The Kansas City Chiefs spent most of Saturday’s road matchup against the Denver Broncos playing catch-up. They took a brief three-point lead early in the third quarter, but Denver quickly answered with a 47-yard touchdown from Melvin Gordon III to retake the lead. A Chiefs field goal cut that lead to 21-20, but Denver was driving to extend its lead.
That’s when the Kansas City defense stepped up to make one of the best plays of the season.
With the ball at the nine, Gordon was stuffed in the backfield by linebacker Melvin Ingram III, and he lost possession. Nick Bolton scooped it, shrugged off a would-be tackler in Denver quarterback Drew Lock and found paydirt 87 yards later. That touchdown ultimately proved to be decisive in a 28-24 win for the Chiefs.
Melvin Ingram forces the fumble on Melvin Gordon 😱 @brgridiron
Chiefs returns it 86 yards
(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/XVc2phm0q3
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 9, 2022
The play preserved Kansas City’s hopes at earning the top seed in the AFC playoffs, a spot it is currently battling for with the Tennessee Titans. It also established Ingram as the NFL’s One True Melvin (there can only be one, I don’t make the rules).
That's the most incredible play a guy named "Melvin ______ III" has ever made against another guy named "Melvin _____ III"
— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) January 9, 2022
The Chiefs, who finished the regular season at 12-5, still need some help if they’re going to clinch a bye during the wild card round, and the odds don’t exactly look great.
In spite of the win in Week 18, they still need a loss from the Titans, who conclude the season with a road matchup against the 4-12 Houston Texans. It would take a fairly massive upset for Kansas City to avoid playing next weekend, but the victory keeps that scenario in play.
Regardless of how the seeding ultimately breaks down, it’s been a phenomenal turnaround for the Chiefs during the second half of the season. The defending AFC Champions — who began the year just 3-4 and looked like they could miss the playoffs entirely — have rallied in recent weeks. Kansas City is 9-1 since then with the only slipup coming against Cincinnati last week.
As one of the hottest teams in the league right now, the Chiefs will be a popular pick to emerge out of the scrum of similarly situated AFC teams. If the Texans can stun Tennessee, Kansas City will need to win one less game to make that happen.
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