Third-and-3 from the Denver 16: On the first drive of the game, the Chiefs marched down the field and were knocking on the door when they decided to go to a trick play on third down. Running back Peyton Hills took a direct snap and ran to his right before stopping and throwing across the field to quarterback Brady Quinn. Elvis Dumervil was there in coverage and the pass fell incomplete, forcing Kansas City to settle for a 34-yard field goal from Ryan Succop.
Fourth-and-12 from the Denver 18: After a 39-yard Britton Colquitt punt, Kansas City punt returner Javier Arenas brought the punt back 20 yards, setting up the Chiefs with a first down at the Denver 37. Kansas City turned that strong field position into points with a 22-yard field goal by Succop to open a 6-0 lead.
Third-and-5 from the Kansas City 43: With the Chiefs looking to add to their 6-0 advantage in the second quarter, linebacker Von Miller collected his 14th sack of the season, dropping Quinn for a 1-yard loss to bring up fourth down.
Third-and-8 from the Denver 33: Linebacker Wesley Woodyard ruined the Chiefs’ scoring plans with a third-down sack of Quinn. The play resulted in a loss of 9 yards and knocked Kansas City out of field goal range.
Third-and-1 from the Kansas City 29: Needing just 1 yard to continue a promising drive, Manning threw a quick pass to tight end Joel Dreessen, who extended the ball just past the first-down mark. After a measurement, the play was ruled a first down and five plays later the Broncos punched the ball in the end zone with a 7-yard touchdown catch by tight end Joel Dreessen to end the first half ahead 7-6.
Third-and-7 from the Denver 37: Quinn managed to find wide receiver Dwayne Bowe in front of cornerback Champ Bailey, but the 11-time Pro Bowler knew the down-and-distance situation and brought Bowe down immediately upon catching the pass 1-yard shy of the first-down mark. That stop led to a 49-yard field goal from Succop that would represent the final points the Chiefs would score on Sunday.
Third-and-2 from the Kansas City 42: Trailing 9-7 in the third quarter, the Broncos had reached Kansas City territory before encountering a third down. Once again, Manning went to one of his tight ends as this time it was Tamme who caught the pass, picking up 12 yards and a first down. On the next play, Manning went deep to Demaryius Thomas who beat his defender for a 30-yard touchdown.
Third-and-3 from the Denver 45: Looking to take time off the clock, the Broncos needed a third-down conversion to continue a drive late in the fourth quarter. With 3:35 to play and the Chiefs down to one timeout, Manning found Thomas for a 10-yard gain across the middle to keep the drive alive.
Third-and-7 from the Kansas City 42: After two more short runs, Denver was faced with another third down. He again targeted Thomas, this time deep down the sideline. Once again, the third-year receiver came up with a big catch, picking up 27 yards and topping the 1,000-yard mark for the season.
Tags: Kansas City Chiefs, Key Plays, Week 12
Hats off to Moreno. he ran well today. there was one second or tgird and short he didnt convert but that was really the only bad mark.
yeah he got stopped for a loss on a few crucial plays. but for most of the game he was averaging close to 5 ypc or better. that is some very good production. how many 8+ yard runs did he have?
imo run km on 1st and second downs and bring ball in for crucial short yardage plays. rotate hillman in there somewhere.
Moreno handled himself well, a step forward for him, he really worked hard at controlling his irrational exuberance on the field and you could tell he was holding it in purposely. Obviously he has been told to act like he has been there before and I was glad to see he could actually do it. And that helped him in many ways, like he actually was able to take the time to slow down, read his blocks and follow them, it was amazing to see to me and I bet it was to his coaches too. All that time in the doghouse with the scout team seems to have paid off. Of course this was just one game and running for way less than the average 143 yards that the Chiefs allow per game was not at all impressive to me. We should of done way better on the ground. However like I said it is the way he went about it, he actually for the first time ever gave me the impression that he was fundamentally sound in his game, so for that congrats because it opens the door for more progress if he keeps that up.
As far as the game the good thing is that they acted like a championship team on the last drive when they wouldn’t allow the Chiefs to get back on the field, crucial performance at the most crucial time, good thing to lean on for the future.
