Regular Season Game 13
Hawk Valley
Denver Broncos Regular Season Game 13 December 12, 2021
Quick Review
The Denver Broncos lost to the Chiefs 22-9 and played better than expected, but not great. Teddy didn't do himself any favors and when Russell Wilson announced he wouldn't mind playing for the Broncos next season, the media ran wild with the story.
A longer review
This game was originally scheduled for 11 am in Kansas City but was flexed to Sunday Night on NBC.
The temperature was a brisk 50 degrees. Denver got the ball first and they started from their 25 yard line. Williams started the game off with a nine yard gain over the left side. On second down, Williams was tackled in the backfield. On third down, Teddy was sacked for a seven yard loss. After running less than 120 seconds off the game clock, the Broncos punted on fourth down. Hello national television audience, this is your 2021 Denver Broncos.
The Chiefs started their drive from their 28 yard line. On first down, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, #25, gained 11 yards running up the middle. On first down, Demarcus Robinson, #11, caught a ball on the left side and gained nine yards. On second down, Edwards-Helaire ran over the left side for a gain of two yards. On second down, Edwards-Helaire ran to the left for a three yard gain. On first down, Patrick Mahomes, #15, connected with Travis Kelce, #87, on an inside slant for a gain of nine yards. With 10:35 left in the quarter, Mahomes threw an incomplete pass that was almost intercepted on second down. On third and a hair, Michael Burton, #45, ran up the middle for a gain of three yards. With 10 minutes left in the quarter, Mahomes threw an incomplete pass but their was a flag on the play. Kelce was flagged for pass interference. From the fifty yard line, Robinson caught the Mahomes pass for a 12 yard gain. On second and 8, Mahomes found Tyreek Hill, #10, over the middle for a gain of 13 yards. The ball was now on the 24 yard line. Mahomes tossed an incomplete pass on first down. On second down, Edwards-Helaire ran up the middle for a gain of five yards. On third and five, Mahomes connected with Hill over the middle and he carried the ball to the 10 yard line for a gain of nine yards. On first and goal, Mahomes scrambled ten yards over the right side for a touchdown. At the 6:56 mark, the score was Kansas City 7, Denver 0.
The second Bronco drive was just like the first. Williams ran to the left for a gain of one yard on first down. On second down, Teddy threw an incomplete pass that was almost intercepted. On third down, Teddy scrambled and then threw the ball away, IN-COM-PLETE. The Broncos punted the ball away with 6:04 left in the quarter.
On first down, from the 21 yard line, Edwards-Helaire gained four yards running over the right side. On second down, the Chiefs ran a screen to the right side and Edwards-Helaire gained 30 yards. On first down, Mahomes threw an incomplete pass. Mahomes did the same thing on second down. On third down, Mahomes connected with Byron Pringle, #13, for a gain of fourteen yards. From the 32 yard line, on first down, Darrel Williams, #31, for two yards. On second down, Edwards-Helaire caught a pass for an eight yard loss. On third down, Mahomes threw another incomplete pass. On fourth down, the Chiefs attempted a 56 yard field goal. The ball dinged an upright and fell through, it was good. At the 2:22 mark, the Chiefs led the Broncos 10-0.
On first down, Jeudy caught a pass for a 35 yard gain. Teddy threw an incomplete pass on first down. On second down, Williams picked up 14 yards. On his next carry, Williams only picked up two yards. On second down, Teddy threw an incomplete pass. The final play of the first quarter was a Teddy Bridgewater scramble to the right for a nine yard gain.
When play resumed, Jeudy caught a pass for no gain, but there was a flag on the play. Sutton was flagged for holding. On second and 20, Teddy’s pass was incomplete, but there was a flag on the play. Teddy Bridgewater was flagged for intentional grounding. On second and 30, Teddy’s pass was incomplete. On third and 30, the “Big O” caught a pass for a gain of 10 yards. On fourth and 20, the Broncos kicked a 42 yard field goal. The score at the 13:34 mark was Kansas City 10, Denver 3.
From the 25 yard line, Darrel Williams gained 12 yards over the middle. Mahomes then tossed an incomplete pass. On second down, Mahomes found Kelce over the middle. He caught and dropped the ball very fast. Vic challenged the ruling of an incomplete pass. According to some, in slow-mo it looked like a catch and then a fumble. Vic lost the challenge. On third and 10, Mahomes scrambled for four yards, but there was a flag on the play. Holding on Trey Smith, #65, the Broncos declined. On fourth and six, the Chiefs punted the ball away, but there was a flag on the play. After the punt, Patrick was flagged for holding.
