In one second, it went from the exhilaration of victory to the agony of defeat. Facing a sure victory on a routine play to win the game, the Denver Broncos line collapsed on a 35-yard field goal attempt that blocked the kick. What would have been an upset of the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs turned into complete devastation and heartbreak in the heartland for the Broncos. Instead of delivering the upset, the Broncos walked away upset.

Dominating the defending world champions and holding the lead for 55 out of 60 minutes, the Broncos’ defense held the Chiefs to one touchdown the entire game. A Chiefs field goal late in the fourth quarter gave them their first game lead with 5:57 left. Trailing 16-14, Broncos quarterback Bo Nix spearheaded a drive down to the Chiefs’ 14-yard line to put the Broncos in position to kick the game-winning field goal with 01 second left. A blocked field goal is a 1-in-100 occurrence in the NFL, making the block a statistical miracle. But the Chiefs had something up their sleeve.

Stacking the left side of the line with five players and three on the right side, the Chiefs used their strongest player on the team to make the play by overpowering the left side. Chiefs LB Leo Chenal plowed over Broncos lineman Alex Forsyth, putting him on his back before making the block of kicker Will Lutz. The walk-off win after the block preserved the Chiefs’ undefeated record of 9-0 while sinking the Broncos to an even 5-5 record.

“Nothing will make you feel better about this situation,” said kicker Wil Lutz. “I’ve been a part of some tough losses, but this one takes the cake.” Lutz was 0-2 on field goal attempts in the game, missing one from 60 yards to end the first half. The Broncos would not score in the second half. Chenal also had a blocked kick earlier in the year at Super Bowl 58.

Even without the Broncos scoring in the second half, rookie quarterback Bo Nix had the best statistical game of his career. At the same time, the Broncos’ defense held the Chiefs in check the entire game. Nix completed 22-of-30 passes for 215 yards and two touchdowns, and his 115.3 passer rating was the highest in a road game of his young career.

“It doesn’t hurt you if you don’t care,” Nix said after the game. “It doesn’t hurt if it doesn’t mean anything to you. It doesn’t hurt of you don’t put in work and want the good results. So, everyone in that locker room is hurt because we do all that stuff. We put in the energy and effort. We’re out there practicing in the snow and we’re out there doing all this stuff and it’s hard and difficult. And, eventually it’s going to go in our favor but right now it hasn’t. So the easy thing to do is give in…. I feel like our locker room is going to respond better, and consistently find ways to improve….”

Nix is the fifth-leading quarterback in rushing despite finishing Sunday’s game with -5 yards rushing. For the second straight week, the Broncos started Jaleel McLaughin as running back, but he finished the game with only two attempts for 12 yards. Javonte Williams had just one attempt for 1 yard. Getting the bulk of the carries was rookie running back Audric Estime, with 14 carries for 53 yards, with the longest gain of 10 yards on one carry.

The Broncos finished with 78 yards on the ground, while the Chiefs ran for 57 yards. Patrick Mahomes had 19 rushing yards on three carries. The line for Mahomes against the stout Denver defense was 28 completions on 42 attempts for 266 yards, one touchdown, four sacks, and a 92.0 passer rating. His one touchdown was a pass to Travis Kelce, who caught his 75th touchdown as a Chief tight end, tying a franchise-best with Tony Gonzalez.

Despite losing two straight to two top-tier teams in the NFL, the Broncos are still firmly in the playoff hunt with a 5-5 record. Two of their next three games will be at home, followed by the BYE week. Four of the remaining seven games are teams against teams with a losing record.

“I think there’s this belief in the building that no matter what challenge is thrown at us, no matter what happens, [we can respond],” tight end Adam Trautman said on Monday. “We got destroyed by Baltimore, it was an embarrassing loss, and we come right back against the back-to-back Super Bowl champions. We thought we played really well, and [we] just weren’t able to finish it. But it just kind of shows the bounce back that this team has. It doesn’t really matter what happens the week before. After Monday, it’s just kind of flushed and we move on to the next week.”

The Broncos’ next opponent is the 6-4 Atlanta Falcons, who are in first place in the NFC South despite losing to the last-place New Orleans Saints last Sunday, 20-17. Falcons safety Justin Simmons, drafted by the Broncos in 2016 and played in 118 games, is returning to Denver for the first time since being released. Game time on Sunday in Denver is 2:05 PM MT.

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