One of the key moments in the Denver Broncos’ win over the Kansas City Chiefs came late in their Christmas night game, when a strategic play call called “Harrisburg” led to a critical first down without snapping the ball. Instead of attempting a field goal or running a conventional play on fourth-and-2 from the Chiefs’ 9-yard line, the Broncos used an unusual formation to try and draw an offside penalty. Guard Quinn Meinerz successfully enticed Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones to jump early, resulting in a flag and a fresh set of downs for Denver.
Head Coach Sean Payton explained, “It was at a different formation, one we’d never shown. We were going to take the delay of game, so we didn’t have a play. … It’s a unique one because you’re on the road, so it involves a heel, and then Meinerz is barking the cadence out. … That changed the complexity of the clock, and that was a big play.”
After this moment, Kansas City used two timeouts before quarterback Bo Nix connected with running back RJ Harvey for a touchdown pass that put Denver ahead 20-13. The Broncos’ defense then held off Kansas City’s final drive to secure the victory.
The win marked Denver’s 12th regular-season comeback victory—an NFL record—and was characterized by two lengthy touchdown drives in the second half that lasted nearly ten and seven minutes each. These sustained drives allowed Denver to convert red-zone opportunities into touchdowns after trailing 7-6 at halftime.
Wide receiver Courtland Sutton commented on the significance of these drives: “If you ask anybody that plays offense, they’ll tell you that whenever you can put a drive like that together, it shows that you are able to impose your will on an opposing defense. To be able to stay on the field, continuously convert third downs, continue to just move the ball downfield methodically, I think it wears the defense down and it kind of breaks their will a little bit. … I think it speaks volumes to just the character of how our offense is and where possibly it can continue to go.”
Although eliminated from playoff contention and playing against a Chiefs team missing star quarterback Patrick Mahomes but featuring one of the league’s top defenses, Denver relied on patience and execution rather than explosive plays. According to Nix: “Honestly, it’s the exact opposite of what I thought we were going to get. I thought they were going to pressure us like crazy, but … we got a bunch of two-high zone the whole game. They put a lid on top of it and they make it tough to find explosive plays, so you’ve just got to inch your way down the field. Obviously, the two plays we scored on, they were longer drives, a lot of plays. We just did what we had to do, but that was a good defense.”
Denver outgained Kansas City 303-139 in total yardage and converted 11 out of 18 third-down attempts while holding possession for nearly 19 more minutes than their opponent.
Left tackle Garett Bolles said about his team’s performance: “We needed to grind them out, we needed to keep punching them in the mouth and keep having long drives. And that’s what we did: We wore them out and then we obviously got that huge play where they jumped offsides and we got to punch it in to win the game. We knew exactly what we needed to do, we did it, we executed it, and we came out with the victory.”
Bolles also reflected on winning in Kansas City for his first time as part of his best Christmas gifts since joining Denver in 2017: “It’s fun to be a Denver Bronco, man,” Bolles said. “We’ve got a long way to go, but [we’re] just one step closer.”
