The Denver Broncos fell to the Chiefs 30-27 in overtime on Sunday Night Football. Cairo Santos connected on a 34-yard field goal that hit the left upright and snuck in to deliver Kansas City the win.
The Broncos now find themselves out of the playoff picture at 7-4. They have some ground to make up if they want to qualify for the postseason for the sixth straight year.
Before the Broncos start down that road, let's take one last look back at some numbers that mattered in their loss Sunday.
3.6 — The Chiefs, who ran 76 plays for a grand total on 273 yards, averaged 3.6 yards per play. Teams that are that inefficient usually don't win. Kansas City became the second team to average 3.6 yards per play or fewer and come away with a victory this season.
The Broncos' special teams let them down. The unit allowed Tyreek Hill to return a kickoff for a touchdown in the second quarter. Then in the second half, Jordan Norwood fumbled a punt that Kansas City recovered, and Denver lined up illegally on a Chiefs' field goal attempt that allowed Kansas City to keep its drive going. All told, those mistakes cost Denver 11 points.
15 — The Broncos committed 15 penalties worth 97 yards. They made mistake after mistake after mistake.
368 — One bright spot for Denver was the play of quarterback Trevor Siemian. Siemian caught fire in the second half and finished 20 of 34 for 368 yards and three touchdowns. He set career highs in passing yards and yards per attempt (10.8).
3.3 — While Siemian was good, the Broncos' ground game was not. Denver rushed 38 times for 124 yards, a 3.3 yards per attempt average. Denver's offensive line has been a bad run blocking unit all season. The team misses C.J. Anderson as well.
11 — The Chiefs and Broncos combined for 11 sacks. Kansas City had six. Denver had five. Von Miller and Justin Houston each had three. One thing they can do in the AFC West is rush the passer.
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