Key takeaways from first half of Chiefs vs. Broncos Week 13
The Kansas City Chiefs lead the Denver Broncos 10-3 on “Sunday Night Football.” A few missed opportunities on offense and defense have this game relatively close heading into the second half. Even with a lead secured, there are plenty of positives and negatives to takeaway from the first half of play.
Here are our biggest takeaways from the first half of the Chiefs’ Week 13 game against the Broncos:
Cool, calculated play on offense is working
AP Photo/Charlie Riedel
The opening offensive drive for Kansas City was something the Chiefs desperately need to see more of on offense. It was a cool and calculated 12-play, 72-yard scoring drive. There was a good run-pass balance to the drive, and when they did have an incomplete pass or an error, it didn’t seem to sink the ship.
The second offensive drive echoed this drive, but it stalled out in the red zone with a failed screen pass and dropped passes as the main culprit. That’s something we’ve seen reoccur before and not a good sign for the offense. Their third possession of the half ended in a punt after a pair of incomplete passes to start the drive. It felt the team was getting away from the ease and rhythm of the opening drive.
Thankfully, the offense gets the ball to open up the second half and they’ll get a chance to get things working again and extend their lead to two scores.
Defense started off right way
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The Chiefs’ defense really got this game started the right way. The opening possession for Denver was a three-and-out that included a tackle for loss and a sack from Melvin Ingram in the final two plays of the drive. The second offensive possession from Denver was equally disjointed with just a one-yard gain on the ground and two incomplete passes by Teddy Bridgewater.
It took three possessions for the Broncos to get any sort of points on the board, recording a 10-play 51-yard drive resulting in a field goal. As good as the start was defensively for Kansas City, Denver quickly figured something out on offense in the second quarter.
Can't allow long, time-sucking drives
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As good as the Chiefs’ defense was on the Broncos’ first two offensive drives, the third drive wasn’t all that great for Kansas City. Denver held onto the ball for a total of 11 minutes and 20 seconds in the second quarter. It was a 20-play, 88-yard drive and the defense really struggled to get anything good going. Charvarius Ward allowed a fourth-and-7 to be converted, which was probably the worst moment of the drive.
While the team simply can’t allow a drive like that to happen again, they did buck up and get a stop when it mattered the most. That had to be pretty discouraging for the Broncos to touch the ball 20 times, move the ball 88 yards and come up with no points scored. There’s something to say for how demoralizing that must be.
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