Broncos vs. Chiefs Week 8: Malcolm Roach's Final-Play Sack Seals a 28-24 Comeback and First Place

Four seconds left, fourth-and-goal, and the Kansas City Chiefs had already been at the 1-yard line. Then, with Empower Field at Mile High at full volume, Jaylon Moore was flagged for a false start, the ball moved back to the 6, and Malcolm Roach sacked Patrick Mahomes on the final snap.

That sack finished a 28-24 comeback win for the Denver Broncos over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday and flipped the AFC West. Denver, which trailed 24-13 entering the fourth quarter, scored the game's final 15 points to move to 6-2 and into first place. Kansas City falls to 5-2 with its second straight loss. Seven weeks after a 31-10 beating at Arrowhead, the Broncos got the rematch they wanted and the division lead with it.

A Chiefs Afternoon, for Three Quarters

Wil Lutz opened the scoring with a 39-yard field goal, and Kansas City answered with an 11-yard touchdown from Mahomes to Rashee Rice, back after missing two games with a hamstring injury. Lutz added a 45-yarder to make it 7-6, and then Mahomes lofted one over the Denver defense to rookie running back Emmett Johnson, who caught it near his own 40 and outran everyone for a 73-yard touchdown.

Denver got one back late in the half when Bo Nix hit Jaylen Waddle for a touchdown on fourth-and-goal from about 2 feet out with 1:15 left, making it 14-13. Kansas City needed only a minute to restore the cushion. Johnson turned a short pass into a 38-yard gain, and Harrison Butker's 45-yard field goal sent the Chiefs to the locker room up 17-13.

The third quarter was the low point. Denver went three-and-out on all three of its possessions and gained nine yards on nine plays, and the home crowd let the Broncos hear about it. Noah Gray's 4-yard touchdown catch with 1:38 left in the quarter made it 24-13. Per DenverSports.com, citing ESPN, Kansas City had a 92 percent chance to win heading into the fourth.

The Fourth Quarter Belonged to Denver

Nix started the comeback with a nine-play, 80-yard drive that included a 22-yard completion to Adam Trautman. On fourth down from the 2, Nix found tight end Nate Adkins for the touchdown, then hit Waddle for the two-point conversion. It was 24-21 with 8:55 left, and for the second time Denver had cashed in a fourth-and-goal.

Kansas City moved into range for a field goal that would have stretched it back to six, reaching the Denver 30. Alex Singleton sacked Mahomes on third down for a 6-yard loss, and Butker pushed the 54-yard attempt wide right with 2:31 left. Butker has missed 6 of 17 field goal tries this season, per NBC Sports, and the Chiefs signed Justin Tucker to their practice squad last week.

Denver needed two plays to make it hurt. Nix hit rookie running back Jonah Coleman, who turned the catch into a 51-yard gain to the Kansas City 5 at the two-minute warning. Coleman scored from 5 yards out on the next snap, and Denver led 28-24 with 1:56 left.

The Stand

Mahomes and the Chiefs still had plenty of time. Johnson returned the kickoff 44 yards to the Kansas City 44, and two plays later Travis Kelce caught a 32-yarder to the Denver 18. Kansas City had first-and-goal at the 4 with 35 seconds left. Kenneth Walker III ran for 3 yards before Patrick Surtain II brought him down at the 1. Mahomes threw incomplete. Safety JL Skinner stopped Walker for no gain on third down.

Then came the false start that moved fourth down from the 1 to the 6, and Roach's sack. Sean Payton credited the stands for the penalty. "That was huge," Payton said, per DenverSports.com. "They won us the game tonight."

"It's just an incredible stand by them, they just battled and battled on that drive and came out on top," Nix said.

Stars and Survivors

Nix finished 20 of 32 for 222 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions, and he was 5 of 6 for 84 yards and a score in the fourth quarter alone. It was his fourth fourth-quarter comeback win this season. "We went down by 11 in the fourth quarter, and we all could've quit," Nix told CBS after the game, per DenverSports.com. Coleman, filling a bigger role with RJ Harvey on injured reserve, had 41 rushing yards on 11 carries, four catches for 63 yards and the winning touchdown.

Mahomes was sharp in defeat, 30 of 41 for 321 yards and three touchdowns without an interception, ending the first two-game stretch of his career without a touchdown pass. Johnson was the best player on the field for long stretches, with five catches for 128 yards, a touchdown and a 15-yard run. Kelce caught five passes for 67 yards. Walker, who torched Denver for 173 rushing yards in the opener, managed 69 on 21 carries.

The Numbers Behind It

• 15-0 fourth-quarter scoring edge for Denver.
• 3 fourth-and-goal snaps that went Denver's way: two touchdown passes and the final sack.
• 399 to 294 in total yards for Kansas City, which won the stat sheet and lost the game.
• 9 yards of Denver offense in the entire third quarter.
• 200 career wins for Payton, counting playoffs, reached in game No. 320. Per DenverSports.com, only five coaches got there faster.

What It Means

Denver has won four straight, is 4-0 at home and now holds the AFC West lead outright. Sunday was also Payton's 300th regular-season game. "I think the little bit of the curse is that I hate losing probably more than I like winning," Payton said. In our preview we picked Denver 20-17 and braced for a rock fight. We got the winner right, but the 52 combined points blew well past a 40.5 total. Denver has now followed its most lopsided win of the season, a Week 7 rout in Arizona, with its most dramatic one.

The cost: cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine left with an ankle injury in the second quarter, and safety Brandon Jones was ruled out at halftime with a hamstring injury, per the AP. Kansas City lost defensive lineman Peter Woods to a neck injury in the first quarter and played without cornerbacks L'Jarius Sneed and Mansoor Delane.

The Broncos visit Carolina on Nov. 8 before their bye. The Chiefs host the New York Jets the same day, and for now, they are the ones chasing.

Mile High, Loud and Clear

Denver spent seven weeks hearing about 28 missed tackles in Kansas City. On Sunday, the Broncos made every stop that mattered at the end, and the crowd pushed the Chiefs back 5 yards before the final snap. That counts as a tackle in this building.

Stats from game reports by the Associated Press, NBC Sports, Field Level Media and ESPN. Postgame quotes as reported by DenverSports.com.