Overall though it seemed they came into this game with insufficient preparation and a lack of intensity. I realize the Chiefs played their hardest not to be embarrassed in front of their home crowd, but our showing for more than half of the game was totally subpar in my opinion. Lack of QB pressure which was hard to watch, lack of controlling the game on the ground better (no usage of Ball and hardly any Hillman), lack of slowing down the run and reliable guys like Manning and Prater were missing way more than the norm.
I bet they all are glad they won with that effort, it had all the makings of a trap game as I watched it unfold. Lots of great plays individually on all sides of the ball but as a whole it was uninspired and below the talent level of our team. Good thing it was a 1-10 team. It’s going to take a much better plan and bigger effort to put away the Bucs on Sunday and I do believe that this wake up call will get the job done.
Another week, another win, 6 in a row now, Manning just tied Orton, LOL!
gotta agree overall. i was nervous late into the 4th when i thought it would be over by the 3rd.
for now im chalking it up to an underachieving chiefs team that came out playing hungry for a big -in terms of pride – win against the run away afc w leader in front of their home crowd.
Yeah, we ended up with 94 yards on the ground against the 25th team in the league against the run who allows 143 yards per game, not very good at all, hopefully we can get a much better game plan with our RBs going forward. And Sunday we are playing against a very good D against the run, might just leave that one all up to Manning since the Bucs are awful against the pass, Julio Jones had like 145 yards today!
Correction, the Bucs aren’t very good against the run, they are the very best team in the league, LOL, allowing less than 82 yards per game.
i havent checked the stats but i think this was our most pass heavy game. the rushing yards per attempt were very good though.
To me that’s plain crazy. If there ever was a game to test our new running game that was it, hence I referred to this game as one with a very questionable game plan, just calling it as I saw it.
this bucs game is going to be very tough. they are an underrated team. freeman is good and martin – wish we drafted him – is dangerous.
i agree. we should never have drives of 8 passes and only 2 drives especially when the run game is working.
we have been very balanced all season. maybe they just didnt trust the run as much without mcg.
er… only to runs
We’ll have a huge advantage with Manning, he should lit it up against their horrible pass D and Freeman should have all kinds of difficulties against ours. I like our chances very much, specially at home, I don’t think it will be as tough as you think. Martin is their joker card though even he didn’t do well today, only 50 yards or so. We will need to be much better against the run than today, very poor effort, looked like the D line of old at times.
Actually we have not been as balanced as you think, 410 passing attempts so far vs. only 293 on the ground. And I think that will hurt us if we go deep in the playoffs against great teams that will expose that. Great teams against the pass are who we don’t want to face, haha.
And that would be the Steelers in the AFC, they are #1 in the league against the pass.
Anyway, fun chatting with you, that’s all she wrote for me, gn.
I’m not surprised one bit by a tough game, on the road, against a division rival, who was fighting tooth and nail to save some pride. I’m proud of our team for hanging in there, and getting the job done. A win is a win, no matter how pretty, they all hold the same weight.
I’m extremely happy for Knowshon with his effort today. It must have felt great for him, as he’s had a long road of rehabbing from injury, fighting for a roster spot, and then finally working to get another opportunity. I hope his critics will lighten up a bit.
Btw, I’m very sorry to hear about Ayers’ father…
whats better than six in a row? SEVEN!!!!!!!
Bay as usual you hit it all right on the head, Did we even practice this week? well all I got to say is Knowshawn that was probably your best game in the pro’S damn glad to see you do what we all knew you could..Guy I have never let up on my critiques of you cause we all expected you to be great….you were today. Go Broncos!!!
And I mean it when I say ” The boy can run like Gale Sayers, cause he can, he can be great!” go on with your bad self Knowshawn!
Was anybody thinking about me when Moreno lost his shoe today? LOL….
