Clayton: Loss to the Chiefs makes the Broncos playoff road tricky

The biggest Broncos game since Super Bowl turned into the biggest dud. The Kansas City Chiefs easily handled the Broncos on Sunday night, winning 22-9.

There were some positives, however. The defense held Patrick Mahomes to 184 passing yards. Javonte Williams was a beast. He rushed for 102 yards on 23 carries. He caught six passes for 76 yards.

But the Broncos couldn’t generate points or touchdowns. And when you play the Chiefs, you have to come up with touchdowns, not field goals. The Broncos had to wait until 9:12 in the fourth quarter to get their only touchdown.

This game put the Chiefs in a stronger position to win the AFC West and it put the Broncos is a tough spot in the AFC playoff race. It’s a crazy playoff race in the AFC. Nine AFC teams have winning records. Five have .500 records. The Miami Dolphins are back in the hunt even though are 6-7. They have won five in a row.

The Broncos closing schedule isn’t friendly. They do have easy game against Detroit. But they have to play Kansas City again; they just can’t beat Kansas City. They also have to play Cincinnati, Las Vegas and the Los Angeles Chargers.

Despite giving big contract extensions to Courtland Sutton and Tim Patrick, the receiver duo was a non-factor in the team’s biggest game. Sutton had two catches for 15 yards. Patrick had only one catch for eight yards.

This game wasn’t pretty. Now the Broncos have to really work hard to try to make the playoffs.