DENVER (AP) — Whether it was “The Fumble” or “The Drive” in the playoffs in the 1980s or the 11 consecutive times Denver had dumped Cleveland, the Broncos always served as the Browns’ biggest bugaboo.

With John Elway watching from his suite at Mile High Stadium, Baker Mayfield capitalized on Denver’s depleted cornerback corps and dubious coaching decisions in leading the Browns past the Broncos 17-16 on Saturday night.

Mayfield’s 2-yard TD toss to Antonio Callaway with just under 12 minutes left provided the winning margin for the Browns (6-7-1), who kept alive their slim hopes of ending the NFL’s longest playoff drought.

The Browns still have a shot at their first winning season since 2007 and even their first playoff berth since 2002 thanks to their first win over Denver (6-8) since 1990.

“I think the tough environment, winning on the road’s the most important thing,” Mayfield said. “If we don’t take care of business tonight — and obviously we have to move on and take care of business next week — none of that matters.

“So, being able to win on the road is something we’ve got to take pride in.”

Combined with their win at Cincinnati last month, the Browns have multiple road victories for the first time since 2014.

Callaway’s touchdown made it 17-13 and came with safety Justin Simmons in coverage because the Broncos were down five cornerbacks.

The Broncos responded with a 13-play drive that ate up more than seven minutes, but after Phillip Lindsay was stuffed for no gain on third-and-1 from the Cleveland 6, Broncos coach Vance Joseph sent in kicker Brandon McManus for a field goal instead of going for it on fourth down.

Jabrill Peppers, for one, was surprised the Broncos didn’t try for the first down or the end zone.

“Absolutely. Absolutely. But, hey, it worked out in our favor,” Peppers said. “We’d been stopping them all day and they didn’t want to come away with nothing.”

Exactly.

“I wanted points there,” Joseph explained. “We had about 4:35 left. We had one timeout and the 2-minute warning. I trust our defense to get a stop there.”

It didn’t happen, at least not right away.

Nick Chubb reeled off a 40-yard run on the first play.

“We can’t let that happen,” Von Miller said.

But the Broncos came up with a big stop on fourth-and-1 from the Denver 10 when Cleveland interim coach Gregg Williams went for it — and Chubb was dropped for a 2-yard loss by Adam Gotsis.

“We came up here to win a ballgame,” Williams said. “I don’t think anybody’s worried about me not being aggressive and we came up here to win it. Offensively we were going to win it right there. If not, defensively we’re going to come back and do it. Pretty similar going all-out blitz the last several plays. That’s the aggressive nature of the team.”

The Broncos got the ball back at their 13 with 1:49 remaining and reached the 50-yard line with 52 seconds left. But a spike, two incompletions and a sack by defensive back Peppers of Case Keenum all but ended Denver’s playoff hopes.

Keenum said he wanted the Broncos to go for it on fourth down at the Cleveland 6 but added that ultimately, Joseph’s decision worked out, despite the loss.

“I can’t complain,” Keenum said, “because I’ve got the ball back in my hands with a chance to win the game. So, that’s all I can ask for.”

The Broncos began the night with cornerbacks Chris Harris Jr. and Isaac Yiadom sidelined and they lost Brendan Langley to a concussion in the first half and newly signed Jamar Taylor to an ejection in the second half on the same play Bradley Roby went out with a laceration in his mouth. Roby later returned.

With safety Dymonte Thomas, who had his first career interception in the first half, subbing at cornerback, Miller broke Simon Fletcher’s franchise record of 103½ sacks, including playoffs.

Denver’s depleted defense, however, was forced right back out onto the field when Keenum’s first-down heave was easily picked off by T.J. Carrie at the Broncos 48, after just eight seconds had ticked off the game clock.

“I didn’t see the corner,” Keenum acknowledged. “And it’s not an excuse. But it’s ultimately what lost us the football game because they went out and scored right after that.”

Six plays later, Mayfield put the Browns ahead for good.

INJURIES

Langley went out in the first half and Roby in the second. Combined with Taylor’s ejection — he was signed after Harris fractured his right fibula two weeks ago — and the Broncos were left scrambling in their secondary.

UP NEXT

Browns: Host Cincinnati Bengals on Dec. 23.

Broncos: Visit Oakland Raiders on Christmas Eve.

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Barry Brown has been ready to step up when No. 25 Kansas State needs him.

With injuries to Dean Wade and Kamau Stokes, Brown delivered again for the Wildcats on Saturday night.

Brown scored 13 of his 21 points in the second half, propelling Kansas State over Georgia State 71-59.

“I don’t think it had anything to do with pressure,” Brown said. “I just tried to stay confident when Dean and Kam went down and keep our guys going.”

The biggest concern for the Wildcats is the ankle injuries to Wade and Stokes, which came minutes apart in the second half. Both players suffered injuries last year, too, and Wade missed almost the entire NCAA Tournament, making this familiar territory for K-State.

“With Dean, I don’t have a definite answer, but I do know he didn’t break anything and we’ll do an MRI tomorrow and see how severe it is,” coach Bruce Weber said. “Kam stepped on a player’s foot on their bench and he said he could’ve gone back in. It was the same foot he broke last year and he tweaked it and there is some swelling.”

