Denver Broncos news: during the Broncos loss to the Chiefs that Denver seemed to have recaptured the Mile High Magic of yesteryear. The repatched secondary did it’s best “No Fly Zone” impression with Joe Woods mixing and matching coverages enough to keep Patrick Mahomes off balance while Musgrave kept Keenum under control enough for the rookie running backs to take over the game.Then the wheels came off the wagon. It’s easy to overreact to what will go down as the most painful defeat Denver’s suffered in the last 3 seasons Courtland Sutton Jersey , but at the end of the day few if any picked the Broncos to beat Kansas City team that had set the world on fire 3 weeks into this season. If you’re a glass half full kind of fan, there’s plenty of reasons for optimism. The rookie class continues to impress time and again. Paradis, McGovern and Leary look solid in the middle and that Broncos D reached heights they didn’t seem capable of. On the other hand, Keenum looks like a bit of a pumpkin at the quarter mark. His heart and leadership do little to mask 6 interceptions and the kind of limiting game a smart coordinator would do well to manage. Musgrave failed to do just that against a Kansas City run defense that looked like wet paper towel. According to Football Outsiders stats, the Chiefs were allowing 8 yards off the left end of the line through 3 weeks, 5 and a half off the left tackle and 10.44 off right tackle. It showed, the Broncos backs were averaging 6.7 yards a carry. Yet they ran it 21 times while Keenum threw 33. Why? Denver Broncos: Case Keenum isn’t the answer at quarterback for Denver - Mile High ReportAs good as Chubb has been, Rosen has been the question eating at the back of my mind everytime I break down Keenum and the Broncos long term future. An elite pass rush can only get you so far in today’s NFL. You need a “guy.” Back before camp opened I did a long film review of Keenum’s tape over the years. I figured Keenum would be a similar player to Jake Plummer for the Broncos. High highs, low lows but an immediate answer at the quarterback position, even if he’s never a player that can carry a 5-win roster on his back to the postseason. He hasn’t been that, yet. My opinion, but it’s too early to throw Chad Kelly into the lineup. However, if the Broncos lose to the Jets and eventually fall to 2-4? It’s time to seriously consider it. New York has the look and feel of a must win if Denver is going to do anything close to contend this year. Get ready to see this play 1,000,000 times. Patrick Mahomes' amazing night includes left-handed passJoe Woods called a great game ‘til he went back to his binky here. Cover 1 on 2nd and long. Chiefs at Broncos: Denver finds a new way to shoot self in foot in heartbreaking loss - Mile High ReportIf you’re a masochist or somehow missed the game, MHR's own Tim Lynch gives a great summary of the fourth quarter here. 5 winners, 6 losers in Denver Broncos loss to the Kansas City Chiefs - Mile High Report6th winner right here....and the unsung losers in black and white. Again.Missed delay-of-game call costs Broncos in lossIf it’s any consolation, Mitchell Schwartz had a heck of a game for Kansas City Geoff. Denver Broncos say referees acknowledged key missed play-clock call in lossJared Veldheer injury: Broncos RT ruled out with knee injury - Mile High ReportTurner played decent considering Dee Ford aggravated his groin injury, but worth monitoring Veldheer's status going forward. Denver will need him against a good Jets defense.Patrick Mahomes sparks Chiefs comeback in win over BroncosThis won’t make you feel better Broncos country, but Mahomes looks like the kind of generational talent that will last a long time in a league that throws flags when someone sneezes on the quarterback.This one will make you feel better: Royce Freeman is every bit as good as he looked when I watched his Oregon tape. He’s a special player. 