GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: NFL: KANSAS CITY (4-8) at DENVER (5-7)

NFL: KANSAS CITY (4-8) at DENVER (5-7)

<h3>Broncos face must win vs. Chiefs</h3>



<div class="pre">Kansas City (4-8) at Denver (5-7) 4:15 pm EST</div>

DENVER (Ticker) -- A miserable two-game road trip has the DenverBroncos' playoff hopes on the verge of extinction.

Denver faces a must win when it hosts the Kansas City Chiefs onSunday in an AFC West matchup.


Back-to-back losses at Chicago and Oakland have left the Broncostwo games back of the Cleveland Browns for the final wild cardspot in the AFC.


A leaky defense has been the main culprit for the recenttailspin. Denver allowed 71 points in the past two losses andhas yielded at least 34 points five times this season.

Justin Fargas rushed for 146 yards and a touchdown on acareer-high 33 carries as the Oakland Raiders snapped afive-game losing streak against the Broncos with a 34-20 victorylast weekend.


Four turnovers contributed to the defeat, which left Denver twogames behind division-leading San Diego.


"We're going to have to play much better ... if we're going tobe in the mix," Shanahan said. "You can't play like we did andexpect to win in the postseason."


The Broncos fought back from a 17-point deficit to close within24-20 early in the fourth quarter but the Raiders scored thefinal 10 points to snuff out the comeback.


The previous week, Denver led by two touchdowns with 10 1/2minutes to play but allowed the Bears to score twice in thefinal 5:17 to force overtime.


The situation is even more dire for Kansas City, which hasdropped five straight games since taking over the division leadwith a 12-10 victory over Oakland on October 21.


The spiral coincided with an injury to star running back LarryJohnson, who is expected to miss his fifth consecutive gameSunday with a mid-foot sprain.


Backup Priest Holmes also was injured and opted to retire,leaving rookie Kolby Smith to carry the running game.

A fifth-round pick, Smith has performed admirably with 233 yardsand two touchdowns in his two starts, but spotty play atquarterback continues to doom the Chiefs.


Brodie Croyle supplanted Damon Huard as the starter in Week 10but he suffered a back injury and missed last week's 24-10 lossto the Chargers.


Croyle may sit out Sunday's game as well, putting the onus onHuard to try and snap Denver's streak of six straight home winsagainst Kansas City.

 

NFL: KANSAS CITY at DENVER

<div class="pre">NFL
KANSAS CITY 0
DENVER 0 14:55 LEFT, 1ST QTR

DEN BALL ON DEN 24 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: KANSAS CITY at DENVER

<div class="pre">NFL TD DEN
BRANDON STOKLEY 21 YD PASS FROM JAY CUTLER
(JASON ELAM KICK)

KANSAS CITY 0
DENVER 7 13:20 LEFT, 1ST QTR</div>

 

NFL: KANSAS CITY at DENVER

<div class="pre">NFL TD DEN
BRANDON STOKLEY 21 YD PASS FROM JAY CUTLER
(JASON ELAM KICK)

KANSAS CITY 0
DENVER 7 13:20 LEFT, 1ST QTR</div>

 

NFL: KANSAS CITY at DENVER

<div class="pre">NFL
KANSAS CITY 0
DENVER 7 13:19 LEFT, 1ST QTR

KAN BALL ON KAN 28 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: KANSAS CITY at DENVER

<div class="pre">NFL
KANSAS CITY 0
DENVER 7 11:04 LEFT, 1ST QTR

DEN BALL ON DEN 16 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: KANSAS CITY at DENVER

<div class="pre">NFL TD DEN
TRAVIS HENRY 1 YD RUN
(JASON ELAM KICK)

KANSAS CITY 0
DENVER 14 7:13 LEFT, 1ST QTR</div>

 

NFL: KANSAS CITY at DENVER

<div class="pre">NFL
KANSAS CITY 0
DENVER 14 7:06 LEFT, 1ST QTR

KAN BALL ON KAN 29 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: KANSAS CITY at DENVER

<div class="pre">NFL
KANSAS CITY 0
DENVER 14 4:43 LEFT, 1ST QTR

DEN BALL ON DEN 17 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: KANSAS CITY at DENVER

<div class="pre">NFL
KANSAS CITY 0
DENVER 14 3:04 LEFT, 1ST QTR

KAN BALL ON KAN 34 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: KANSAS CITY at DENVER

<div class="pre">NFL
KANSAS CITY 0
DENVER 14 2:02 LEFT, 1ST QTR

DEN BALL ON DEN 25 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: KANSAS CITY at DENVER

<div class="pre">NFL
KANSAS CITY 0
DENVER 14 0:00 LEFT, 1ST QTR

KAN BALL ON KAN 37 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: KANSAS CITY at DENVER

<div class="pre">NFL END, 1ST QTR 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
KANSAS CITY 0 0
DENVER 14 14 END, 1ST QTR

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST QUARTER: DEN - TD, BRANDON STOKLEY 21 YD PASS FROM JAY
CUTLER (JASON ELAM KICK), 1:40.
Drive: 4 plays, 77 yards in 1:40.
Key plays: Young 50-yard run to
Kansas City 21. DENVER 7-0
DEN - TD, TRAVIS HENRY 1 YD RUN (JASON ELAM
KICK), 7:47. Drive: 7 plays, 84
yards in 3:51. Key plays: Cutler
28-yard pass to Graham to Denver
49; Young 17-yard run to Kansas
City 34; Cutler 22-yard pass to
Marshall to Kansas City 6. DENVER
14-0</div>

 

NFL: KANSAS CITY at DENVER

<div class="pre">NFL KANSAS CITY 0
DENVER 14 14:55 LEFT, 2ND QTR</div>

 

NFL: KANSAS CITY at DENVER

<div class="pre">NFL TD KAN
TONY GONZALEZ 15 YD PASS FROM BRODIE CROYLE
(JOHN CARNEY KICK)

KANSAS CITY 7
DENVER 14 6:09 LEFT, 2ND QTR</div>

 

NFL: KANSAS CITY at DENVER

<div class="pre">NFL
KANSAS CITY 7
DENVER 14 6:03 LEFT, 2ND QTR

DEN BALL ON DEN 29 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>

 

NFL: KANSAS CITY at DENVER

<div class="pre">NFL TWO MINUTE WARNING, 1ST HALF

KANSAS CITY 7
DENVER 14

DEN BALL ON KAN 8 YD LINE
2ND AND 7</div>

 

NFL: KANSAS CITY at DENVER

<div class="pre">NFL TD DEN
BRANDON MARSHALL 9 YD PASS FROM JAY CUTLER
(JASON ELAM KICK)

KANSAS CITY 7
DENVER 21 1:55 LEFT, 2ND QTR</div>

 

NFL: KANSAS CITY at DENVER

<div class="pre">NFL TD DEN
BRANDON MARSHALL 9 YD PASS FROM JAY CUTLER
(JASON ELAM KICK)

KANSAS CITY 7
DENVER 21 1:55 LEFT, 2ND QTR</div>

 

NFL: KANSAS CITY at DENVER

<div class="pre">NFL
KANSAS CITY 7
DENVER 21 1:47 LEFT, 2ND QTR

KAN BALL ON KAN 49 YD LINE
1ST AND 10</div>