The biggest play of the Broncos’ win wasn’t even a play at all. With the game tied at 13 and Denver facing a fourth-and-2 at the Kansas City 9-yard line with two minutes to play, the Broncos lined up to go for it on fourth down. Harvey lined up in the backfield in the wildcat formation and appeared poised to try to ice the game with a conversion. But there was no play — and there was never going to be a play.

“We were going to take the penalty [and] kick the field goal,” Head Coach Sean Payton said after the game. “That was the plan.”

Chiefs defensive lineman Chris Jones, though, jumped across the line of scrimmage — and Quinn Meinerz reacted to seal the penalty call. It was the first penalty of the night called against the Chiefs and came in a big moment. With a new set of downs, Denver was able to force the Chiefs to use their first two timeouts.

“Obviously, that changed the complexity of the clock,” Payton said. “That was a big play.”

And, when Nix found Harvey three plays later on third-and-goal from the 1-yard line, it also forced the Chiefs into needing a touchdown rather than a field goal.

“It was covered initially and then he kind of climbed — and then [Harvey’s] got receiver skill sets. I couldn’t see the angle, and I heard the cheer and I just said, ‘Please tell me that’s not an interception.’ It was loud enough that I didn’t know if it was a Kansas City cheer. Fortunately, it was the Bronco cheer. I’m sure it was heck of a throw and catch. To score seven, it greatly changes the dynamic with their kicker. … That greatly changed the outcome of the game that they needed a touchdown.”

In a grind-it-out game, the Broncos recorded four scoring drives of at least 14 plays — and three of the drives lasted at least eight minutes. Denver nearly doubled up Kansas City in the time-of-possession battle and controlled the game, even if the scoreboard didn’t always reflect it. The Broncos converted 11-of-18 third downs to keep drives alive, and they had a pair of 14-play second-half touchdown drives that helped Denver earn the win.