5 things we learned from Denver Broncos loss to the Kansas City Chiefs - Mile High ReportI’ll be talking more about a lot of these things tomorrow for GIF Horse. On to the rest of the West. Another slow start, but Chargers find their 'juice' from Rivers-Gordon combo - NFL Nation- ESPNNFL Week 4 recap: The 10 best and 5 worst moments from Sunday - SBNation.comCan’t say I disagree. I watched big parts of the Browns-Raiders game and Kolton Miller got the same kind of help from the refs that Baltimore’s tackles did last week. In general the zebras were disgustingly bad in this one, which is barely news in 2018.Jon Gruden has a snippy response to Derek Carr questions after Raiders' OT win - The Washington PostStill think Gruden and Carr will eventually wind up with a messy divorce. Small peaks behind the veil like this reveal a situation that can’t feel rewarding for the Raiders quarterback.Gruden’s trolling here. Simple as that. Raiders fans found it hard to watch — so they left - SFChronicle.comJ-E-T-S a M-E-S-SThe Winners and Losers From NFL Week 4 - The RingerInjury Aftermath: Week 4 | Football OutsidersIf Claiborne can’t go that’d be big for the Broncos. New York has been a top ten defense against wide receivers. Look around the leagueNFL Week 4: 32 things we learned from all the gamesIf you missed the weekend in it’s entirely because the Broncos weren’t playing and want to catch up this is a good place to start.The Five Plays That Explain NFL Week 4 - The RingerSomething I found trending on my Twitter today were Dallas fans laughing at those who questioned Jones taking Leighton Vander Esch in the draft, They happen to ignore that Elliott is currently the only skill position player opposing defenses care about. At all.I’ll talk about this more tomorrow for GIF Horse, but with the emergence of Cincinnati the early AFC playoff race looks like Denver is competing with the Titans, Dolphins, Steelers Royce Freeman Jersey White , and Chargers because the AFC North will have at least two teams.My brother ain’t wearing his Iggles jersey with the same kind of pride anymore. James looks like he’ll be a stalwart at the position for years to come. Lost in the news cycle with Earl Thomas’ bird: Seatte is the first team to convert 0 third downs and win a game in years. Speaking of Earl, though.Report: Chiefs were closing in on a trade for Seahawks safety Earl Thomas - Mile High ReportIt’s a bit dark to celebrate an injury to any player, but Denver is a bit lucky this trade failed to materialize. Thomas is one of, if not the best safety in football when healthy. The last thing Keenum needed was to play him twice a year.By now I’m sure you’ve seen the bird. It was basically the center of the NFL media universe all day Monday. In black-white terms it’s a simple “player vs owner” contract situation that got messy and became really public.My stance is a bit in the middle. You can’t fault the team for playing it safe and maximizing their return on a great contract with a Hall of Fame player, even if it didn’t work out. You also can’t fault Thomas for wanting more long term security. Fans lose sight of this, but unlike the NBA or MLB football players are playing on contracts with little in the way of security. Team’s can cut them with minimal financial damage but players have a short window of time to make the money they’ve trained their entire lives to attain. Lastly, and this is merely speculative: I think this situation with Thomas and the public fallout is going to have a bit of a lasting impact on the perception of the Seahawks to prospective free agents going forward. Players talk across the league and everyone has noticed the way the Legion of Boom was dismembered. Le'Veon Bell talks on Earl Thomas injury, willing to be 'bad guy' | SI.comWhich made the decision by Bell to return an interesting one, to say the least.Report: Le’Veon Bell will report to Steelers during Week Seven bye – ProFootballTalkBut will he return to Pittsburgh? What happens next with Le’Veon Bell? – ProFootballTalkSecond, the Steelers could trade him before the Tuesday after Week Eight, when the window for doing so closes. Once he signs with the Steelers, he indeed can be traded, to any team. A tentative deal could be negotiate now, with the understanding that the trade would happen once Bell shows up.Eric Reid wears an #IMWITHKAP shirt as he speaks to the Carolina media for the first time.Carolina Panthers' Eric Reid weighs whether to protest during anthemLastly, a peek at The Draft Network’s Monday Mock draft. In case you missed it, I spoke with Kyle Crabbs for MHR for a recent 3 & Out.Crabbs' 2019 NFL Mock Draft 2.0 - Page 2 of 3 - The Draft NetworkWhat say you Broncos Country? The Denver Broncos reeled off big run after big run against the soft underbelly of the Kansas City Chiefs defense.Phillip Lindsay and Royce Freeman ran roughshod over the Chiefs. Each scored a touchdown and Freeman聽eluded seven defenders聽and dragged a linebacker into the end zone on his 14-yard score.“We ran the ball well,” Broncos quarterback Case Keenum said. “We started off so many series just pounding the rock at second-and-1, first-and-10. Even with some loaded boxes that K.C. brought, our offensive line played really well.