The Kansas City Chiefs fell to the Denver Broncos, 20-13, on Thursday despite a valiant effort in all three phases by several young and inexperienced players.

Here are some quick notes from the loss.

1. Tight end Travis Kelce continues to climb up the NFL record books.

Kelce caught five passes for 36 yards on Thursday, moving him past Anquan Boldin for the ninth-most receptions (1,077) of any player in NFL history. Kelce needs just two catches on Sunday to pass Pro Football Hall of Famer Terrell Owens (1,078) for sole possession of eighth place on the list.

Other than Owens, only Jerry Rice (1,549), Larry Fitzgerald (1,432), Tony Gonzalez (1,325), Jason Witten (1,228), Marvin Harrison (1,102), Cris Carter (1,101) and Tim Brown (1,094) have more career receptions than Kelce.

2. Quarterback Chris Oladokun gave the Chiefs a chance to win in his first career start.

A member of the Chiefs' practice squad since 2022, Oladokun made the first start of his career on Thursday, and despite facing one of the best defenses in the league, he managed to keep Kansas City in the game throughout.

Oladokun completed 13-of-22 passes for 66 yards and a touchdown on Thursday, finding tailback Brashard Smith for a 5-yard score early in the second quarter. The overall numbers weren't eye-popping, but that was mostly due to Kansas City only having seven true possessions in the game. On those, Oladokun marched the Chiefs into Broncos' territory on four occasions, leading Kansas City to points on three of those.

All things considered, it was an admirable performance by Oladokun that gave the Chiefs a chance to win.

3. The Chiefs' offensive line held their own against Denver's high-powered pass-rush.

Denver entered Week 17 with the most sacks in the NFL (64), and 13 more than the next closest team. Additionally, the Broncos entered the matchup featuring a league-most 12 different players with multiple sacks on the year, presenting a formidable task for Kansas City's young tackle duo of Esa Pole and Chukwuebuka Godrick.

To their credit, however, Pole and Godrick more than held their own. In fact, across 52 combined pass-blocking snaps (26 each), Pole (3) and Godrick (1) yielded just four total pressures (and zero sacks).

It wasn't enough in the end, but that performance is certainly something to be excited about as both players continue their development.

4. Running back Brashard Smith found the end zone for the first time in his career.

Smith was a major bright spot for the Chiefs on Thursday with multiple impact plays.

Notably, he made multiple defenders miss on his way to a 5-yard receiving touchdown early in the game before ripping off a 44-yard punt return later in the matchup.

Smith has shown flashes throughout the year, and hopefully, Thursday's performance may have been a sign of things to come next season.

5. The Chiefs came up just short on Thursday, but there was plenty to build on moving forward.

Kansas City dropped its fifth straight game on Sunday, losing by a single score for the eighth time this year. The loss meant that Kansas City fell to 6-10 on the year, marking the Chiefs' most losses in a single campaign since 2012.

It's not at all where the Chiefs expected to be at this point in the season, but despite the circumstances – which includes 20 players currently on Injured Reserve – Kansas City showed plenty of signs for optimism on Thursday.

Specifically, several young players had an opportunity to see the field against Denver, including Chu Godrick (43 offensive snaps), Esa Pole (43 offensive snaps), cornerback Nohl Williams (72 defensive snaps), defensive end Ashton Gillotte (45 defensive snaps) and linebacker Cooper McDonald (21 defensive snaps).

Williams, in particular, was the Chiefs' highest-graded player on Thursday based on Pro Football Focus' metrics, while McDonald ranked third.

Additionally, while not necessarily a young player, the performance of cornerback Kristian Fulton was encouraging. Fulton was injured throughout the offseason training program and never fully established himself as an every-down starter through the bulk of this year, but he looked like the player the Chiefs initially expected him to be on Thursday, allowing just one catch on five targets (across 71 defensive snaps).

The Chiefs won't reach their goals in 2025, but those individual performances on Thursday were exciting as Kansas City looks ahead to next season.