From the two yard line, Williams gained seven yards. On second down, Williams gained seven yards. On first down, after a fake pitch to Spencer, Williams picked up two yards running up the middle. On second down, Boone #26, gained 14 yards running up the middle. On first down, Boone ran to the right and picked up three yards. On second down and seven, Teddy threw an incomplete pass that was almost intercepted. On third down, Williams caught a pass in the flat and gained 10 yards. On first down, Teddy connected with the “Big O” for six yards. On second down, Williams gained three yards on a screen to the left side. On third and one, Williams was stopped for no gain. On fourth down, the Broncos decided to go for it, but Kansas City called a timeout. On fourth down, the Broncos called a quarterback sneak and Teddy picked up the first down. On first down, Teddy rolled out to the right and connected with Fant for a two yard gain. On second down, Williams ran to the left for one yard. On third down, with 4:35 left in the half, Teddy threw an incomplete pass. On fourth down, the Broncos decide to go for it again. This time Teddy connected with Sutton for a gain of ten yards. On first down, Melvin Ingram, #24, was flagged for a neutral zone infraction. On first and 5, Williams ran up the middle, carrying the ball to the 16 yard line for a gain of eleven yards. On first down, Williams ran over the right side for a two yard gain. That play took us down to the two minute warning.
When play resumed, on second and 7, Williams picked up five yards running to the right. On third and two, with 80 seconds left in the half, Teddy threw an incomplete pass. On fourth and two, with 72 second left, Williams tried to run up the middle, but he was stuffed for no gain.
On first down, Darrel Williams gained two yards on first down. On second down, with 40 seconds left, Darrel Williams ran to the right for no gain. Denver called a timeout with 20 seconds remaining. On third and eight, Mahomes threw an incomplete pass. On fourth and 8, with 16 seconds left, the Chiefs punted from their own end zone.
The punt return by Spencer left four seconds on the clock. On first down, from the 45 yard line, Teddy threw an incomplete pass, but it was almost a pick 6. On second down, with one second left, Williams gained 34 yards and the half ended. The score at halftime, Kansas City 10, Denver 3.
The Chiefs started off the second half from their 25 yard line. On first down Edwards-Helaire gained five yards running up the middle. On second and five, Edwards-Helaire ran to the left for four yards. On third down, Edwards-Helaire gained two yards and the first down. A quick pass from Mahomes to Mecole Hardman, #17, gained 12 yards. On first down, Edwards-Helaire caught a pass from Mahomes and he gained six yards. On second down, Mahomes threw an incomplete pass. On third and four, Mahomes found Darrel Williams for a 15 yard gain on the right side. On first down, with 11:17 left in the third quarter, Patrick’s pass was deflected and then intercepted by Surtain.
The Broncos offense was not prepared for this opportunity. On first down, Williams ran over the right side for a gain of five yards. On second down, Williams fumbled but he recovered the ball and lost one yard. On third and eight, Teddy connected with Sutton for a five yard gain. The Broncos punted on fourth down with nine minutes left in the third quarter.
The television announcers mentioned that Mahomes had a qbr rating of 50. On first down, Mahomes connected with Kelce for a 14 yard gain. On first down, Edwards-Helaire ran over the right side for a four yard gain. On second and six, Mahomes tossed the ball to Hill for a four yard gain, but there was a flag on the play. Holding on Creed Humphrey, #52. On second and 16, Mahomes connected with Darrel Williams for a huge gain of 38 yards. The ball was now on the 29 yard line. On first and 10, Darrel Williams ran over the left side for four yards. On second down, Mahomes pass fell to the ground, incomplete. On third and six with 5:43 left in the quarter, Mahomes threw another incomplete pass, but there was a flag on the play. Kansas City was flagged for an illegal shift. Denver declined the penalty. On fourth down, Kansas City successfully kicked a 45 yard field. Kansas City now led Denver, 13-3.
On first down, from the 20 yard line, Teddy connected with Patrick for a gain of nine yards. On second down with a yard to go, Williams started running to the left, but then he cut back to the right for a gain of five yards. On first down, Teddy found the “Big O” for five yards. On second down, Williams ran up the middle for four yards. On third down, Williams ran over the left side, carrying the ball across the 50 for an eight yard gain. On first and 10, Teddy Bridgewater’s pass was intercepted by Juan Thornhill, #22, but there was a flag on the play. Anthony Hitchens, #53, was flagged for an illegal blindside block.
On first down, Mahomes scrambled to the 33 yard line for a seven yard gain, but there was a flag on the play. Smith was flagged for holding. On first and twenty, Edwards-Helaire ran over the right side for a gain of four yards. On second down, Mahomes threw an incomplete pass. On third and 16, with 48 seconds left in the quarter, the Chiefs ran a screen to the right side and Darrel Williams gained eight yards. On fourth down, the Chiefs punted. On the punt, James Winchester, #41, bumped Spencer and he fumbled the ball. Pringle recovered the ball for the Chiefs and the third quarter ended.
