11 Penalties and 105 Yards: Chiefs Lose AFC West Lead to Broncos

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said he did not see a false start, but the officials disagreed. Right tackle Jaylon Moore was called for a false start with four seconds remaining, killing a touchdown pass from Patrick Mahomes to Rashee Rice. The call gave the Denver Broncos a 28-24 victory on Sunday at Empower Field at Mile High Stadium.

The penalty moved the ball back five yards, placing the Chiefs in fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line. Mahomes had targeted Rice, who returned from a hamstring injury that sidelined him for the previous month. Rice dipped underneath and was open in the front of the end zone. Replays appeared to show Moore flinch with his right leg and rock back slightly before turning his head to the left.

The loss dropped the Chiefs to 5-2 and handed the AFC West lead to the Broncos, who improved to 6-2. Denver evened the season series after losing the opener at Arrowhead Stadium in September. Mahomes accepted responsibility for the final drive, noting that the defense was difficult to score against in the red zone.

"You want to score," Mahomes said. "You're on the 1-yard line, you're in the red zone, you got down there, you want to go out and capitalize. Obviously, it's a really good defense; they're hard to score on in the red zone.. Whenever you get that close, and you don't capitalize, you take that on yourself, and you learn from it."

Penalties defined the game for Kansas City. The Chiefs committed 11 penalties for a total of 105 yards, a season-worst in both categories. That total matched only a loss in Jacksonville last season, where Kansas City was penalized 13 times for 109 yards. Eight penalties in the first half for 75 yards were particularly damaging, though the Chiefs still led 17-13 at intermission.

Denver benefited from several penalties. An 18-yard pass interference call on Kristian Fulton and a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on Jack Cochrane helped set up a 39-yard field goal by Will Lutz on the first drive. Later, a 15-yard facemask penalty on Drue Tranquill and a pass interference call on safety Alohi Gilman aided a first-half touchdown drive. The Broncos also benefited from an unnecessary roughness penalty on Gilman before Nate Adkins scored on a two-yard run.

Kicking errors played a role in the final minutes. Harrison Butker missed a 54-yard field goal, pushing it wide right. Mahomes had been sacked just before the attempt, which moved the ball back six yards. Butker is now 2 for 7 on kicks from 50-plus yards. He also missed a 45-yard kick and an extra point in the previous two games. Reid said he never considered punting after the sack, calling the distance within Butker's range.

The Broncos took the lead with a two-play drive. Bo Nix threw a 51-yard pass to rookie Jonah Coleman, who followed with a five-yard touchdown run. Nix finished 20 of 32 for 222 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Denver forced three consecutive punts from Kansas City in the first half, aided by procedural penalties. Bo Nix threw three straight incompletions on one of those drives.

Emmett Johnson provided a bright spot for Kansas City. The rookie running back caught a 73-yard pass from Mahomes for a touchdown, the longest offensive score for the Chiefs in 91 games. The previous longest was a 75-yard pass to Tyreek Hill in the 2021 season opener. Johnson finished with five catches for 128 yards, including 119 yards in the first half. That is the most by a running back in Reid's NFL career. He also had a 15-yard run and a 44-yard kickoff return.

Kenneth Walker III had a quiet game. He carried the ball 21 times for 69 yards and caught four passes for 15 yards. Mahomes threw his first touchdown pass in nearly a month to Rice, ending a drought that spanned more than nine quarters of game time. The last touchdown pass came on the second play of the fourth quarter in a win at Las Vegas on October 4.