The Broncos headed to Arrowhead Stadium on Christmas night with a slim chance at making the playoffs, but there was still a chance. A win on Sunday night was a must with the Dolphins beating the Bills on Christmas Eve. The Broncos not only got beat by the Chiefs, but they got embarrassed and there was no kicking and screaming on their way out of playoff contention. They trailed 14-0 early and then 21-7, but they were never able to really close the gap on their way to a resounding 33-10 defeat. Now, the Broncos have to pick up the pieces on a season that started 4-0 and 6-2, and now they have to deal with a lot of questions as they head into the offseason and a year without a playoff berth since 2010. Here are my thoughts and observations on the game....
1) The Chiefs started hot and Denver's defense couldn't catch up. Alex Smith scored on zone-read QB run to give KC the 7-0 lead, and then Tyreek Hill broke a long run from the RB spot and the next thing you know it is 14-0. It just looked like the Broncos defense was a step slow and they were without T.J. Ward, Brandon Marshall and Derek Wolfe only played a quarter.
2) The Broncos got back into the game after Justin Simmons intercepted an Alex Smith pass and returned it down inside the 10. Justin Forsett punched it in and made it 14-7, but that was about the only highlight of the night.
3) The Chiefs came right back and returned the favor and Travis Kelce took a quick screen and broke it for 80 yards and a back-breaking TD to make it 21-7 in the first quarter. At that point, the Broncos were done. Kelce killed Darian Stewart in coverage all night long.
4) The Broncos did stabilize the game a little bit and got it to 21-10 at the half, and 24-10 early in the 4th quarter, but the Broncos offense couldn't do anything all night long. The run game was non-existent all night-as usual- and Trevor Siemian had his worst game of the season. Siemian struggled all night long, and there will be a lot of discussion about him and his future as the starter going forward.
5) The loss was punctuated with Dontari Poe lining up in the backfield and throwing a TD pass late in the game to make it 33-10. I know it looked like a dick move by Andy Reid, and it is something the Broncos can use as motivation next year, but the NFL is a big boy league and I'm not going to lose my mind about that play.
6) At 8-7, the Broncos are officially eliminated from the playoffs and will now play a meaningless game against the Raiders on Sunday in Denver. It will be the first meaningless game since 2010 and the first non-playoff season since 2010 as well. It is a bitter pill to swallow for a team that started 4-0, 6-2, and was 8-4 with a month to go in the season. There are a lot of things that are going to change in Denver, but that will be for another day to discuss.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment