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Broncos rout Chiefs to snap four-game skid

Nov 15, 2010 - 3:38 AM Denver, CO (Sports Network) - Kyle Orton threw for a career-high four touchdowns and 296 yards on 22-of-34 efficiency, as Denver cruised to a 49-29 victory over AFC West rival Kansas City at Mile High Stadium.

Tim Tebow threw his first career pass for a touchdown and ran one in for Denver (3-6), which was coming off its bye week and broke a four-game skid. Knowshon Moreno had a career-high 106 rushing yards, with 50 receiving yards and a touchdown in the win.

"It was exciting to be out there and be able to contribute to the whole team and help," Tebow said. "To be able to throw a pass was a lot of fun."

Matt Cassel completed 33-of-53 passes for 469 yards and four touchdowns for the Chiefs (5-4), while Dwayne Bowe recorded his seventh career game of more than 100 yards receiving by putting up 186 yards and two touchdowns in the loss.

Jamaal Charles had 121 all-purpose yards and a touchdown catch for Kansas City, which has dropped four of its last six games after starting 3-0 and was coming off a 23-20 overtime loss to Oakland.

Denver scored quickly and often during the first quarter. On its first drive, Orton marched the team 80 yards and found Moreno for a 17-yard touchdown only three minutes in. The score was set up by a 37-yard pass to Brandon Lloyd to put the Broncos on the 31-yard line.

"Hopefully this is a performance we can build on and we can improve from here leading into November and December," Denver head coach Josh McDaniels said. "Finally we started fast which is something we've talked about a lot. I thought that was a really good thing for the football team."

Lloyd found the end zone in Denver's next drive when he made a leaping catch of an Orton toss from six yards out to make it 14-0 with 4:19 left in the quarter.

The Broncos went three-for-three on drives after an efficient three-play, 53- yard series that was capped off by Orton's 40-yard deep touchdown pass to Jabar Gaffney.

Five minutes into the second quarter, Tebow easily sprinted to the right side from one-yard out for Denver's fourth touchdown of the game. It's Tebow's second straight game with a rushing touchdown.

The points kept piling up for Denver when Mario Haggan stripped the ball from Cassell on the Chiefs next possession. Jason Hunter scooped up the ball and rumbled 75 yards for a touchdown to make it a 35-0 rout with 5:48 still remaining in the half.

Kansas City broke into the scoring column with 1:28 left in the half. Cassel tossed a short pass to Charles, who sprinted into the end zone from five yards out, to finish off a nine-play, 75-yard drive.

The Chiefs made the contest interesting as time ran out in the half with a six-point swing. Denver's Matt Prater attempted a 58-yard field goal that fell short. Eric Berry fielded the ball deep in his own end zone and scrambled for 87 yards to put the Chiefs on the Broncos' 22-yard line with one second remaining. Ryan Succop drilled the 40-yard field goal to make the halftime score 35-10.

The second half scoring was opened by Denver when Tebow connected on a quick out pass to Spencer Larson, who found paydirt from three yards away. The play capped off a 10- play drive that included a 23 yard catch from Moreno on a 3rd-and-6.

The Chiefs had a chance to cut into the lead with 6:12 left in the third, but they failed to score in four plays from point-blank range. They did find the end zone a little less than four minutes later when Cassel hooked up with Bowe for a 15-yard touchdown making the score 42-17.

Denver tacked on an early fourth quarter touchdown when Orton found Lloyd again on a toe-dragging catch that was originally called incomplete. McDaniels challenge the play and it was reversed after the officials concluded that Lloyd had both feet in before falling out of bounds.

With seven minutes left, the Chiefs faced another 4th-and-goal play and Cassell threw an 11-yard TD to Chris Chambers, who made his first touchdown reception this season. The two-point conversion attempt failed, as Kansas City moved to within 49-23. The visitors added a touchdown with 1:45 left as Cassell found Bowe from 22 yards out but the two point conversion failed.

Game Notes

Kansas City still leads the all-time series, 54-47...Denver plays at San Diego next Monday in a crucial AFC West tilt while the Chiefs host Arizona next Sunday in an interconference matchup...Lloyd had six receptions for 90 yards.