Chiefs' valiant effort falls short against the Broncos in a Christmas night thriller

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Chris Oladokun saw in defeat on Thursday night why he thinks the Kansas City Chiefs soon will be winners again.

Patrick Mahomes was out with a knee injury, as was backup Gardner Minshew, forcing Oladokun into his first career start. He was down to his fifth and sixth offensive tackles and without injured wide receivers Rashee Rice and Tyquan Thornton.

The defense was just as beat up, missing top cornerbacks Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson, who went on injured reserve.

Yet in a season with nothing left to play for, the Chiefs took the Broncos — barreling toward the AFC West title and perhaps the No. 1 seed in the playoffs — down to the wire. It took Bo Nix throwing a touchdown pass in the final minutes, and a defensive stand at the other end, for Denver to escape with a 20-13 victory on Christmas night at Arrowhead Stadium.

''You saw tonight, team in the eyes of many not playing for much, bunch of starters, a bunch of key players out, going on IR, and we battled,'' Oladokun said afterward. "We battled tonight versus one of the top teams in the NFL. One of the top defenses. One of the top offenses in the league. And we were there till the end.

''I'm not down on Kansas City,'' Oladokun added. ''I don't think people should be down on us. Sometimes in life you need a little kick in the butt, and it catapults you into next season. I think that's what is going to happen for us.''

It won't be that easy.

Then there were the silly mistakes that dogged them all season, and showed up again Thursday night, that coach Andy Reid and his staff will have to fix. The biggest: When the Chiefs held the Broncos at fourth-and-1 inside the 10-yard line in the closing minutes, and they never had any intention of snapping the ball, Chris Jones jumped offside anyway for an automatic first down.

Denver scored the decisive touchdown three plays later, rather than kicking the field goal that coach Sean Payton was expecting.

''We've been beating ourselves up this year a lot, especially with critical errors in critical situations. It's like, I can't do that,'' Jones said, "but this has been happening throughout the year. We'll get better.''

Indeed, there is a lot of room for improvement before next season kicks off in less than nine months.

But there is reason for optimism, too.

The Chiefs' defense kept them in the game against the Broncos, using a soft zone and making them grind through clock management with long scoring drives. It was a brilliant strategy by defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, who showed why he remains among the best in the game, and it was executed well by a defense missing several important players.

What needs help

The offense needs a whole lot of help, though that comes with the caveat that it was missing a slew of players. Oladokun managed to play reasonably well, given the circumstances, but Kansas City still managed just 139 yards of total offense.

Stock up

Rookie cornerback Nohl Williams has been picked on a lot this season, and the growing pains have been real. But he showed how much he's progressed on Thursday night, helping to hold Pro Bowl wide receiver Courtland Sutton to four catches for 40 yards, and the Denver offense to 303 yards total — 182 of that through the air.

Wide receiver Xavier Worthy dropped a couple of passes, failed to catch a ball in three targets and seemed to underscore what's been a disappointing season for the former first-round pick. That he seems no better than he was as a rookie is alarming.

Injuries

The Chiefs sustained no new injuries in the game against Denver.

Key numbers

190 — Kelce caught a pass in his 190th consecutive game, and perhaps his last at Arrowhead Stadium. If he catches one in next week's season finale in Las Vegas, he would break a tie with Marvin Harrison for the fourth-longest streak in NFL history. The players with longer streaks are Jerry Rice (274), Larry Fitzgerald (256) and former Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez (211).

The Chiefs visit the Raiders next weekend for their final game of the season.

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