KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The snap came early, seeming to catch Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson by surprise with around 90 seconds left Sunday at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones wasn’t surprised, bursting through the middle of the offensive line and swallowing Wilson for a game-clinching sack.
“I lined up as a shade,” Jones said. “We were running some type of pressure Spags (defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo) called, and I kind of avoided the pressure and lined up as a shade anyway to rush the center one-on-one.”
It was fourth-and-2 near midfield, and the Broncos had given the Chiefs all they could handle, but Jones’ 13th sack of the season essentially iced a 27-24 victory.
“They wanted to catch us off guard with the quick snap, but we were ready for it,” Jones said.
On a day when Kansas City struggled to establish the run or find a rhythm on offense, quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw for another 328 yards and three more touchdowns — extending his NFL lead in both categories.
“When you win and you don’t feel like you played your best ball, that’s always a good thing,” Mahomes said.
Mahomes now has 5,048 passing yards and 40 touchdowns on the season, joining Drew Brees as the only NFL quarterback with multiple 5,000-yard and 40-touchdown campaigns.
Despite the lofty milestones, Mahomes wasn't pleased with Sunday's otherwise uneven performance, which featured several off-target throws and precious few deep connections.
“There’s not a lot satisfying for me,” Mahomes said. “Just the fact that we battled through. ... I feel like I didn't play at the top of my game today, but the guys around me stepped up. That's the best thing I took from it. When guys around me step up and we still win football games, that's a good sign."
The Chiefs (13-3) have now won 15 consecutive games against the “rival” Broncos, whose last win against Kansas City came in September 2015, but the two games this season were far from easy.
“There were some lulls offensively, but I thought the defense did a nice job throughout,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said.
Kansas City was only 2 of 9 on third down and managed only 46 yards rushing, but the passing game produced enough to earn a win and stay in the hunt for the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
It was the first game at the helm for interim coach Jerry Rosburg, who took over after the Broncos fired Nathaniel Hackett earlier in the week 15 games into his NFL head-coaching career.
Denver (4-12) retook the lead midway through the third quarter on a 25-yard touchdown from Russell Wilson to former Mizzou football star Albert Okwuegbunam. The Broncos led 17-13 with the Chiefs’ offense in the midst of a stretch of three consecutive three-and-outs to start the second half.
Kansas City finally pulled itself together on offense in the fourth quarter, taking its first double-digit lead on touchdown passes from Mahomes to tight end Blake Bell and running back Jerick McKinnon.
It was the first career regular-season TD for Bell, who returned last week from a hip injury that sidelined him for the first three months of the season, with the Chiefs.
Meanwhile, McKinnon’s receiving score, his second of the game, cemented his emergence as an important weapon in the passing game.
L’Jarius Sneed’s interception, which forced him from the game with a hip injury after he was hurt on the return, set up McKinnon’s 3-yard touchdown reception.
“Sneed’s play was a big play for us,” Reid said.
The Broncos answered with a lengthy scoring drive to pull within three points on a 4-yard touchdown run by Wilson — who accounted for three scores, one passing and two rushing — but they’d get no closer.
It was the second hard-fought game between the teams in the last month. Kansas City jumped out to a big early lead Dec. 11 at Denver, then held on fora 34-28 win.
Mahomes finished 29 of 42 for 328 yards with three touchdowns and an interception, while Wilson went 26 of 38 for 222 yards with a touchdown and also threw a pick.
Special teams remained an issue with a botched extra-point try, a fumble on a punt return and a blocked field goal — all in the first half.
Kansas City scored the only points of the first quarter, a 5-yard touchdown run by Isiah Pacheco to cap a 10-play opening drive for the offense.
The Chiefs botched the extra-point try, leaving the lead at 6-0.
Denver cut the lead in half with a 49-yard Brandon McManus field goal early in the second quarter.
Kansas City reached the red zone midway through the second quarter only to have Mahomes get intercepted in the end zone when he threw behind Justin Watson streaking toward the sideline.
“He’s going to try those things and it’s going to happen sometimes,” Reid said. “You don’t want to take that away. He knows better than anybody, it’s got to be a better decision than that one. But there’s certain things you don’t take away from quarterbacks.”
Mahomes took responsibility for the interception.
“It was a bad throw just in general,” he said. “I left it really far inside. I don’t know if Watson would have been able to catch it, because I threw it so far inside.”
He cited several other examples of being off, including a couple deep throws and a sideline pass to wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling.
The Broncos failed to punish the mistake but caught a break when Alex Singleton poked the ball free from Kadarius Toney on the ensuing punt return.
Russell Wilson scored on a 16-yard run the next play, giving Denver a 10-6 lead in the closing minutes before halftime.
The Chiefs answered with a go-ahead touchdown drive capped by a 6-yard pass from Mahomes to McKinnon, who has seven receiving touchdowns in the last five games.
The Broncos moved into field-goal range in the closing seconds before halftime before Trent McDuffie’s sack and forced fumble, which fellow rookie first-round pick George Karlaftis recovered.
"That was my first strip sack in the NFL, so I was having a good time out there playing nickel," McDuffie said.
Harrison Butker had a chance to extend the lead on the final play of the half, but Eyioma Uwazurike blocked a 51-yard field goal try, which landed well short and wide left.
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