It’s kind of funny how mad I was when McD traded Hillis and now he just seems pedestrian…
I think this game exposed our biggest deficiencies are Run Defense and Run Offense…
Moreno played well and he didn’t fumble so I’m going to give him a a Big at-a-boy for this week but…He still lost a shoe.. LOL
He missed a couple blocks, didn’t get a hundred yards and didn’t get a TD. I also thought he started to lose his legs in the fourth quarter. But 4.25 yards a carry is not something easy to do in the NFL and he played very well in the stead of the three ingredient Stud that is McGahee. We’ll see if he can improve next week but he sure deserves a chance..
KEEP YOUR SHOES ON KNOSHOWN!!!!
ILMSDB
P.S.
Keep your eyes on the free agent pool JE!!!! We still need a large pass blocking short yardage between the tackles threat at half back…
What a day!!! Anytime you win in Arrowhead that’s all that needs to be said…
B-R-O-N-C-O-S BRONCOS BRONCOS BRONCOS!!!
What is up with Prater????
He used to be like operating profit and all of the sudden he’s become a default contractor…
I think there’s some bad juju with that braded necklace he’s wearing…kddn.
I wonder if it was the snap, the hold, the kick?
There was absolutely NO wind in that stadium and one of those kicks was like a corkscrew spiral??? What the heck?
I sure hope he doesn’t get on Manning’s bad side though…
I don’t think Peyton takes kindly to dipstick kickers… Not that I am saying that Prater is being dipsticky but If ever there was a time to keep your leg straight, NOW is the time… Don’t start getting all shaky leg come December and January…
Anytime a team can average 3.5+ yards per carry you had a good day running the ball…
The Broncos had 24 attempts for 95 yards which is 3.96 YPC
Through 10 games the Broncos had 1053 on 269 carries or 3.91 YPC average…
So, as we can all see, today we out performed ourselves!!! Way to go O!!! And Knowshon!
PS.. OC, my first thought was of you when KM lost his shoe!!!
You know i laughed about it OC! Maybe if he had stayed in his shoe, he would of had a hundred yards! Haha
Anything positive for him to build on going into the next game is fine by me.
And anytime we win in Arrowhead is a great day…
Broncos Country Strong 2012!!!!!!!!
AMEN sndvl!!! did you get to watch the game?
Sure did turtle! It wasn’t easy or pretty. KC came to play. Tough seeing Praters misses. But it was a grinding effort on that last drive which was nice to see!
Agreed! PM is fun to watch, so business like and cold blooded… Line’em up, talk to ‘em, walk around, reset then snap the ball with under 5 seconds on the play clock!!! Prater will be OK, I’m not worried about him yet! Glad you got to watch!
We faced tons of adversity today and came out with a win.
Ayers dad died last night and after watching CBS this morning it’s obvious this team is a family, so they were all feeling that. And I do think they were all affected by it, try as they might not to be.
Prayers with them.
Running game as a big question mark (way to go, Knowshon!)
Playing in Arrowhead
Peyton getting a concussion test…
Overall, I knew going into it that this game wasn’t going to be easy. In fact I refused to even guess what the score might be because I had a sinking feeling we might lose. Trap game definitely. We did not play to our potential and I can tell by after game interviews everybody is unhappy about it. So look for them to take their frustration out on Tampa Bay! As sndvl says, “Anytime we win in Arrowhead is a great day.”
The Chiefs played an almost perfect game even with a horrible offense., Their OL dominated our DL most of the time and their D played exceptionally well. The Broncos looked bad because they were outplayed most of thev game. Fortunately for us, PFM needs to only hit a few hot streaks to pull out a win a gainst a team that can’t score TDs. I’ve never seen a field goal attempt do what Prater’s first attempt did, started fading to the left and then took a 90 degree right turn. WTF?????
I confess to being surprised at the score….but I’ll take it.
Obviously, the best of KM since college…welcome back KM. (I’m still surprised, a little disappointed that they played him. I’d like to begin seeing the necessary adjustments in order that Hillman become our #1)
STRAND – Here’s 49 big ones!!!! Just for you my friend! Happy B-day!!!
Sorry we couldn’t get you some pts. to go along with that but we gave it our best shot. I think I am just happy to get out of KC with the W!!! LOL
Hiya DB! Hillman doesn’t have the tools to be a Number 1 in the NFL, he will never be more than a change of pace guy I’m afraid! (and that’s not a bad thing… think D Sproles)
Strandsky was the only guy to predict a final of less than 30 points… and I’m almost sure that he will be getting some points somewhere!!!
