Two unanswered touchdowns changed the fourth quarter, and Denver’s defense protected the lead on the final play.
The Denver Broncos beat the Kansas City Chiefs 28-24 on Sunday, scoring 15 unanswered fourth-quarter points before holding off a final Kansas City opportunity. The comeback overturned an 11-point deficit and put Denver ahead in the AFC West.
File photo: Patrick Mahomes during Kansas City’s October 17, 2021 visit to Washington; not the November 1, 2026 game. Photo: All-Pro Reels. Source photograph · CC BY-SA 2.0.
TheScore's report documented the comeback and the final defensive stand. Denver improved to 6-2, while Kansas City fell to 5-2.
Kansas City builds the advantage
Patrick Mahomes threw touchdown passes to Rashee Rice, Emmett Johnson and Noah Gray as the Chiefs took a 24-13 lead into the final quarter. Johnson's score covered 73 yards, one of the afternoon's largest offensive plays.
The Football Database's scoring record shows how much work Denver still needed. The Broncos had managed only field goals and a Jaylen Waddle touchdown reception before the fourth-quarter turnaround.
Kansas City's lead gave it control of the next question: could it add another score or consume enough of the remaining opportunities to make the deficit hold? The Chiefs did neither, and Denver's final two touchdown drives changed the terms of the finish.
Denver finds two answers
Bo Nix connected with Nate Adkins for a two-yard touchdown, then completed the two-point conversion to Waddle to bring Denver within 24-21. Jonah Coleman's five-yard touchdown run put the Broncos ahead with 1:56 remaining.
Kansas station WIBW reported the late go-ahead score in its account of Kansas City's defeat. The margin was now four points, which left the Chiefs needing a touchdown rather than a tying field goal.
Denver still had to make that advantage survive Mahomes' last possession. TheScore reported that the defense's stand on the final play settled the result. The comeback required both sides of the ball to complete their part: the offense to erase the deficit and the defense to deny the response.
The final quarter outweighs the larger yardage total
Kansas City outgained Denver 399-294, according to the box score. That statistic captures the Chiefs' ability to move the ball over the whole game, but the fourth-quarter scoring tells the more immediate story of why they lost.
Denver found the touchdowns it had lacked earlier and made its last lead hold. A division rivalry produced another close finish, this time with the Broncos completing the recovery. Read more in Taken Social's Sports section.
