Triple Play: The 3rd-Down Conversions That Killed Chiefs

Critical adjustment

Double-teamed on the play, Chris Jones said afterward he thought Nix made a change in the Broncos’ protection. Apparently, that alteration allowed Sutton to get open on a late-breaking out route.

“Great film study for them, because they called it out,” Jones said. “I heard them calling it out. They actually switched the line. If you watch the film, you can see Bo Nix kind of switched the line, so they knew it. We got to do a better job at disguising.”

Nix eluded pressure, rolled to his right and found Sutton in between Jaylen Watson and Bryan Cook, pulverizing the Chiefs’ hopes.

Leo Chenal was the spy on the play and came inches from deflecting the pass. George Karlaftis was bear-hugged on the play by Garrett Bolles.

“Listen, I'm not here to critique the refs,” Jones said. “Sometimes they see it, sometimes they don't. For us, especially in third-and-15, we got to get off the field. We got to get off the field, especially critical downs, us as a defense.

“So, we can go back and watch film, see what we could have done better, and make sure we execute. Execute. Execute. I think that's the most important thing. Execute when we need to. On third-and-15, we got to get off the field. Fourth quarter, situational, we got to get off the field.”

Third-and-8

Midway through the third quarter, again the Chiefs’ defense appeared to have Denver stopped after Chris Roland-Wallace made an instinctive play – critical because Denver had just intercepted Patrick Mahomes.

Facing third-and-8, Troy Franklin made a nice move to avoid a jam at the line of scrimmage by Kristian Fulton. Franklin used Fulton’s whiff to gain outside leverage and Nix threw a dime on his outside shoulder, good for 35 yards. Six plays later, the Broncos scored the game’s first touchdown to take a 13-6 lead.

Third-and-11

In the first quarter, Sutton was again lined up opposite Fulton, who appeared to have the boundary. Nix stepped up in the pocket and fired a dart to Sutton on his deep dig route. After he broke inside, the replay showed five Chiefs defenders within a few yards of the 21-yard catch. The play pierced Kansas City territory and set up a Wil Lutz field goal for the game’s initial points.

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