In a game that Kansas City needed to win in order to have any chance of improving its seeding, it took overcoming self-inflicted mishaps to get past a Broncos (7-10) team that had little to play for beyond trying to snap a 12-game head-to-head losing streak that stretched back to November 2015. Denver had already been eliminated from playoff contention and played without starting cornerbacks Pat Surtain II and Ronald Darby against one of the N.F.L.’s most potent passing offenses.
But Denver built a startling lead early on Saturday behind the backup Lock, who was 12 for 24 with 162 yards. The quarterback had two rushing touchdown in the first half, including one on a third-down play in which none of Kansas City’s defenders accounted for him as a runner, and he danced into the end zone relatively untouched to put the Broncos ahead, 14-7.
Kansas City’s rehabilitated defense had seemed to revert to early-season form at the worst possible time. Gordon gashed the Kansas City defense for 110 yards, including a score in the third quarter. On the play, Gordon took a handoff from Lock and skirted between Kansas City defenders on a 47-yard scamper into the end zone to put the Broncos up, 21-17.
But Kansas City has ridden the ebbs and flows of this inconsistent season, and did so again in this final regular season game, leaning on its offense to push the ball down the field when it absolutely needed to score, despite injuries to many of the team’s skill position players.