KSHB 41 reporter Tod Palmer covers sports business and eastern Jackson County.Share your story idea with Tod.
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The Chiefs’ run of nine consecutive AFC West division titles, the second-longest streak in NFL history, is on life support after a 22-19 loss Sunday against the rival Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High.
Kansas City, which had been 6-1 coming off a bye with Patrick Mahomes as its starting quarterback, knew its back was against the wall after an uncharacteristically sluggish start to the 2025 season.
The Chiefs opened the season with two losses, fell to 2-3 after a Monday Night meltdown in Jacksonville and saw a three-game win streak snapped with a loss at Buffalo two weeks ago, limping into the bye week at 5-4.
Kansas City (5-5) — which entered the season riding a staggering 17-game win streak in one-score games, including the playoffs — has lost its mojo when it matters most.
The Chiefs are winless in five one-score games this season — a record that obviously includes the latest loss at the Broncos (9-2), who have shown devil voodoo magic all season in the fourth quarter.
Mahomes and company had a chance after getting the ball back in a tie game with 4:10 remaining, but Kansas City quickly went three-and-out — two incompletions to Travis Kelce, who set the franchise touchdown record in the loss, and cornerback Ja'Quan McMillian's second sack of the game.
The Chiefs’ defense was powerless to stop Bo Nix during the final three minutes.
Nix, who finished the game 24 of 37 for 295 yards, went 4 of 6 for 62 yards on the game-winning drive — including a third-and-15 conversion to Courtland Sutton for 20 yards early in a drive, a third-and-5 conversion to Sutton after the two-minute warning, and a 32-yard lob to Troy Franklin for another first down that forced Kansas City to burn its final timeout.
Denver ran down the clock before Will Lutz lined up for a 35-yard field goal try with 3 seconds left.
There were no heroics from Leo Chenal, who blocked a kick to beat the Broncos last season in Kansas City.
Instead, he calmly split the uprights as time expired — on the game and, ultimately, on the Chiefs’ run of divisional dominance, it would seem.
But that may not be the biggest issue for Kansas City, which now sits essentially two games out in the AFC playoff race and chasing a pack of teams — notably the Jaguars and Bills — with a win in hand against the Chiefs already this season.
CHIEFS HEAT UP NIX EARLY
Entering the game with only 20 sacks, which was tied for 23rd in the league, the Chiefs served notice on the opening drive that Bo Nix was in for a long afternoon.
Slot cornerback Chamarri Conner opened the game with a blitz for a 6-yard sack, though Denver’s offense overcame the sluggish start to the drive.
But defensive tackle Chris Jones’ third sack of the season ended the Broncos’ march short of the end zone.
A 29-yard Will Lutz field goal gave Denver some rare points on the opening drive, and a long Marvin Mims return after a Kansas City punt led to another short field goal.
Lutz’s 24-yard field goal made it 6-0 with 4:53 remaining, but it was a missed opportunity for the Broncos not to build a bigger early lead.
Nix didn’t take another sack before halftime, but he finished 10 of 15 for only 80 yards in the opening half.
Unfortunately for Kansas City, those were the only sacks the team managed against Nix.
The Chiefs trailed 6-3 after the first quarter when two red-zone penalties derailed a promising drive before a 31-yard Harrison Butker field goal.
Kansas City tied the game with 4:38 to go before halftime on another 31-yard Butker field goal, capping a 16-play drive that covered 77 yards before stalling. It took 9 minutes, 32 seconds — the second-longest of Mahomes’ career.
TYQUAN’S TURN AGAIN
Tyquan Thornton had five 30-yard receptions in the Chiefs’ first five games.
Along the way, he set career-highs with five catches against the New York Giants and 90 yards against Jacksonville, but he’d been largely a forgotten piece of the offense, especially after Rashee Rice returned from his six-game suspension to start the season.
Thornton was targeted only three times during Kansas City’s next four games, and he made one catch — a 39-yard bomb in the shutout win against Las Vegas — during that span.
