The Chiefs left Denver with a 28-24 loss, but the first half was where the game started to tilt in a way that had Kansas City fans fuming.
By halftime at Empower Field at Mile High, the Chiefs had already been flagged eight times for 75 yards, and four of those penalties handed the Broncos a first down. According to The Associated Press’ Josh Dubow, it was only the fourth time since Andy Reid took over as head coach that Kansas City had been hit with eight or more penalties for 75 or more yards in the first half of a game. In the previous three, the Chiefs won just once.
One of the strangest moments came on a late first-half sequence that left Reid visibly irritated. The Chiefs faced third-and-6 from their own 36 when Patrick Mahomes hit rookie Emmett Johnson on a short pass that was initially marked as a 4-yard gain.
A flag was thrown, and officials spent a long time sorting out an illegal man downfield call. Denver declined the penalty, which set up a fourth-and-2 situation, and Kansas City sent out its punt unit.
Then the ball was respotted, and the new spot appeared to leave the Chiefs needing less than a yard. Matt Araiza still punted, and during the commercial break, Reid gave the officials an earful over the late re-spot, CBS Sports’ Tracy Wolfson reported.
The penalty parade started early. In the first quarter, linebacker Jack Cochrane was flagged after lowering his helmet to make a tackle just as a Broncos running back lowered his own head. There was helmet-to-helmet contact, but only because of the Denver player.
The second quarter brought another call that drew attention when Chiefs guard Trey Smith was penalized for holding. Even CBS Sports analyst J.J. Watt pushed back on that one.
“I’ll be honest, I don’t see much of a hold there,” Watt said on the telecast. “I can see why it looked like a hold to the referee, but I do not think there was much of a hold there, and I’m a defensive lineman.”
Later in the period, Chiefs linebacker Drue Tranquill was called for a facemask penalty, even though Denver’s Jonah Coleman had his hand on Tranquill’s facemask.
The Chiefs were on the wrong end of enough yellow flags to shape the first half, and they eventually walked out of Denver with the loss.
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