On Sunday night at Sports Authority Field, the Denver Broncos took care of business and moved into a first place tie in the AFC West, beating the Kansas City Chiefs 27-17.
Chiefs vs. Broncos 2013: Denver does ‘fine work’ in victory
Denver knocked off the Chiefs in to hand the visitors their first loss of the season.
Denver was commanding in victory, holding Alex Smith to a grizzly line of 21 of 45 for 230 yards. The Broncos also sacked Smith three times, while Peyton Manning and his bad ankle looked just fine. Manning threw for only one touchdown but completed 24 of 40 passes for 323 yards and no interceptions.
Manning was also kept upright all night, being hit only twice and never sacked by a Chiefs' defense that leads the league with 36 sacks. Demaryius Thomas had a huge game for the Broncos, going for five receptions and 121 yards including a 70-yard catch and carry in the first quarter.
Over at Mile High Report, Kyle Montgomery wrote about the great job by Denver’s offensive line:
Props to the offensive line for keeping #18's jersey clean. Zane Beadles, Manny Ramirez, and Louis Vasquez handled Dontari Poe's pass rush, while Chris Clark and Orlando Frankling proved to be fleet-of-feet against Chiefs outside rushers. Knowshon Moreno and Montee Ball also deserve praise for their fine work in the pass protection game.
As for the Chiefs, the loss stings but certainly does not derail them. Kansas City now goes home to face the San Diego Chargers before welcoming the Broncos into Arrowhead Stadium.
Joel Thorman of Arrowhead Pride summed up the loss well, discussing exactly where the Chiefs came up short:
The defense played well enough to win, or at least well enough to give them a chance, and the offense couldn’t convert when the Chiefs needed it most. That’s been the story with the Chiefs offense for most of the season but they have usually been able to come up with a key play or drive late in the game to seal it. There was no such drive in this game.
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