But it was Thornton’s 61-yard catch, roll and run on third-and-long with Denver leading by a touchdown that ignited the Chiefs’ offense.
Three plays later, Kareem Hunt scored on a 2-yard run — the first of the game for Kansas City — to tie the game.
Prior to that, Mahomes briefly got away with one on the opening drive of the second half after he floated a pass toward the right sideline for tight end Travis Kelce.
The two weren’t on the same page, and, as Kelce cut upfield, the throw floated into the flat, where Denver cornerback Jahdae Barron picked it off and returned the interception 41 yards for a touchdown, only to have it negated by an illegal contact penalty on fellow corner Riley Moss in the middle of the field.
Moss, whose 40-yard pass interference call for pulling Xavier Worthy’s jersey set up Kansas City’s first field goal, rode Hollywood Brown well past the 5-yard area where defenders are allowed to make contact with receivers.
The Chiefs marched 44 yards after that before Mahomes lobbed an interception anyway. He was trying to connect with running back Elijah Mitchell in the end zone, but he wasn’t able to float it over McMillian, who closed the first half with a sack on the final play.
Denver turned the interception into an 11-play, 89-yard touchdown drive, the first TD drive of the game for either side.
SIMMONS HOLDS OWN DESPITE PENALTIES
Rookie Josh Simmons returned after a four-game absence and, while he struggled with a few penalties, held his own against one of the NFL’s elite defenses.
Simmons missed wins against Detroit, Las Vegas and Washington as well as the loss at Buffalo before the bye week while dealing with what the team termed “a family matter.”
The first-round pick from Ohio State, who won the starting job at left tackle in training camp, had been a bright spot for Kansas City despite a 2-3 start in the first five weeks.
Jaylon Moore played well with Simmons away from the team, but his return was still welcome, even if it wasn’t perfect.
Simmons got flagged for a holding penalty, though it was mistakenly credited to Trey Smith, on a first-down Brashard Smith run in the red zone. He appeared to grab Denver defensive tackle Zach Allen by the outside of the shoulder pad on his right arm.
With 21 seconds left in the first half, Simmons was guilty of a false start as Kansas City unsuccessfully tried to get in field-goal range, but it was a long shot the Chiefs were going to get points on the drive.
Despite the flags, Simmons, who was flagged for one holding penalty and two false starts in his first five games, held up very well against a pass rush that entered play with an NFL-best 46 sacks, which are 14 more than any other team.
Simmons got flagged for a second holding penalty early in the fourth quarter, trying to block outside linebacker Jonathan Cooper.
The penalty was declined after Mahomes was flushed from the pocket anyway and threw an incompletion before a holding penalty by right tackle Jawaan Taylor set up third-and-long.
Shockingly, Kansas City converted when Moss tugged down Brown as he tried to stop and adjust to an underthrown ball for his second defensive pass interference penalty.
Three plays later, Kelce turned a short crossing route into a 21-yard touchdown for the Chiefs’ first lead of the game.
FULTON, MITCHELL FINALLY SEE FIELD
Two veteran free agent additions from last offseason, cornerback Kristian Fulton and running back Elijah Mitchell, got the rare chance to contribute against the Broncos.
Fulton saw 15 snaps and made one tackle against his former team, the Los Angeles Chargers, during a season-opening loss in Brazil, but he suffered an ankle injury after only two snaps in a Week 2 game against Philadelphia and had been inactive for the next seven games.
Fulton, who had one tackle in the first half, got beat for a 35-yard gain on third-and-8 deep in Denver territory after Mahomes’ red-zone interception.
The play flipped the field and led to a touchdown.
Fulton finished with two tackles.
Mitchell briefly entered the game after Kareem Hunt consulted with trainers on the sideline after an apparent arm or shoulder injury. He and Xavier Worthy were flagged for an illegal shift.
It was Mitchell’s first action since the final two games of the 2023 season, when he was in his third NFL season with San Francisco.
Mahomes was targeting Mitchell on his interception on the opening drive of the second half.
It was his only target, and he didn’t have a carry in the loss.
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Tod Palmer