Winners and (mostly) losers as Broncos suffer 16th straight loss to Chiefs
- One unit struggles and the other plays well, as usual
- Another WR makes the list... again
- Russell Wilson's streak of solid play comes to an end
Following yet another loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, the Denver Broncos drop to 1-5 on the season. The team looked like it has all season, totally inept on one side of the football, but this time it was the side that has been good the rest of this season.
The Broncos just can't seem to get a consistent performance on both sides of the ball. This season, Vance Joseph's defense has been absolutely putrid and the offense has played fairly well. On Thursday night, it was the exact opposite of that.
The Broncos have dropped to 1-5 for the first time since 1994.
This season, in terms of a playoff appearance, is absolutely over and the calls for a 'fire sale' will only increase following this game. Here's who stood out in this game, for better or worse.
Winner: Broncos defense
The only winner in this game for the Broncos was the defense. Vance Joseph has taken a lot of heat for the way he has coached this season and he has deserved it all, but he had his group ready to play in this one.
The Broncos' contained the Chiefs' offense, outside of Travis Kelce, who caught nine passes for 124 yards. Aside from that, the Broncos were able to limit explosive plays and even created a turnover, as Justin Simmons intercepted Mahomes for the fourth time in his career.
Alex Singleton and Josey Jewell combined for 20 tackles, Zach Allen and Jonathon Cooper had a sack each and Ja'Quan McMillian had a solid outing, collecting three tackles for loss on the night.
In other words, the defense played good enough to win, allowing only 19 points (only one touchdown) but the offense only scored eight.
All four losses the team had before this game were a direct result of how poorly the defense played. That can't be said for this game.