National Football League
Kansas City 7, Denver 3
When: 4:15 PM ET, Sunday, January 1, 2012
Where: Sports Authority Field at Mile High, Denver, Colorado
Temperature: 35°
Head Official: Peter Morelli
Attendance: 76005

Dexter McCluster’s 21-yard touchdown run in the first quarter stood up and Kyle Orton returned to Denver and helped the Kansas City Chiefs temporarily prevent the Broncos from clinching the AFC West title with a 7-3 victory on Sunday.

Denver, though, clinched the West several minutes later when the Oakland Raiders lost to the San Diego Chargers 38-26.

The Broncos (8-8), who are the No. 4 seed, will host No. 5 Pittsburgh on Sunday in a wild card playoff in their first postseason appearance since 2005.

Orton threw for 180 yards in his highly anticipated matchup against the Broncos. He exacted revenge from the team that replaced him with Tim Tebow after Week 5 and released him Nov. 22.

Tebow faced constant pressure and finished 6-of-22 passing for only 60 yards as the Chiefs' secondary smothered Denver’s receivers all game long. Tebow also rushed for only 16 yards and lost a fumble on one of the Broncos’ two trips into the red zone.

Willis McGahee rushed for 145 yards and the Broncos, who led the NFL with 161.1 entering Week 17, finished with 216.

Tebow had a last chance to engineer his seventh second-half comeback victory of the season, but was intercepted on 4th-and-2 at the Kansas City 43 by Brandon Carr with 8 seconds left.

Matt Prater kicked a 38-yard field goal with 8:11 left in the third quarter, three plays after the Chiefs’ Javier Arenas muffed a punt.

McCluster's first career rushing touchdown came with 11 seconds left in the opening period.

The Broncos moved to the Kansas City 15 midway through the second quarter, but the drive ended with Tebow’s fumble.

Top Game Performances
Rushing
Kansas City   Denver
Dexter McCluster Player Willis McGahee
12 Attempts 28
61 Yards 145
5.1 Avg Yards 5.2
1 Touchdowns 0
21 Long 15
Receiving
Kansas City   Denver
Dwayne Bowe Player Demaryius Thomas
6 Receptions 3
93 Yards 34
15.5 Avg Yards 11.3
0 Touchdowns 0
22 Long 17
Team Stats Summary
 
  Yards Scoring Defense
Team Tot Rus Pas TD FG INT Sck FF
Kansas City 281 106 175 1 0 1 2.0 1
Denver 266 216 50 0 1 0 1.0 0
Upcoming Games
  • Denver will play their next game at home against Pittsburgh. The Broncos have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .000 after a loss.