Broncos beat Chiefs: 2 mistakes by Romeo Crennel cost Kansas City

Romeo Crennel made a couple of in-game management mistakes that really stood out following the KC Chiefs 17-9 loss to the Denver Broncos.

I'm not piling on here. And I'm not really pointing out anything someone else hasn't said before. But those mistakes on Sunday really stood out to me. And at least one should've fairly easily been avoided.

Chiefs should've gone for it once, maybe twice

The Chiefs first two possessions presented an opportunity to go for it on fourth down. Except, Romeo Crennel doesn't view fourth down as an extra opportunity.

On the Chiefs first possession, they faced a 4th-and-3 from the Broncos 16-yard line. The Chiefs elected to take the points, and kicked the field goal. The other option is to go for it. Given the state of the game, I can't blame Romeo for kicking the field goal there.

But the Chiefs had driven 56 yards down the field in 10 plays, They had been running the ball well. And against Peyton Manning, there's always the argument that you should go for it on fourth and short. Not saying I disagree with the call, because I think the field goal is the one I would've made, but the fourth down argument is there.

(Note: This is also the "Peyton Hillis has a good arm!" drive)

On the Chiefs second possession, they faced a 4th-and-2 from the Broncos 4-yard line. Prime opportunity to go for it. The Chiefs were averaging 10 yards a play on that drive.

I keep coming back to the Manning argument: you can't settle for field goals against him.

The Chiefs settled. They took the points.

The extra four points may not have made a difference in the final score as you see it now, but getting up to a two-score advantage that early could've changed the dynamics of the game at that time. I think the Chiefs made the wrong decision here.

In some defense of Romeo, he did go for it on a 4th-and-1 later in the game. And he was rewarded for it. Sometimes going for it on fourth down isn't so bad.

John Rieger-US PRESSWIRE

The wasted timeout

With 6:35 in the game, and the Chiefs facing a 4th-and-6 at the Broncos 46-yard line, Crennel called a timeout. That caused this reaction from me:

If the Chiefs just used a timeout there they better be going for it. No other reason to.

— Arrowhead Pride (@ArrowheadPride) November 25, 2012

Out walked Dustin Colquitt and the Chiefs punted it away. Whaaaat?

This wasn't even one of those "hindsight is 20/20" things. Everyone knew right then and there that the timeout was a bad move. And, you know what? It was. The Broncos ran the play clock down nearly the full 40 seconds on two of their last three plays. The Chiefs took their last timeout at 1:48. They got the ball back with 14 seconds left. They could've used an extra 40 seconds (...even if the offense probably wouldn't have scored).

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Enjoy BJ Kissel's rendition of the wasted timeout: