Harris On Defensive Failing: 'It Was Like We Went Brain Dead'
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (The Sports Xchange) - What you thought you knew about the Denver Broncos evaporated Sunday night.
The defense that carried them to a Super Bowl win, that had locked down one opponent after another in close-and-late situations, finally buckled and broke in the final moments of regulation.
The Broncos allowed Alex Smith to lead the Kansas City Chiefs 75 yards to a game-tying touchdown and two-point conversion in the final moments, setting up a 30-27 overtime win on Cairo Santos' 34-yard field goal off the left upright.
The defense buckled.
"The coverages were great calls. It was just us," cornerback Chris Harris Jr. said. "We didn't execute the call. It's like we just went brain dead as a defense on that last drive."
But it didn't happen in a vacuum.
The Broncos might not have been in a situation where one drive could cost them the game if their special teams had not endured one of its worst games in recent memory. They allowed one touchdown return on a free kick, muffed two punts -- one of which was recovered by the Chiefs -- and in the first quarter cost the team 51 yards in field position because of two holding penalties on Riley Dixon punts.
And the defense could have been bailed out if the offense, which saw Trevor Siemian pass for a career-high 368 yards, had been able to sustain its momentum once it advanced into Kansas City territory on its second possession of overtime. But the drive stalled, and with fourth-and-10 from the Kansas City 44, Broncos coach Gary Kubiak opted to send Brandon McManus onto the field for a 62-yard, game-winning field-goal attempt.
As Kubiak has so many times the last two years, he bet on his team to make the play that mattered. This time, the gamble failed, the Chiefs took over at the Denver 48 and used two passes and an offsides penalty to drive into range for Santos' winning kick.
"I've seen (McManus) do that many times in practice," Kubiak said. "It's on me. I just gave them a chance. I thought we could do it and we didn't get it done."
Their best passing game of the season was squandered. A brilliant defensive effort for 57 minutes was rendered moot. And by the end of the night, the Broncos found themselves two games back of the Raiders in the AFC West and out of the playoff picture, with the Dolphins now the No. 6 seed if the playoffs started today.
"It puts pressure on us," defensive end Derek Wolfe said. "We're the type of team where we don't really feel pressure; we try to apply it. That's something we're going to have to try to emphasize."