I’d like to just throw this out there, as when it sank in to my brain it was a little perplexing…
The Denver Broncos 8 Wins are as many Regular season wins we’ve had in a single season since 2005!!! That is Unreal to me… and very Exciting!!!
Hey BT – I think that the Bronco O-line is still maturing. I think if Kupe can stay healthy there is a good chance of starting to see the Bronco O-line begin opening holes large enough to run a train through.
Hillman has better vision than Moreno (I think) -untested theory – and I think he only has to break his habit of wanting to dance, and rather get to running North / South. He’s not very big, bad habits, very young (time will cure), good character – or so it seems.
Moreno is reckless in the way he runs – undependable, and not a long term solution – though what I saw today was good disciplined running. IF KM can stay healthy and do what he did today…no doubt in my mind he still has a place on the Broncos…but, I don’t think so…
Today was a good start for Moreno, but he has a long way to go to prove he can be consistent both in his decision making and being healthy ( I think he will, but that doesn’t mean much)… Hillman is real young, so like you said, his body will change some and he may be more than I anticipate, I’m cheering for him!
On a sadder note
http://espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/story/_/id/8675816/new-york-jets-superfan-fireman-ed-hangs-helmet
This guy loves his team! and I owe him props for helping popularize a cheer I truly enjoy so this ones for you ED!
B-R-O-N-C-O-S BRONCOS BRONCOS BRONCOS!!!
moreno got a bad shake. McD had no idea how to orchestrate a run game and last year he got injured right as he hit his stride.
i think if moreno can stay healthy he will open a lot of eyes. no doubt in my mind that with good coaching and a good scheme he can be a consistent 1000 yard rusher. been saying it for a while now.
Agreed Alex… You and me both I think have been behind him for awhile
Something that I see alot with these young guys is that their bodies grow so fast between high school and college that they have injury problems when they get to the more physical NFL… Just on this team there is DMT, Moreno and Julius Thomas as prime examples. DMT is a beast now, Moreno I know has the potential to be a 3 down, between the tackles back like he was in College and I still believe that Julius Thomas will be a game Changer (he’s the biggest of the three at 6’5″ 255!) When their bodies fully mature I think they will be very fun to watch for many years, even if Moreno isn’t in Orange and Blue
side note jt is from my alma mater. dont see too many psu vikings in the nfl. would be huge kick to see him make a name in the nfl
bt- that is certainly true with dt. for a while i thought he was an injury bust for sure, but he toughened up big time.
last year though when moreno got injured it wasnt exactly a freak accident. he got rolled up in about a ton of chiefs dline meat on the sideline at speed.
Lets have More-show continue his progression. I too think he has been a little unlucky so far in NFL although he has clearly also made mistakes… I hope they up his playing time over the next three games even though I do not expect any running success against a good run defence in the Bucs.. I think given the chance we will see progression perhaps a bit like the case was with DMT end of last year… I recall how many people here wanted DMT on here as well, but that talk has completely disappeared now and thank goodness for that…. Here is to the success of Moreno…
Moreno is our best, and possibly only, hope for the rest of the season. Whether we like him or not is not important. The success of the season will rely largely on whether he can run the ball as effectively as he did yesterday. 4 ypc will probably be the magic number for running success. Our other backs have less ability to holdup with 20 carries per game than Moreno. It’s certainly not about racking up yardage on the ground, it’s about Manning getting productive plays on Play-Action. Tampa Bay is going to be a good test for us. Great run D and good running game in a team who won 4 of the last 5…only losing by a point to the numer one team in the NFL. This game is going to show us if we have it for the playoffs.
Here is something no one is talking about.
Moreno on the scout team is a nice story, how humbling it must of been and how well he handled it and blah blah blah, but that is not what I take out of it at all.
The scout team is the one where you emulate the opponent’s team for every Sunday in practice.
So Moreno was MIMICKING other teams’ backs for our D.
Meaning he actually had to LEARN EXACTLY HOW THEY OPERATE.
