The Broncos season ended on New Year's Eve with a 27-24 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Denver. A field goal as time expired gave the Chiefs the win and put the 2017 season to rest for the Broncos. Denver trailed 24-10 midway through the 4th quarter but rallied to tie it at 24 late, only to see Pat Mahomes lead the Chiefs down the field for the game-winning field goal. The Broncos finished 5-11, but Monday morning announced that Vance Joseph will be returning next year as head coach. Here is my final "Five Points" on the Broncos season ending loss....
1) This game had a preseason game feel to it. The Chiefs rested starters or played their starters only sparingly. Pat Mahomes got the start at QB for Alex Smith. Even the Broncos played a lot of younger guys over some veterans, which makes sense considering this game meant nothing and why risk serious injury to guys like Chris Harris and Von Miller.
2) Paxton Lynch looked better and showed some more skill than he has in his previous appearances as the Broncos starter. He finished 21-31 for 254 yards with 2 TDs and 2 INT. I thought he made some really good throws and of course he made some bad ones, but overall he did flash some ability. Do I think Lynch will be the starting QB come 2018? No, but I wouldn't be surprised if he is on the team-especially if the Broncos sign a veteran starter in free agency.
3) De'Angelo Henderson got some playing time and he even scored a touchdown on a sweet 29 yard catch and run on a screen from Lynch to make it 10-7 in the second quarter. Henderson should be in the RB mix next season, and I think he showed he can be a poor man's C.J. Anderson.
4) Speaking of Anderson, he finished with 61 yards and went over 1,000 yards for the season. It is his first ever 1,000 yard season, and the first Broncos running back to go over 1,000 yards since 2013 (Knowshon Moreno).
5) It was nice to see some young guys make some plays. Zaire Anderson scored on a 38 yard fumble return to start the rally in the 4th quarter, and Demarcus Walker had a big sack to give the Broncos the ball back. Lynch rallied them to tie the game at 24 with a TD pass to Demaryius Thomas with 2:53 left, but Mahomes led KC down the field to win the game with a 30 yard field goal as time expired. The Broncos secured the 5th overall pick in the draft with the loss combined with the Bucs late win over New Orleans. This put a wrap on the worst Broncos season of my lifetime and it kicked off the offseason for Denver. There will be a lot of changes in the coming months (More on that later in the week), and lets hope that the Broncos aren't in this position for a long, long time.
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