Four takeaways from the Broncos' 34-28 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs

DENVER, Colo. — Another week, another loss.

The Chiefs collapsed after building a 27-0 lead in the first half. The Broncos cut the lead to six points early in the second half and were within one score for the majority of the rest of the game. Kansas City held on for a 34-28 win.

The Broncos are now 3-10 with nine losses in their last 10 games. They are in second-to-last place in the NFL.

Here’s what went down:

Josey Jewell sparks the Broncos

The Chiefs nearly had the game wrapped up. They led by 27 points with three minutes left in the first half and they had the ball near midfield. They had scored on each of their possessions so far and appeared to be a few minutes from a 34-0 halftime lead.

Then Josey Jewell read Patrick Mahomes eyes and jumped in from of a ball to Travis Kelce for his first interception of his five-year career. A few plays later, the Broncos were on the board with their first touchdown of the game.

When the Chiefs got the ball back, they made their way toward midfield again. Then Patrick Mahomes threw a low ball a little of target to Skyy Moore. Pat Surtain slid in for his first interception of the season, and the Broncos pulled within 27-14.

The Broncos trailed by six points in the fourth quarter when Jewell struck again with his second interception of the day. Once again, he read Mahomes’ eyes and jump a ball in the middle of the field. Once again, the Broncos scored a touchdown off a turnover and trailed by six points with the ball near midfield with a little more than five minutes to play. Mahomes tied his career high with three interceptions.

Denver’s defense gave up 27 points (one of the touchdowns was a pick-six) but it also set the offense up in good field position with three interceptions. All of them turned into touchdowns.

Jerry Jeudy breaks out

The Broncos didn’t have a lot of weapons on Sunday.

They were without Javonte Williams, Tim Patrick, Courtland Sutton, KJ Hamler and Chase Edmonds. Brandon Johnson, Kendall Hinton and Mike Boone all left the game with injuries.

Jerry Jeudy stepped up. He caught eight balls, the most of his career. Three of them were for touchdowns. He’d never had a multi-touchdown game before. He picked up 73 yards, the sixth-most of his career.

And, like usual, Jeudy was open on more plays than just the ones he was thrown the ball.

Russell Wilson enters concussion protocol

The Broncos’ star quarterback obviously started slowly.

He was able to guide a 12-play drive past midfield to start the game but followed that up with there three-and-outs in four possessions. The other drive ended with an ugly pick-six when Willie Gay batted the ball in Wilson’s face, caught it, stiff-armed Wilson to the ground then ran 47 yards for a touchdown.

After that, Wilson hit his groove. The Broncos scored a pair of quick touchdowns before halftime and another right after halftime when Marlon Mack broke free for a 66-yard score on a screen.

Wilson got the ball down 13 points at his own 25 and ground his way down the field. With the Broncos facing a 2nd & 34, Wilson hit Greg Dulcich for 23 yards then scrambled for 14 yards to the two-yard line. He didn’t slide at the end of the run and hit his head on the ground when he was tackled. He was concussed.

Wilson didn’t play the rest of the game and Brett Rypien took his place. Rypien hit Jeudy for a fourth-down touchdown but he couldn’t find another to take the lead. His two opportunities began at his own 5-yard line and his own 46. Both lasted three plays, with the first ending with a punt and the second an interception.

It’s tough to say just how long Wilson will be out but he’ll likely miss at least this week.

The Broncos rotate guards

Dalton Risner had started every game for the Broncos at left guard before Sunday. He was the only offensive player who had started every game. But Risner missed Sunday’s game with a back injury, making him one of four starting offensive linemen who were unavailable to play.

The Broncos started rookie Luke Wattenberg in his place, but the results weren’t great. He gave up an early sack and missed a couple of other blocks. Quinn Bailey subbed in after a couple of series. Then Netane Muti subbed in for Bailey in the second quarter. Wattenberg never saw the field again but Bailey and Muti traded a couple more times before the night was out.

The Broncos’ quarterbacks were sacked six times on Sunday and hit 11 times. The running game never got off the ground, as the Broncos’ backs combined for 49 yards on 14 carries.

The offensive line had a tough night.