DENVER - The Kansas City Chiefs rediscovered their mojo but lost their maestro.
The Chiefs rallied around their fallen superstar and snapped a two-game skid with a 30-6 thrashing of the Denver Broncos on Thursday night after reigning NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes dislocated his right knee in a pileup near the goal line in the first half.
"I've never seen anything like that on the field before," Denver defensive end Shelby Harris said. "His knee was literally all the way to the side, his kneecap was. I wish him the best. We definitely need him in the league, he's definitely a big attraction in the league.
"You never want to see anyone get hurt, especially like that. I hope everything is good and I hope he has a speedy recovery."
Chiefs coach Andy Reid said after the game that didn't know how serious the quarterback's injury was but added the team is "good with whatever direction this thing goes."
Kansas City backup Matt Moore threw a 57-yard touchdown pass to Tyreek Hill, and the Chiefs (5-2) were stellar on defense, collecting nine sacks and allowing a season-low 71 rushing yards to earn an eighth straight win against the Broncos (2-5).
Already with his balky left ankle heavily taped, Mahomes was 10-of-11 passing for 76 yards and a touchdown before getting injured on a successful sneak on fourth-and-inches at the Denver 5 early in the second quarter.
One by one, players peeled off the pile. When Mahomes didn't get up, the stadium grew quiet, Broncos players knelt and some Chiefs stormed away in anguish as their quarterback ripped off his helmet and covered his face.
Broncos cornerback Chris Harris Jr. went over to shake Mahomes' hand as he awaited medical help, his right knee stuck in an awkward angle.
"Hopefully he's not too injured for the season," Harris said. "He's great for our league, he's a great player. So hopefully he's not hurt too bad."
As players milled about nervously, team medical personnel appeared to pop Mahomes' right knee back in place before he was helped from the field and taken into the locker room.
"Excited for the win," Moore said. "At the same time, a guy like Patrick goes down it can be deflating."
Before he got hurt, Mahomes became the fastest player in NFL history to throw for 7,500 yards, doing so in just his 25th game.
"You feel for anybody that has something that looks like it may be pretty serious," Broncos quarterback Joe Flacco said. "That's not just other quarterbacks; that's everybody. But man, a young guy like that who's starting off his career the way he has and starting off this season the way he has, it's definitely not easy to watch guys go down with injuries like that. I hope that he's all right."
Mahomes, who has 15 touchdowns and one interception this season in his third year as a pro, didn't speak with reporters after the game. However, he did lead the "breakdown" in the winning locker room, praising the defense and the 35-year-old Moore, who finished 10-of-19 passing for 117 yards.
"Just seeing him in the locker room after the game, standing on his feet and just super optimistic about everything, I think that shows one more time how strong of a man he is and how good of leader he is," said offensive guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif. "He said, 'I'm going to get better, we're going to get this team back on track,' and it was great to just see him walk and smile at the end."
The Broncos had won two straight and were aiming to turn the AFC West upside down by handling the Chiefs their third straight loss. But the Chiefs, who were 24th in the league with just 11 sacks coming in, sacked Flacco a career-high eight times and held Denver's running backs in check after allowing an average of 190 over their previous four games.
When Flacco did stay upright to deliver deep passes, they fell incomplete. Rookie tight end Noah Fant dropped three passes that would have totaled more than 100 yards, and Denver converted just one of 13 third downs into a first down.
"This is about as bad an offense as I've seen," Fox NFL analyst Troy Aikman exclaimed at one point. "I'm shocked there's as many people still here at the game."
Flacco, who was sacked five times and knocked down eight more times in 15 first-half dropbacks, was sack-stripped by linebacker Anthony Hutchins on the next series, and linebacker Reggie Ragland scooped up the loose ball at the 5 and rumbled into the end zone for a 20-6 halftime lead.
The Chiefs even sacked punter Colby Wadman, who had nowhere to throw the ball on a failed fake punt that gave Kansas City the ball at the Broncos' 38 on the drive that ended with Mahomes' injury.
Other special teams follies included missing a 45-yard field-goal attempt, allowing a 37-yard punt return and failing to punch it in from a yard out on a 2-point conversion.
The Broncos went ahead 7-0 when Royce Freeman took it in from a yard out, but first-year head coach Vic Fangio decided to take the extra point off the board and go for two when Alex Okafor was whistled for encroachment on the kick.
"I thought it was worth the gamble," Fangio said.
Instead of handing the ball off to Freeman again, Fangio had Phillip Lindsay, who's about 50 pounds lighter, pound the ball up the middle. He was stuffed, leaving the Chiefs celebrating.
Mahomes put Kansas City ahead on his first drive, somehow escaping Miller to fire a pass that safety Will Parks tipped but which Mecole Hardman reigned in anyway for a 21-yard score.