As the Kansas City Chiefs await word on the severity of Patrick Mahomes' knee injury, which forced him to exit Thursday night's game and could just wreck their Super Bowl aspirations, they can at least take solace in the fact that they ended their two-game losing streak with a 30-6 victory the Denver Broncos. The Chiefs found a way to win the game in spite of the fact that Mahomes exited when the team had just a seven-point lead. The severity of Mahomes' knee injury has not yet been confirmed, but he reportedly suffered a dislocated patella. 

Here are takeaways from Mahomes' injury and the Chiefs dominating victory over the Broncos behind a defense that came alive.

Patrick Mahomes suffered an ugly injury, so what happens now for the Chiefs and the QB? Ryan Wilson, John Breech and Sean Wagner-McGough joined Will Brinson to break everything down. Listen in the player below, and be sure to subscribe here for daily NFL goodness.

Why the Chiefs won

The Chiefs defense rose to the occasion when Patrick Mahomes was lost for the game with a knee injury, delivering the performance needed to get the win in Denver. Since Mahomes went down, the Broncos didn't score a point as the Chiefs defense outscored them. Reggie Ragland recovered a fumble by Flacco and scored a touchdown as a result of a sack by Anthony Hitchens to put the Chiefs up 20-6, basically putting the game out of reach for Denver's anemic offense. 

In the Broncos' 10 possessions after Mahomes left the game, they ran 47 plays for 145 yards and allowed a touchdown, averaging 3.1 yards per play. The Chiefs had nine sacks and there forced fumbles, holding the Broncos to just 205 total yards on the night. They certainly made life easy for backup quarterback Matt Moore. 

Why the Broncos lost

The Broncos turned in one of the most anemic offensive performances in the NFL this season. It's hard to believe Denver had a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to start the game after not getting past the Chiefs' 27-yard line the rest of the way. Sina the opening drive, Denver ran 55 plays for a total of 150 yards, an average of 2.7 yards per play. The Broncos went just 1 for 13 on third down and averaged 3.2 yards per play on the night. Joe Flacco was sacked nine times and averaged 3.1 yards per pass attempt. The Broncos didn't get any help in the run game either, averaging just 3.4 yards per carry. The result: Seven punts, two turnovers on downs, a fumble, a missed field goal and a pathetic fake punt attempt while Denver was trailing 10-6. No NFL team is winning a game with an offensive performance like the one Denver put up Thursday. The Broncos have some serious work to do. Perhaps it's time for a quarterback change. 

Turning point

Mahomes' injury was the story of this game and changed the entire dynamic of the Chiefs season. Mahomes landed awkwardly on his knee after converting a fourth and 1 sneak with 10 minutes to play in the second quarter at the Broncos ' 3-yard line. The reigning league MVP was down for several minutes before walking off under his own power and refusing assistance from a cart. Matt Moore entered the game and completed 10 of 19 passes for 117 yards and a touchdown (87.1 passer rating) managing the game as the Chiefs defense kept the Broncos offense off the board. 

The Chiefs proved they can win without Mahomes on this night, but have much tougher challenges with the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings coming up. Moore will get 10 days to work with the first-team offense and have more reps as the starting quarterback. The veteran played well managing the game Thursday night, but he can be even better going forward. 

Play of the Game

Matt Moore didn't have the most impressive night, but the Chiefs No. 2 quarterback did show the team is still capable of having big plays with him under center -- thanks to Tyreek Hill. The Chiefs' only touchdown with Moore was achieved thanks to the big-play ability of Hill, who caught a 57-yard touchdowns pass from Moore to put the Chiefs up 27-6 midway through the third quarter. Moore stepped up in the pocket to avoid the rush from Von Miller and floated a pass to Hill, who breezed past Chris Harris Jr. for the long touchdown. 

Hill has made an impact in this offense since this return, catching three touchdowns in two games. He had three catches for 74 yards on the night. 

Quotable 

"I'm old. You know that old saying 'You're only as good a the next one.' That's true in the National Football League. I've been around long enough to know that." - Chiefs head coach Andy Reid on winning his 200th regular season game as a NFL head coach. 

Reid is just the seventh head coach to win 200 regular season games in his career, tying him with Marty Schottenheimer for sixth on the all-time list. Reid is the winningest head coach in Philadelphia Eagles history, going 130-93-1 in 14 seasons with the Eagles, winning six NFC East championships, made the NFC Championship Game five times and winning it once in 2004 (lost Super Bowl XXXIX with the Patriots). He went 10-9 in the postseason with the Eagles.

In 21 seasons with the Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs, Reid is 200-126-1 (.612 winning percentage) with nine division titles, six conference championship game appearances, and a Super Bowl appearance. Reid has a .680 win percentage with the Chiefs and is 12-14 in his postseason career. 

Up next

The Chiefs (5-2) remain in first place in the AFC West and will have 10 days off before a showdown against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football in Kansas City. The Broncos (2-5) will have 10 days off to regroup before traveling to Indianapolis to face the Colts. 

Below, we have more information and analysis from our live blog during the game. Catch up on everything you missed. 

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