The Denver Broncos beat the Kansas City Chiefs 28-24 on Sunday night, and they did it the hard way. Trailing by 11 points in the fourth quarter at Empower Field, Denver stormed back behind quarterback Bo Nix, then sealed the win with a goal-line stand in the final seconds to take over first place in the AFC West.
Rookie running back Jonah Coleman scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1:56 remaining, capping a two-play, 56-yard burst that flipped the game on its head. The Broncos defense finished the job from there, stopping Kansas City four times inside the 10-yard line before Malcolm Roach sacked Patrick Mahomes on fourth-and-goal to end it.
The victory was Denver’s fourth straight and its 15th consecutive win in a one-score game, lifting the Broncos to 6-2 while dropping the Chiefs to 5-2 with their second straight defeat.
How the Broncos beat the Chiefs in the final seconds
After Coleman’s 5-yard touchdown run gave Denver a 28-24 lead, Kansas City had just under two minutes to answer. Rookie Emmett Johnson returned the kickoff 44 yards, Mahomes found Travis Kelce for a 32-yard gain, and strong runs by Kenneth Walker III carried the Chiefs inside the Denver 5-yard line with 35 seconds left.
What followed was pure chaos. On first-and-goal from the 4, Walker powered to the 1 before cornerback Patrick Surtain II dragged him down. Mahomes threw incomplete on second down, and backup safety JL Skinner stuffed Walker for no gain on third-and-goal from the 1.
Facing fourth-and-goal from the 1 with four seconds left, Mahomes appeared to hit Rashee Rice for the winning score — but a false-start flag on right tackle Jaylon Moore wiped the play out. Pushed back to the 6, Mahomes took the snap and was swallowed up by Roach, who broke through alongside Nik Bonitto for the game-ending sack as 76,831 fans erupted.
Bo Nix engineers another fourth-quarter comeback
For three quarters, Denver’s offense was stuck in the mud. The Broncos managed just 19 yards in the third quarter and trailed 24-13 early in the fourth. Then Bo Nix took over.
Nix marched Denver 80 yards on the first possession of the final quarter, converting on fourth down with a 2-yard touchdown strike to tight end Nate Adkins. He then found Jaylen Waddle for the two-point conversion to cut the deficit to 24-21 with 8:55 to play.
Kansas City had a chance to extend the lead, but Alex Singleton sacked Mahomes for a 6-yard loss and Harrison Butker pushed a 54-yard field goal wide right in steady rain with 2:31 remaining.
Two plays later, the Broncos led for the first time all night. Nix hit Coleman on a “slipper boot” dump-off — with Courtland Sutton and Waddle clearing space on post routes — and the rookie rumbled 51 yards to the Chiefs’ 5. On the very next snap, Coleman powered in from 5 yards out.
Nix finished 20-of-32 for 222 yards and two touchdowns, completing 5 of 6 passes for 84 yards and a score in the fourth quarter alone. It was his 13th career fourth-quarter comeback, the most in the NFL since his debut in 2024.
Jonah Coleman announces himself on the big stage
With J.K. Dobbins struggling and RJ Harvey on injured reserve, Denver’s fourth-round rookie from Washington got his opportunity — and seized it. Coleman finished with 104 yards from scrimmage (41 rushing, 63 receiving) and the biggest touchdown of the Broncos’ season.
His 51-yard catch-and-run set up the winner, and his 5-yard touchdown run gave Denver its first lead of the night with 1:56 to play. After the game, there was no doubt who the breakout star of the evening was.
Mahomes’ big night goes to waste as Chiefs fall again
Mahomes was brilliant for much of the evening, completing 30 of 41 passes for 321 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions — a sharp bounce-back after last week’s loss in Seattle. He hit Rice on an 11-yard score in the first quarter, connected with Johnson on a 73-yard catch-and-run in the second, and found Noah Gray from 4 yards out late in the third to build the 24-13 lead.
Johnson, the Chiefs’ own rookie sensation, torched Denver for 143 total yards, including five catches for 128 yards and his first NFL touchdown. Kelce added five grabs for 67 yards. But Kansas City was outscored 15-0 in the fourth quarter, and Mahomes fell to 80-3 in his career when leading by double digits in the fourth.
What the Broncos’ win means for the AFC West
The victory avenged Denver’s lopsided Week 1 loss at Kansas City and split the season series 1-1. More importantly, it gave the Broncos sole possession of first place at the season’s midpoint. A loss would likely have handed the Chiefs a virtual three-game cushion in the division race.
It was also a milestone night for Sean Payton, whose 200th career victory — including the postseason — came in the most dramatic fashion imaginable. And it extended Denver’s remarkable run in tight games: 15 straight one-score wins across the last two seasons, with four comeback victories already this year.
The Broncos, quite simply, refuse to lose close games. On Sunday night, the Chiefs learned that the hard way.
Source: Reuters