KC Chiefs: Five things we learned in week 15 win vs Broncos

The KC Chiefs blew out the Denver Broncos and knocked them out of playoff contention for good. What did we learn in the 23-3 victory over the Broncos?

Another win feels good doesn’t it, Chiefs Kingdom? It was snowing on Sunday, but that didn’t have much of an effect on the Kansas City Chiefs.

Drew Lock made his return home (he attended high school at Lee’s Summit), but it wasn’t the one he was looking for. This was a fantastic win for our Chiefs, especially considering some saw this as a potential trap game.

Games like these are what separate the good teams from the great teams and the Chiefs showed that this weekend. Here is what we learned in this beautiful 23-3 win.

Complete Dominance

The KC Chiefs were in control from the time of the opening kickoff. Lock couldn’t get anything going until garbage time and Patrick Mahomes looked like his old self.  Not only was there dominance in this game, but since 2015, the Chiefs have owned the Broncos and the entire division.

The last loss to the Broncos? Week 2 of 2015 where Jamaal Charles had that crucial fumble in the waning seconds of the game. The Chiefs are 9-3 in the last five seasons against the division and that isn’t going to change any time soon.

Cementing his Legacy

With his massive performance (11 catches for 142 yards) against the Broncos, Travis Kelce became the first tight end in NFL history to have four straight seasons of 1,000 or more yards receiving.

Think about the great tight ends that have graced the field in the last 20 years; Tony Gonzalez, Antonio Gates, Greg Olsen, Rob Gronkowski are all elite tight ends, but none of them have done what Kelce did, although Olsen did do it for three straight.

When Kelce got hurt as a rookie, everyone feared that the post-Gonzalez curse would continue.  Kelce then had an amazing second season and has continued to be one of the best in the game.  While he may have his flaws, the Kansas City Chiefs are a better team with Zeus on it.

Patrick Mahomes

After having several games where he hasn’t looked like his usual self, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes had himself a Patrick Mahomes kind of game. The reigning MVP was 27 of 34 for 340 yards with two touchdowns (both to Tyreek Hill) and one interception. Keep in mind that there were three inches of snow on the ground and more falling as the game progressed.

Mahomes’ hand looked fine and so did his footwork, as he gouged the Broncos secondary all afternoon long. This was a great game for the reigning MVP and one the offense desperately needed after some pretty meh games by this offense’s standard.

It might have been against the Denver Broncos, but teams like Denver are looking to play spoiler and Mahomes didn’t let that happen.

Defense is Elite

Broncos rookie quarterback Drew Lock had been having himself a great start to his career. He was looking to continue that in front of a hometown crowd, but the Chiefs defense spoiled it and boy did they ever!

The defense was consistently hitting the Lee’s Summit native and while Lock only threw one pick, he could have easily thrown more. Everyone knew that it was going to take time for the Chiefs defense to gel and get in a rhythm and it looks like they’ve finally buckled down and become a solid unit.

With the way the offense had been playing the last few weeks, it couldn’t have come at a better time for this defense to figure things out. There was an injury to Alex Okafor in the first quarter after sacking Drew Lock though, so let’s hope it wasn’t serious because he’s a big part of this defense.

Conclusion

This was a nice win for the KC Chiefs.

The Broncos had no chance in this game and that became apparent early on when the Chiefs went up 6-0 before we could even really settle in.

The Chiefs weren’t going to let a rookie quarterback come in and have himself a game, even if he is a Missouri guy. Very few rookie signal callers come into Arrowhead and win games, with the last being Andrew Luck in 2012.

The Kansas City Chiefs now look to Chicago in a game that is only a must-win for the sake of a bye.