Hence that’s why he looked like a different back out there.
Because he WAS.
It’s like a light went on in him that made him realize “wow, it’s kind of fun to actually slow down at the onset of a run, take the time to find out where your blocking is going to develop, follow it, find the gap and explode forward in it, plus it looks like a heck of a lot less dangerous injury wise than my helter skelter ways of doing it”.
And bingo!
Different back all together!
Thanks scout team.
Genius, when a coaching team can’t teach a guy up front the conventional way, send him to the scout team where he is forced to see it from guys he is trying to copy. Love it!
Maybe that didn’t enter into the thinking of the coaches at all, but the end result speaks volume to how well it worked.
Anyway, always love to take the angle others don’t, so that’s mine and I stick to it, LOL.
And I’m glad players aren’t as easily satisfied about their team as some fans are:
Any win is a good win, Broncos linebacker Wesley Woodyard said Sunday after the Broncos extended their winning streak to six games without playing particularly well.
Feeling a bit fortunate is one thing; learning from this is another, Woodyard said.
“We have to be critical of ourselves,” Woodyard said. “We have some things that have to be fixed.
“We still love ourselves and our defense, (but) we have to fix things that we know should not be happening.”
And what happened to DJ?
It’s like when your acting childish (Moreno’s on field pressence) and your father (John Fox) spanks you and tells you to start acting like an adult (being demoted to the scout team). Then you take the first step in being an adult (Moreno having decent productivity on the field, not coughing up the ball, not being obscenely emotional). It’s kind of a stretch I know but I haven’t had anything to write about since McD got fired.
I was surprised to see Moreno get the bulk of the carries. Hillman only had 3 carries for 9 yds while Moreno had 20 for 85 yds and was targeted on a few passes as well. I’m not saying Moreno is the answer going forward but if he can continue to better his performances and productivity he may remain a Bronco.
I thought that the 1-9 Chiefs were going to pose a threat to us..and they did. It seemed the way we were playing we didn’t take them seriously. Looked like we didn’t remain focussed in practice and thought it was going to be a cake walk. Well it was anything but.
First off, WTF Matt Prater?!??! The first one was a knuckleball the second was pulled left off the upright. Can’t always rely on the thin air of Mile High to aid in making FGs. Did anyone else see all of Manings passes were “wobbly?” I don’t think he threw a tight spiral all day. Penalties..drive killing penalties. Offensive line really needs to clean those up. I say it every week and every week they kill dirves. Rush defense..where were they? If the Chiefs were smart they would’ve just kept running the ball they were gaining 4-5 yards a touch and were getting the 2nd level without being touched by a defender. It may be a passing league but you still need to effectivly defend the running game.
Glad we got the win, but the Chiefs helped us out as well with their own mistakes. Which I think this game says a lot more about the Broncos than it does the Chiefs. A 1-9 team..1-9 team put up more of a fight than some of our other opponents this season.
Tough one this week the Bucs! Could be a good day for Doug Martin agaist our run defense if we don’t play better than we did yesterday.
I’m proud of how Knowshon Moreno played yesterday. He held his own. Good job Knowshon!
Thats all right DaddyBronc. Hey life goes on. Just as you said, we came away with a win. Ugly or not, a WIN is a WIN! LOL
Anyone see Bunkley kick another player in the head yesterday? I remember when the sky was falling when our FO decided not to resign this clown… Afterall, he was a former 1st round draft pick (14th overall), who didn’t live up to his draft status, but showed flashes – sounds familiar…
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/saints-dt-brodrick-bunkley-kicks-49ers-ol-alex-035816480–nfl.html
Strand it sounds as if you will win the turtle comp from what he says, but get nada in the official one because you had KC scoring zero, too bad, haha. I had them scoring 10 but unfortunately had us score 30, so still1972 is better than mine by one point with his 28-7 prediction. That would be weird if we get points for being 13 and 14 points off… stay tuned…
Is it me, or do we always seem to get pinned down close to our own end zone every game? Not sure if this is a function of great opposing punting units, or poor decisions from our returners, but I’d like t see the trend come to an end..