.

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