The Kansas City Chiefs got back in the win column as they defeat the Denver Broncos 30-6 on Thursday night. They lost their best player to injury in the first half, but thanks to great team performance, they won comfortably. Now they’ll have 10 days of rest to prepare for their next game against the Green Bay Packers.
Here are five takeaways from the Chiefs’ victory against the Broncos:
Matt Moore did his job
I don’t think Chiefs fans could have asked for more out of Moore against the Broncos. He was 10 for 19 passing for 117 yards, including a 57-yard touchdown to Tyreek Hill. It was pretty impressive to see Moore come in and manage the game considering the Chiefs were on a two-game losing streak. It’s a lot of pressure to replace Patrick Mahomes against a division rival in prime time, so Moore did a great job of not letting the moment be too big for him.
If Mahomes is out for the rest of the season, the Chiefs will be in some trouble, but if he is only out for a couple of weeks, Moore showed he can handle things until Mahomes returns. We shouldn’t expect him to have numbers anywhere close to Mahomes’ if he continues to be the starter, but as he gets more reps with the starters he has the ability to win a few games. All Moore needs to do in the next few weeks is get the ball into the hands of the Chiefs’ playmakers — Hill, Travis Kelce, Mecole Hardman and Demarcus Robinson. They’re all capable of being top players on this offense even without Mahomes.
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The defense looked spectacular
After a couple of bad weeks, the defense finally had a game to be proud of. They held the Broncos to only six points and combined for nine sacks from six different players. That’s tied for the third-most in franchise history. The Chiefs had failed to get a sack in the previous two games, mostly due to the absence of Chris Jones, but the pass rush stepped up against Joe Flacco and the Broncos.
It was great to see Frank Clark (two sacks) be dominant for the first time this season. If he keeps up this type of play fans will feel better about his contract after a rough start to the season.
The run defense also had a really good game as they held Denver to only 71 yards. This is a big improvement from the last few weeks; they had given up over 180 yards on the ground the last three games. Phillip Lindsay, a running back who can do some damage, had only 36 yards rushing, so whatever Kansas City changed in practice worked.
I don’t believe all of the problems are fixed on the defense now, but they are definitely heading in the right direction. Hopefully, they continue this type of play since Mahomes looks to be out for a while.
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Rashad Fenton earned more playing time
Chiefs fans should be pleasantly surprised with the performance of sixth-round rookie cornerback Rashad Fenton. He had a solid game filling in as the slot corner with Kendall Fuller, who was out with a thumb injury. Fenton finished the game three tackles, a pass breakup and a few good plays in coverage, which is great considering this was his first game starting for Kansas City.
The play by Fenton is really encouraging considering that the secondary isn’t the Chiefs’ strongest position group. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Fenton continue to start in place of Fuller, especially if Fuller isn’t 100% ready to return from injury. Perhaps when he returns, they can move him to the outside, where he had more success in 2018, and keep Fenton at the slot. If Fenton keeps this type of play up, he could greatly improve the secondary.
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The running game had glimpses of success
The Chiefs had 80 yards rushing against the Broncos. That doesn’t seem like a stat to be super proud of, but considering the offense had only averaged 53 yards rushing the previous two games, it’s an improvement.
LeSean McCoy was the Chiefs’ leading rusher, with 64 yards on 12 carries. He had a couple of nice gains against the Broncos that went for over 15 yards each, so hopefully, he gets more involved. Given that Mahomes will likely be out for a few weeks at minimum, it’s a safe bet that the Chiefs will lean on the run game. I think we saw enough in his performance against the Broncos to think he can take on a larger workload to take some pressure off Matt Moore.
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The Chiefs were able to overcome adversity
The biggest takeaway is that the Chiefs found a way to win the game after a tough few weeks. Kansas City had every reason to drop this game with it being a short week, suffering multiple injuries, being on a two-game losing streak and seeing their best player leave the game in the first half.
Somehow, they were still able to come up with a win. It says a lot as people weren’t really for sure in the direction that the Chiefs were going in after the past two weeks. They seemed to be trending downward, but this game gives them some serious momentum as they head back to Arrowhead Stadium for two consecutive games.
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