KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It is getting hard to explain the incalculable pain brought on by the Kansas City Chiefs. The Broncos lost for the ninth straight time at Arrowhead Stadium, and the psychological toll threatens to shake the faith of not only the team but Broncos Country.
How many times can you swirl a heart in a blender before yanking the cord from the outlet? For the ninth straight season, the Broncos are not going to the playoffs. At least, that was the immediate conclusion after the Chiefs’ 16-14 block-off victory.
“It will sting,” coach Sean Payton said.
This moment will define the Broncos, but not in the way you might think. Denver will reach the postseason because of this. This is not what you want to hear after a loss one Broncos player called the worst of his life.
But it will happen because of this latest lesson: Don’t point fingers and finish at the end of the second and fourth quarters.
In the past, the Broncos failed because of incompetent coaching, a lack of talent and a locker room without a backbone. How is this time, this punch in the throat, different?
Because this team is. The Broncos possess more character than characters. It starts with offensive lineman Alex Forsyth. Kansas City’s Leo Chenal pancaked him on the final play, foiling Wil Lutz’s 35-yard attempt. Forsyth took ownership when I spoke with him. That is the only way to move forward.
“I have to be stouter,” Forsyth said. “They had four guys on that side. But it didn’t surprise us. I have to be stouter.”
This would have been the Broncos’ biggest victory since Super Bowl 50. By any measure, it was a huge game. And the Broncos became a meme. This is not Forsyth’s fault when taking the macro view, even though he will face understandable vitriol that blurs the lines between passionate and toxic.
The sooner the Broncos agree that the loss is not solely on him, the faster they will avoid playing the victim. It is a role for which they have been worthy of Daytime Emmys for nearly a decade. Forsyth got trucked. No argument.
“But it is not just about the last play,” said center Luke Wattenberg, who lockers next to Forsyth and knows him well. “It is a four-quarter fight.”
Told that Forsyth would be singled out for this loss based on the video evidence, right tackle Mike McGlinchey took exception. The Broncos, after all, produced 10 yards on their first three drives of the second half.
“We had opportunities before that. It’s unfortunate, but I know there are a lot of football players in here that would like to have one play back in their careers,” McGlinchey said. “We have to come together.”
Now is when Payton’s roster will be tested. Fold and all the talk of resilience, grit and mental toughness will come across as fraudulent, as nothing more than a scam to return hope to a fan base that long ago lost patience and perspective.
The Broncos lost a game not only that they could have won, but should have won. They outplayed the defending champs. But they lost in the margins, in the small details that leave Payton circling restaurant parking lots. Special teams failed the Broncos, a sentence rarely written since Payton installed Ben Kotwica and Mike Westhoff to douse the raging six-year tire fire.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid explained that the Chiefs took advantage of something they scouted in the Broncos’ field-goal operation. They overloaded one side and overwhelmed Forsyth. It was, if Reid is to be believed, a wrinkle the Broncos needed to iron out.
Payton did not talk in specifics because, like all coaches, he reserves the right to watch the film. What he will see is a team that is not a finished product, and couldn’t finish Sunday. It is becoming increasingly clear that there could be a plutonium spill and the only survivors would be a cockroach, Chuck Norris and the Chiefs.
They win like the 2015 Broncos, with a mixture of a stingy defense, Hall of Fame quarterback and rabbit’s foot. Denver’s defense played well enough to win, rattling Patrick Mahomes into sailing a wide-open touchdown over the head of Travis Kelce on the Chiefs’ final drive. It was karma after a gift illegal contact call on Broncos safety Brandon Jones extended the Chiefs’ first and only touchdown drive.
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Bo Nix made his debut in the sea of red and did not flinch. He completed 22 passes, threw for two touchdowns and had no turnovers. That is winning football. As was the case at Baltimore, he needs more help. Audric Estime hopefully, finally secured the starting running back job. But the receiving corps remains spotty, and certainly not good enough to overcome lapses by Courtland Sutton.
While Forsyth remains in the bull’s-eye, it was Sutton who drew an offside penalty with 15 seconds remaining in the first half when Nix spiked the ball. It moved the Broncos out of realistic field goal range. Two players later, Sutton failed to haul in a pass that would have created a chip shot, even if there was no such thing on this Sunday.
The Broncos and their fans have been through a lot since their last championship. It’s always something. But they have the right coach and the right quarterback. Nobody wants to believe after the latest gut punch. In the locker room afterward, players were stunned, angry and numb.
They are invested in a way that previous teams that unraveled were not. This type of disappointment undermines confidence, crawls into heads and has the power to ruin their season. But the Broncos are going to the playoffs. And this loss will be the reason.
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