On first down, Mahomes threw a pass that was deflected and almost intercepted. On second down, Edwards-Helaire ran over the left-middle for a four yard gain. On third and six, Mahomes found Kelce for a four yard gain. On fourth down, the Chiefs successfully kicked a 26 yard field and extended their lead over the Broncos by 13 points. The announcer pointed out that the Broncos are 2-22 with Fangio when trailing after three quarters.
On first and 10, Teddy found Fant for a gain of eight yards. On second and two, Williams gained nine yards on what looked like a sweep to the left. On first down, Teddy threw an incomplete pass, but there was a flag on the play. Frank Clark, #55, was flagged for offside. On first and 5, Williams ran to the right for a gain of seven yards. On first down, with 11:45 left, Teddy connected with Fant for an eleven yard gain. With 11:18 left, Boone ran to the left and gained two yards. On second down, Teddy’s pass was incomplete. On third down, Williams ran to the right for six yards. On fourth and two, with 9:42 left in the game, the Broncos went for it on fourth down. Teddy Bridgewater’s pass was tipped, intercepted and returned 75 yards for a touchdown. The point after touchdown was no good. The score was now Kansas City 22, Denver 3.
On first down, from the 25 yard line, Teddy found Jeudy for a nine yard gain. On second and one, Williams picked up two yards running to the left. On first down, Teddy connected with Jeudy for a gain of 13 yards. On first and 10, Teddy’s pass was incomplete. I had no idea where he was attempting to throw the ball. With eight minutes left, Teddy threw another incomplete pass. On third down, Teddy found Boone for a gain of 19 yards. On first down, Boone ran over the right side for a nice gain of 16 yards. On first down, with seven minutes left, Teddy threw another incomplete pass, but there was a flag on the play. The “Big O” was flagged for pass interference. On first and 20, Teddy connected with Fant for a gain of 12 yards. On second and eight, Teddy scrambled to the right for a gain of one yard. On third and seven, with 5:30 left, Teddy’s pass was incomplete but almost intercepted. I thought there was a flag on the play, but there wasn’t. On fourth down, with 5:19 remaining, Williams ran into the end zone untouched for a Denver touchdown. The Broncos attempted a two point conversion, but it failed.
On first down, Edwards-Helaire ran up the middle for a six yard gain. On second and four, Edwards-Helaire picked up seven yards running to the right. With 3:45 left, Edwards-Helaire was tackled for a four yard loss by Browning. On second and 14, with 2:57 left, Edwards-Helaire ran up the middle for one yard. Denver called a timeout. On third and 13, Mahomes was flagged for a false start. On third and 18, Mahomes self-sacked for a loss of six yards. Denver used their second timeout. On fourth and 24, with 2:49 left, the Chiefs punted.
On first down, Williams caught a pass for six yards. On second and four, Teddy Bridgewater connected with Jeudy for a gain of 19 yards. That play took us down to the two minute warning.
When play resumed, Williams carried the ball to around the 50 for a ten yard gain. On first down, Teddy’s pass was deflected, but the ball fell to the ground incomplete. On second down, with 110 second left, Teddy found Hinton for a seven yard gain. On third and 3, Teddy connected with Sutton for an eight yard gain, but there was a flag on the play. Bolles was flagged for an illegal formation. On third and eight, with 79 seconds left, Teddy threw an incomplete pass. On fourth and 8, with 75 seconds left, Teddy scrambled for six yards.
The Chiefs took over and Mahomes kneeled down twice in victory formation to end the game. Final score, Kansas City 22, Denver 9.
The Game Stats
Denver Broncos
Time of Possession
33:30
Passing Attempts
40
Passing Yards
257
Rushes
31
Rushing Yards
154
Kansas City Chiefs
Time of Possession
26:30
Passing Attempts
29
Passing Yards
184
Rushes
24
Rushing Yards
89
The Running Game
*AYPC is average yards per carry
PlayerCarriesAYPCLongTD(s)Fumble(s) Williams2341401 Boone491600 Bridgewater44900
The Passing Attack
*Fumble occurred on punt return PlayerReceptions%LongTD(s)Fumble(s) Williams667%3411 Fant4100%1200 Jeudy467%3600 Okwuegbunam375%1000 Sutton233%1000 Boone1100%1900 Hinton1100%700 Patrick120%900 Spencer*00001
The Quarterbacks
Bridgewater
Passing
compypaTD(s)INT(s)LongRating 55%6123662
Rushing
AttYardsLongTD(s) 41790
Sacked
TimesYards LostFumble(s) 170
Patrick Mahomes
Passing
compypaTD(s)INT(s)LongRating 52%6013857
Rushing
AttYardsLongTD(s) 412101
Sacked
Time(s)Yard(s) LostFumble(s) 160
Afc West Standings
Vs the Division
TeamGame(s) PlayedWinning %Net Kansas City367%+34 Los Angeles367%+5 Denver333%-8 Las Vegas333%-31
Vs the Conference
TeamGame(s) PlayedWinning %Net Las Vegas475%-1 Los Angeles560%-3 Denver540%+9 Kansas City425%-39
vs the NFC
*Schedule Finished TeamGame(s) PlayedWinning %Net Kansas City*5100%+49 Denver475%+18 Los Angeles450%-3 Las Vegas*540%-6
Problems: The fourth quarter
Denver loves to pad the stats in the fourth quarter, so what would their record be if only the fourth quarter counted? Lets take a look.
