The Chiefs, stunningly, had picked up one first down in two possessions after taking a three-point lead over the Broncos with about 10 minutes remaining on Sunday.
But as soul-crushing for quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the KC offense as that was, the Chiefs still found themselves in an advantageous position with just over two minutes remaining in their Week 11 road game at AFC West-leading Denver.
The Broncos had the ball, facing a third-and-15 from their 21-yard line. A stop here, and the Chiefs would get it back in a tied game — and perhaps find their way into game-winning field position.
Instead, it was the Broncos who wrote that ending, starting with a massive play that changed the game’s trajectory in Denver’s 22-19 victory: a 20-yard strike from quarterback Bo Nix to veteran receiver Courtland Sutton.
“That was huge,” Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie said. “That’s the defense’s advantage. But they were able to hit a few holes in the defense in our man coverage. I feel like we can do a better job with it.”
The Chiefs rushed four against Nix on the play and used linebacker Leo Chenal as a spy. Nix side-stepped what little pressure he felt and Sutton had plenty of time to get himself open for the sliding completion.
With new life at the 41, the Broncos moved into field-goal range — Nix’s 32-yard strike to Troy Franklin on a second-down snap was another dagger — and set up Wil Lutz for the game-winning 35-yard field goal on the final play.
For the game, the Broncos converted seven of 15 third-down opportunities. The Chiefs haven’t been good in that area this season, stopping third downs at about a 41% rate — tied for 21st in the NFL — entering Sunday’s game.
But the failures seem to have come at the worst times. In the Chiefs’ opener against the Chargers in Brazil, L.A. quarterback Justin Herbert scrambled for 19 yards on third-and-14 with two minutes remaining to clinch his team’s victory.
The next week, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts competed a 28-yard pass to DeVonta Smith over McDuffie on third-and-10 in the fourth quarter to set up a Tush Push touchdown that left the Chiefs trailing by 10.
In KC’s Week 5 loss at Jacksonville, the Jaguars got an automatic first down on a third-and-13 when Chiefs safety Chamarri Conner was penalized for pass interference in the end zone.
Chiefs safety Bryan Cook got a deflected interception in the end zone on the play, but it didn’t count. Jacksonville punched in the go-ahead touchdown on the next play after Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence slipped and fell, then got up and scored with 30 seconds remaining.
These back-breaking moments have contributed to the team’s 0-5 record this season in one-score games.
“We have to go back to work, find a way to get a little bit better,” linebacker Nick Bolton said.
If only on third and long.