“We’ve got to keep running the ball well. If we keep running the ball like we do, we’re going to win a lot of games.”Nobody could stop Lindsay and Freeman Monday night 鈥?except Broncos offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave, who abandoned his great ground game at key moments in the聽Broncos’ 27-23 loss聽.That included a three-and-out series in which the Broncos lined up in three-receiver sets three times in between the Chiefs’ final two drives, both of which ended in touchdowns as Patrick Mahomes rallied the Chiefs (4-0) back from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit.Lindsay ran for 69 yards on a dozen carries for a 5.8-yard average and Freeman ran for 67 yards on just eight hand-offs, a whopping 8.4-yard average.Lindsay’s long run was 19 yards and both Freeman and speedy wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders reeled off 18-yard runs.“They ran downhill, but you score points by throwing the football,” Broncos coach Vance Joseph said. “We ran the ball to control the game, but you throw the ball to score.”Clinging to a 23-20 lead Courtland Sutton Jersey White , the Broncos didn’t burn enough clock to keep Mahomes on the sideline and give Denver’s exhausted defense enough of a breather.After a run for no gain, a catch for no gain and a sack, Marquette King shanked a 35-yard punt that gave the Chiefs the ball at midfield for their game-winning drive.The Chiefs ran well themselves, with Kareem Hunt leading the way with 121 yards on 19 carries.“It was a big game,” Hunt said. “We’ve been up big on everyone we’ve played so far. It’s good to see where we’re at mentally and be able to fight back and come back in the fourth quarter down 10 points. That shows a team that’s not going to give up.”Other takeaways from the Chiefs’ sixth straight victory over the Broncos:MAGIC MAHOMESPatrick Mahomes threw for 304 yards and a touchdown, a 2-yarder to tight end Travis Kelce that sparked the fourth-quarter comeback. That gave him 14 TDs and zero interceptions through the first month of the season.But聽the play everyone was talking was his 6-yard strike to Tyreek Hill with his left hand while getting pulled down by Von Miller聽.“I didn’t think about it at all,” Mahomes said. “I was just kind of scrambling left, I felt Von on my back and I knew I couldn’t throw it with my right hand. I knew we needed the first down, so I kind of shot-putted it to Tyreek. … You just have to get the ball in their hand somehow.”“It caught me off-guard,” Hill said. “I’ve never seen a quarterback who is right-handed throw the ball left-handed.”Said Hunt: “I thought, is this dude a magician or something? He is doing things that you don’t see often.”Or ever, suggested Chiefs safety Eric Murray.“That one is new,” Murray said. “I’m glad we all got to see it.”Miller didn’t see it.He was wrapped around Mahomes’ ankles trying to bring down the second-year star.“I didn’t know he threw it with his left hand,” Miller conceded.Neither did linebacker Shane Ray.“I didn’t see the hand switch,” Ray said. “I heard about it.”Along with everyone else.KEENUM CONUNDRUMThrough one month, Case Keenum isn’t the same quarterback who led the Minnesota Vikings to the NFC championship in January after injuries to Sam Bradford and Teddy Bridgewater.So far, Keenum has just three touchdown passes to go with six interceptions with the Broncos after throwing for 22 TDs and just seven interceptions.“We believe in Case and he’s shown he can win games late for us,” Joseph said.Keenum nearly pulled off his third fourth-quarter comeback for the Broncos but he overthrew a wide-open Demaryius Thomas streaking down the Chiefs sideline with 16 seconds left from the K.C. 28.“It was close,” Keenum said. “I want to watch it on film. But it felt really close. There’s a few, especially those types of plays that I lose a little sleep over, thinking about it, laying at night in bed. It’s a tough one, it stings.”KING’S STINGThe Broncos brought in a practice squad punter to push King last week but he continued his disappointing first season in Denver by averaging just 41 yards on three punts with a paltry net of 28.7.His 35-yard duck gave the Chiefs the ball at their 40 with 4 1/2 minutes left.“He’s got to perform better,” Joseph said. “We’re at home and it’s his job to flip the field. It ain’t happening.”<div class=”stanzacal” data-width=”100%” data-height=”250px” ></div> <script src=”https://dff2h0hbfv6w4.cloudfront.net/scr...stanzacal-v1.js” type=”text/javascript”></script>