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Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs picked up right where they left off with a nine yard pass to Travis Kelce on the first play of the second half that they quickly converted with a run on the next play.
A quick out to Tyreek Hill got another seven yards, but Von Miller got a tackle for a loss to force a third and five. Hill had a tight pass over the middle that was ruled a catch, but Denver would challenge. Of course, the call would stand due to inconclusive video evidence to overturn.
They would quickly find themselves setup with a first and goal at the five yard line as Kelce continued to shred the Broncos secondary.
Travis Kelce is the first TE to go over 100 yards against the Broncos this year. He has gone over 100 yards in four of his last 8 games against the Broncos.
— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) December 15, 2019
Mahomes would find Hill open in the end zone for a 22-3 lead. Mahomes would convert the two-point conversion to make it 23-3.
Drew Lock and the offense would see the field for the first time in 40+ real minutes. He would complete a pass over the middle to Noah Fant for 13-yards. Courtland Sutton would drop a pass on the next play, but Devontae Booker took a handoff inside for a respectable gain to setup a more manageable third down.
On third and six, Lock looked for Tim Patrick who was held on the play and not called by the officiating crew to bring out the punting unit.
Both Drew Lock and Tim Patrick wanted a flag on this play. pic.twitter.com/a0xgYH5K0v
— Joe Rowles (@JoRo_NFL) December 15, 2019
The Broncos defense came out and finally stopped the Chiefs in their tracks with a three and out and Kansas City’s first punt of the game. Diontae Spencer got a nice return on the punt and got an extra 15 on a facemask penalty to get Denver on the Chiefs side of the field to start the next drive.
Phillip Lindsay hit the edge for a 13-yard gain a few plays later to get Denver inside the red zone with just under five minutes to go in the third quarter.
The drive would stall there after an ill-advised swing pass for no gain to Royce Freeman. On fourth and five from the Chiefs 15, the Broncos would go for it where Lock would be forced to chuck it up as no one blocked the edge for the interception. A defensive holding penalty would wipe it out to give Denver a first and goal inside the 10.
From there, Lock would throw an interception in the end zone anyway.
The third quarter would come to an end with the Chiefs driving once again up 23-3.