If only the fourth quarter counted
BroncosPointsOpponentPoints4th QTR resultReal result Denver10New York Giants6WinWin Denver3Jacksonville Jaguars6LossWin Denver6New York Jets0WinWin Denver0Baltimore Ravens6LossLoss Denver13Pittsburgh Steelers3WinLoss Denver14Las Vegas Raiders3WinLoss Denver7Cleveland Browns0WinLoss Denver7The Washington Football Team0WinWin Denver11Dallas Cowboys16LossWin Denver0Philadelphia Eagles3LossLoss Denver14Los Angeles Chargers6WinWin Denver6Kansas City Chiefs9LossLoss
The Broncos would be 7-5 if only the fourth quarter counted.
AFC-West Team Trends
Last six weeks
*played six games **played five games TeamPoints ScoredPoints SurrenderedNetWinning % Los Angeles*166165+150% Kansas City**11556+59100% Denver**9791+660% Las Vegas**94146-5220%
Last four weeks
*played three games TeamPoints ScoredPoints SurrenderedNetWinning % Los Angeles115114+150% Las Vegas78123-4525% Kansas City*8232+50100% Denver*5065-1533%
Last two weeks**
*played one game TeamPoints ScoredPoints SurrenderedNetWinning % Las Vegas5150+150% Los Angeles5450+450% Denver3735+250% Kansas City*229+13100%
The worst offenses in the NFL after week 3
Houston Texans
Jacksonville Jaguars
Detroit Lions
New York Giants
Chicago Bears
Denver Broncos
Seattle Seahawks
Atlanta Falcons
Carolina Panthers
Cleveland Browns
Opponents ranked by points scored after week 3
I just realized, it helps to have a reference point. The Broncos were ranked number 12 after week 3.
4. Philadelphia Eagles
5. Dallas Cowboys
6. Cincinnati Bengals
8. Los Angeles Chargers
13. Pittsburgh Steelers
16. Kansas City Chiefs
19. Baltimore Ravens
20. New York Jets
21. Las Vegas Raiders
22. Washington The Football Team
23. Cleveland Browns
27. Denver Broncos
29. New York Giants
30. Detroit Lions
31. Jacksonville Jaguars
Today's teams ranked by stats
Broncos (6-6)
23rd
20th
18th
13th
16
9
19
86%
0
32
0
0
0
1
-1
Lost 1
Lions (1-10-1)
29th
27th
28th
20th
13
9
16
84%
0
31
0
0
0
0
-2
Won 1
Outlook
The Broncos will honor former Bronco Demaryius Thomas who died this week at the age of 33.
The Lions almost beat several teams the Broncos lost to. For example, the Ravens had to set an NFL record to beat the Lions as time expired. The Lions tied the Steelers, a team Denver lost to. People think this will be an easy win for Denver, but the game might be closer than people expect.
The magic number for the Broncos continues to be 17 points. If the opponent scores 17 points or more, they will beat the Broncos. Oddly enough, the Detroit Lions are averaging 17 points per game this season. Luckily for the Broncos, their offense has only preformed above average six times this season and those games were early in the year. Their offense has scored above average only twice in their last six games.
Game Time
Sunday December 12 @ 2:05 PM MT
Looking Ahead to Future Opponents
Preseason Outlook
WeekTeamWinning %Win(s) 1Vikings0%0 2Seahawks33%1 3Rams00
First Quarter Outlook
WeekTeamWinning %Win(s) 1Giants33%4 2Jaguars17%2 3Jets25%3 4Ravens67%8
Second Quarter Outlook
WeekTeamWinning %Win(s) 5Steelers46%6 6Raiders50%6 7Browns50%6 8Football Team50%6
Third Quarter Outlook
WeekTeamWinning %Win(s) 9Cowboys67%8 10Eagles46%6 12Chargers58%7 13Chiefs67%8
Fourth Quarter Outlook
WeekTeamWinning %Win(s) 14Lions8%1 15Bengals58%7 16Raiders50%6 17Chargers58%7 18Chiefs67%8
A red line, might be wavy, indicates a loss.A green line, might be double, indicates a win.*(records as of December 12,2021)
