KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When a pitcher is throwing a no-hitter, his teammates ignore him, superstitious announcers pretend not to notice and the game rolls along as if nothing extraordinary is happening.
For 50 minutes Thursday, the Denver Broncos had yet to score against the Kansas City Chiefs, which raised the question whether the defensive players brought up the possibility of a shutout or shied away from it out of superstition.
“Hell yeah, you talk about it,” said Chiefs linebacker Willie Gay Jr., who had a team-high six tackles, recovered a fumble and tipped a pass for an interception.
That’s clearly different from baseball, but the focus it takes to finish the job is the same.
“It’s on our minds,” Gay added, “but we’ve got to stay locked in because one play, man, and they’re in the red zone.”
Ultimately, the Broncos — aided by a borderline roughing-the-passer penalty against safety Mike Edwards, which gave Denver its only red-zone possession of the night — broke through with a little more than six minutes remaining.
Courtland Sutton made an incredible one-handed grab and somehow dropped a knee in the end zone.
Initially, the play was called incomplete only to be overturned upon review, ending the shutout and providing Denver’s only score in a 19-8 win for Kansas City.
“Every week we want to try to hang a zero,” second-year cornerback Trent McDuffie, who had a forced fumble, said. “Once they scored, there was definitely a little emotion on the sideline. But that’s a good thing. You want to see guys who care and don’t want to allow a score.”
The Chiefs’ defense entered the week in the top five in scoring percentage, hurry percentage and points per drive as well as top 10 in yards per play, red-zone percentage and third-down conversion percentage — metrics that are sure to rise after dominating the Broncos.
Russell Wilson, a nine-time Pro Bowl and Super Bowl champion with Seattle, has been a shell of himself since arriving in Denver.
Still, Kansas City battered Wilson particularly harshly. He finished 13 of 22 for 95 yards, was picked off twice, was sacked four times, got hit seven times and had nine passes defended.
“As a defense, I’m excited for where we’re going,” said middle linebacker Nick Bolton, who had four tackles and an interception in his return from a three-game absence due to a sprained ankle. “We keep trending in the right direction and guys are getting more comfortable playing with each other. We’re just executing the game plan. Guys know everybody’s going to be in the right spot at the right time. Everybody’s flying to the football and, the most important part, we’re having fun while we’re doing it. If we can keep that up every single week, we’ll be special.”
On a night when the Chiefs’ offense sputtered, scoring one touchdown on five red-zone trips and going 4 for 14 on third or fourth down, the defense so thoroughly dominated the Broncos that it never felt like a close game in the second half.
Denver managed a paltry 24 net passing yards in the first half and, after rushing for 70 yards in the first half, managed only 45 yards on the ground in the second half.
Kansas City only allowed 197 yards, which is the fewest yards the team has allowed in a game since Andy Reid’s first game with the franchise when Jacksonville managed 178 yards in a 28-2 loss to kick off the golden age of Chiefs football.
“I think this defense could be extremely dominant, and all it takes is us being consistent,” safety Justin Reid said. “It’s good to be loose, it’s good to be confident, it’s good to be bold. But never relaxed. Never assume that the other team is going to come in and roll over for us. We’ve got to go earn it every week.”
Kansas City gets a mini bye before hosting the Los Angeles Chargers on Oct. 22.
The Chiefs’ defense should get even richer that game with the return of free-agent defensive end Charles Omenihu, who should make his team debut after a six-game suspension.
Gay said as long as the defense remains “disciplined, detailed and consistent” the early-season success should be sustainable.
“Chemistry and just sticking with it,” Gay said. “We want to be better than last year and better than last week, so that’s what we’re continuing to do.”
He added, “This game, we’re still hungry. We wanted a goose egg today, so, guess what, we’ll try to go get it next week.”
