The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Denver Broncos, 30-6, in front of a packed house at Empower Field at Mile High on Thursday night to snap their two-game losing streak and move back into the win column for the fifth time this season.
The Chiefs lost quarterback Patrick Mahomes to a knee injury early in the second quarter, but veteran quarterback Matt Moore and a tenacious effort by the defense helped Kansas City secure an eighth-straight victory over the rival Broncos.
Moore completed 10-of-19 passes for 117 yards and a touchdown in relief of Mahomes, tossing a 57-yard scoring strike to wide receiver Tyreek Hill midway through the third quarter. It marked the seventeenth touchdown of Hill's career that covered 50+ yards in just 50 games as a professional.
Fellow receiver Mecole Hardman also found the end zone in the contest, hauling in a 21-yard touchdown pass from Mahomes early in the game before the reigning league MVP departed.
Defensively, the Chiefs put together their best collective game of the season. The pass-rush collected nine sacks on the night, Kansas City's most since 2013, while holding Denver to just six points.
In fact, after the Broncos tallied a touchdown on their opening possession, the Chiefs held Denver out of the end zone and to just 130 yards of total offense. Additionally, the Broncos converted just one of 13 third-down attempts on the evening.
Linebacker Anthony Hitchens (2.0 sacks), defensive end Frank Clark (2.0 sacks), defensive end Alex Okafor (2.0 sacks), defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah (1.0 sack), linebacker Reggie Ragland (1.0 sack) and safety Armani Watts (1.0 sack) all contributed to that effort, wreaking havoc on Broncos' quarterback Joe Flacco throughout the game.
Hitchens and Ragland even turned one of those sacks into six points, as Hitchens stripped the ball free from Flacco before Ragland scooped it up and dashed ahead five yards for the first touchdown of his career.
That all proved to be enough against Denver as Kansas City scored 30 unanswered points following the Broncos' opening score to move to 5-2 on the campaign.
The Chiefs return to Arrowhead Stadium next weekend to take on the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football.
