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Broncos vs. Chiefs: Peyton Manning's third down conversion killed KC

Manning converted on a third-and-7 with less than two minutes remaining, which basically sealed the game for Denver.

Peter Aiken

The Kansas City Chiefs were in it. With only a couple of minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Denver Broncos held the ball with a five point lead, hoping to be able to run out the clock on the Chiefs.

They didn't run out the clock completely but they brought it down to just 14 seconds left for the Chiefs thanks to a key third down conversion from Peyton Manning.

The scene: 1:59 on the clock, third-and-7 from the Chiefs 42-yard line, Broncos leading 14-9.

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This is how the Broncos lined up with Demaryius Thomas on the bottom of your screen. He was being covered by Jalil Brown and Travis Daniels was providing help from the safety position.

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Manning didn't look anywhere else. He was going to Thomas no matter what, which probably meant he saw something in the coverage. In other words, the Chiefs were probably screwed the moment they lined up.

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Perfect throw. Perfect route. Perfect catch.

Not perfect? Brown's coverage, several feet behind Thomas.

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Manning drops it in the perfect spot. Thomas picks up 27 yards, which was 20 more than he needed. The Broncos picked up the first down and essentially closed out the game. The Chiefs only had 14 seconds left when they got the ball back. An incomplete pass on that play and they'd have something like 1:45 remaining to try and win the game.

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