Kansas City Chiefs: 10 Likes and 10 Dislikes from Week 7 vs Denver

6. Flashes of Shady

McCoy only ran the ball 12 times, but in those dozen carries, he picked up 64 yards. And several of those runs he about broke for the score. It was fun and exciting McCoy look like his former self even through he didn’t break free for any long touchdown run. But it looks like that big play is just around the corner.

7. Differently Beautiful Touchdown Receptions

Two touchdown passes by the Chiefs in this game, and both were beautiful in their own right.

On the first, from Mahomes to Hardman: Mahomes didn’t dance around when his pocket started breaking down. Instead, he stepped up in the pocket, buying time that way, and placed a spot-on pass to a streaking Hardman. Then Hardman bobbled it (it may have been tipped), kept his concentration, snagged it out of mid-air, and took it to the house.

On the second, from Moore to Hill: Moore also eluded the pass rush, stepped up, and deftly tossed it to Hill, who had just beat his man, caught it in stride, and strolled to one of the easiest 57-yard touchdowns you’ll ever see.

8. Unrelenting Defensive Pressure

Now this, I appreciated: even though the Chiefs were up big deep into the third quarter, the Chiefs defense never let its guard down. Niemann’s aforementioned massive pop on Lindsay came in the fourth quarter with just over four minutes left to play. The game was out of reach at that point, and yet the Chiefs defenders played like it was a one-point game in a do-or-die contest.

The results of the Broncos seven drives in the second half: punt, punt, punt, downs, punt, end of game.

Their longest drive in the second half: nine plays, 20 yards.

9. Matt Moore: Reliever

How about that Matt Moore?

When he first came in, he looked…not good. His first pass attempt made me cringe. The Chiefs had first-and-goal inside the five when Moore came in, and had to settle for a field goal.

No matter. After that abbreviated drive, Moore went 10-for-18 for 117 yards, one touchdown, and zero interceptions. Did he look great? No. If he looked great, he wouldn’t be the back-up for the Kansas City Chiefs.

But he came in and did his job: he held down the lead (heck, he extended it!) while doing just enough. Now he’ll just have to do that for a couple of more weeks until either Mahomes or Chad Henne is ready to take over.

10. A Damn Fine Offensive Line

Without Eric Fisher at left tackle and Andrew Wylie at left guard, the Chiefs offensive line was once again in danger of being manhandled. But the group, with Cam Erving and Martinas Rankin once again subbing in, performed valiantly.

Last week against the Titans, the Broncos picked up seven sacks. Against the Chiefs, the Broncos managed just one for a loss of two yards, and that sack, which came against Moore, didn’t occur until there was 10:55 left in the game and the Chiefs were up 27-6 by that point.