Broncos vs. Chiefs: The good, bad and ugly

The Kansas City Chiefs lost a heartbreaker to the Denver Broncos on Thursday night. Here's the good, bad and ugly from the Chiefs 31-24 loss...

The good

Eric Berry.

Jaye Howard. He was credited with a team-high seven tackles. He was in the backfield on a few occasions. I haven't re-watched all of the game yet but at the stadium he popped out at you. He was more disruptive than I remember seeing him. He's one of the players we would be talking about more if the Chiefs had won the game.

Jaye Howard has been everywhere

— Jeff Fawver (@Jtfawver) September 18, 2015

Jaye Howard, my god man

— Nic Reese (@HisDirknesS) September 18, 2015

Jamaal Charles (non-fumbles edition): 21 carries for 125 yards. Back to his usual six yards per carry self.  His four receptions only netted two yards but that Jamaal has nine catches through two games is a good sign for the Chiefs offense because he is good with the ball in his hands.

The rookie TE. Hey, James O'Shaughnessy! Two catches -- one for 24 yards and another for 30 yards. His second one he really showed some burst down the sideline, and it came at a critical time. Here's a guy from Illinois State who is playing late in one of the biggest games of the year. Like when Jamaal is involved in the passing game, the Chiefs are a better team when they have two capable tight ends.

Marcus Peters. Let's get this straight. In his first NFL snap, he picks one off. In his second NFL game, he takes one to the house against Peyton Manning. The Chiefs had just six interceptions last year; there was no way they were going to have that few this year. Peters is a big part of that. He wasn't perfect but no one expected him to be. He impressed The Godfather Gil Brandt.

Marcus Peters making early bid for defensive rookie of the year.

— Gil Brandt (@Gil_Brandt) September 18, 2015

The Chiefs should have won that game. Let me explain myself before you yell at me. They had a touchdown lead with two and a half minutes left in the game. They didn't win, of course. But for long-term prospects, they had the Broncos on the ropes. Five turnovers and they almost won. That they can have those mistakes and still be in the game has me feeling more confident against other good-not-great teams on the schedule like Cincinnati, Minnesota and Detroit.

Arrowhead. She looked great last night. The field looked fantastic and the crowd was outstanding. The Broncos timeout on their second drive felt like an Arrowhead induced timeout.

The bad

Alex Smith. There was the pair of 30-yard passes to Jeremy Maclin and James O'Shaughnessy. There was the 29-yard pass to Travis Kelce. There was even that hop slide thing. There were some good things. It's just impossible to ignore Smith's two turnovers, especially because of where they came. The first one was intercepted by Aqib Talib and set the Broncos up on the 15-yard line where they would go in and score a touchdown. That's seven points right there. The other one came in the fourth quarter but the Chiefs ended up stopping the Broncos, getting it back and scoring a touchdown. They recovered from it. That's why I have Smith here and not in the ugly section (please tell me how much you disagree with that). They were still in position to win after their scoring drive late in the fourth quarter.

DAT fumble. The Chiefs' DeAnthony Thomas fumbled on a punt return at the start of the second quarter. The Chiefs ended up stuffing the Broncos on third and one on the following drive and forcing a punt (and then the Chiefs went down and scored). So it didn't really matter but that's one of those five turnovers.

Stupid people on the Internet.

Both extremes on these Jamaal Charles reactions pic.twitter.com/4XiZOx7RlG

— Arrowhead Pride (@ArrowheadPride) September 18, 2015

Von Miller's shot on Alex Smith. I mean, what was that? It almost happened later in the game with a Broncos defensive lineman. I don't remember seeing that very often.

Dirty Donkos pic.twitter.com/EDhagfxmn8

— Clay Wendler (@ClayWendler) September 18, 2015

Sean Smith. See Jamell Fleming below.

The ugly

Jamell Fleming. Peyton Manning picked on him. You know what it reminded me of? Marcus Cooper getting lit up by Manning in 2013. Manning is a veteran and he found someone he could challenge and he did it. It's no different than the Broncos giving CJ Anderson 32 carries in a game last year -- they'll find the weakness and exploit it. There was a potential interception that was missed on the Broncos final drive that would have ended this whole thing. But the game ended the way it did and Fleming is already taking a lot of heat from Chiefs fans. The question now is how he responds.

Andy Reid's decisions. The curious decision to throw three consecutive times after a first and goal from the two yard line. And none of those passes actually made it to the end zone. The Chiefs had six plays on each of their first two fourth quarter drives and Jamaal Charles touched it once on each of those drives. When he did touch it four times on the third drive that quarter, the Chiefs scored a touchdown. Then there's the Fleming situation. The Chiefs didn't seem to have an answer as Manning targeted Fleming four times on the final drive.

Jamaal Charles (fumbles edition). This is tough because Jamaal Charles is one of if not the most important player on team. However, he had two major mistakes on Thursday night. His first fumble came in the first quarter when the Chiefs were on the verge of scoring at the five yard line. That took away points. The second one is what ended the game. You don't blame Jamaal for mistakes very often but as he said after the game he is one of those responsible for the loss.