Brown scored the first eight points for the Wildcats and was key during a later 7-0 run. K-State let the Panthers hang around with 19 turnovers leading to 25 points as Georgia State again competed well with a Power Five school after wins over Georgia and Alabama this season.

Jeff Thomas led the Panthers with 13 points, Nelson Phillips had 11 and D’Marcus Simonds had 10.

“(Jeff) kind of got going,” coach Ron Hunter said. “He had been struggling and has been in a slump. He got tired at the end and missed some wide open shots.”

Stokes had 15 points, Xavier Sneed had 14 and Wade ended with 12.

The Wildcats held a nine-point lead numerous times but couldn’t put away Georgia State until late. K-State was up 48-39 before the Panthers went on a 14-2 run with 10 minutes to go.

“I think we played a solid game up to about the last 7-8 minutes,” Panther senior guard Devin Mitchell said. “Those guys just did a really good job of just doing what they do — playing defense and really getting into us.”

After Georgia State took a 53-50 lead, the Wildcats ended the game on a 21-6 run highlighted by 11 points from Brown, including a trio of 3s, and five points by Xavier Sneed.

Georgia State was very active on the defensive end, forcing 19 turnovers that led to 25 points. The Wildcats won the rebounding battle 33-24.

“That looked like an NCAA Tournament game,” Hunter said. “That is what I told our kids. Maybe it is a different outcome if you are playing on a neutral court.”

BIG PICTURE

Kansas State will hope the injuries will not keep Wade and Stokes out for long as they play two games in the next seven days.

Georgia State is looking like it could be an upset threat if it makes the NCAA Tournament.

UP NEXT

K-State will play its first weekday game in nearly a month when it hosts Southern Mississippi on Wednesday night.

Georgia State hosts the UNC-Wilmington on Wednesday night.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Markis McDuffie and Jaime Echenique each scored 17 points and Wichita State fought off Southern Mississippi for a 63-60 win on Saturday.

Dominic Magee’s layup with 53 seconds remaining put Southern Miss on top 61-60 before Echenique threw down a dunk 17 seconds later.

Magee missed a jump shot on the Golden Eagles’ next possession and Southern Miss was forced to foul. Morris Udeze made the first of two free throws before Erik Stevenson grabbed the offensive rebound off the miss. Magee fouled McDuffie and he made 1 of 2 and the Shockers led 63-60.

Wichita State’s Samajae Haynes-Jones fouled Leonard Harper-Baker with 2 seconds left and he missed all three foul shots to end the game.

Earlier, Wichita State (6-4) outscored Southern Mississippi 20-8 over the span of two halves. Rod Brown’s layup with 2:46 left before halftime made it 26-21 and the Shockers went to intermission with a 33-25 lead. McDuffie’s 3-pointer with 14:38 remaining extended the lead 44-29.

McDuffie’s 3-point play with 10:46 left made it 52-36, but the Golden Eagles woke up with a 17-3 run and trimmed the deficit to 55-53 on Magee’s 3 with 4:26 to go.

Cortez Edwards led Southern Miss (7-3) with 15 points.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Dedric Lawson had 28 points and 12 rebounds, Lagerald Vick scored 29, and top-ranked Kansas made enough free throws down the stretch to beat No. 17 Villanova 74-71 Saturday in a rematch of last season’s Final Four showdown won by the Wildcats.

Devon Dotson added 11 points for the Jayhawks (9-0), including four free throws in the final 1:10 to help Kansas end a three-game losing streak to Villanova — the last two in the NCAA Tournament.

Unlike the national semifinals in April, this one came down to the wire.

Collin Gillespie’s three-point play drew the Wildcats (8-4) within 69-65 with 31 seconds left, and Vick gave them an opening when he threw the ball away on the ensuing inbounds play. But Vick atoned for the mistake by pulling down a defensive rebound, and then calmly made a pair of free throws at the other end.

Phil Booth’s deep, line-drive 3 got Villanova within 71-68, and after Lawson made the second of two foul shots for a 72-68 lead, Booth added another driving layup to trim the deficit to two.

Lawson added two more free throws to restore a 72-68 lead with 7.5 seconds left, and Gillespie was fouled at the other end. He made the first but was forced to miss the second on purpose, and the ball squirted toward the Wildcats’ bench, where a scrum ultimately gave Kansas the ball with 0.4 seconds left.

Once the Jayhawks inbounded the ball, they finally had a long-awaited win over the Wildcats.

Even if it came with far less on the line.

Booth finished with 29 points for the Wildcats. Eric Paschall scored 17 but was rendered ineffective down the stretch because of foul trouble, and Gillespie finished with 15 but was just 1 for 7 from 3-point range.

Kansas has now won 39 straight in Allen Fieldhouse as the nation’s top-ranked team.

The Jayhawks led 33-31 at halftime, despite playing most of the way without Dotson and fellow starter Quentin Grimes. Grimes picked up three early fouls and Dotson had two, relegating them to the bench.

Their teammates picked them up with the kind of defensive effort Kansas sorely needed in their lopsided Final Four loss, when Paschall and Co. made just about shot they took. The Jayhawks harried the senior forward into a couple of crucial turnovers while largely shutting down the paint.

Villanova found its offensive stride in the second half.

Then again, so did Kansas.

And what most had envisioned as an up-and-down, back-and-forth showdown between national powers turned into precisely that. The game was tied six times over the first 12 minutes of the second half.

It wasn’t until Paschall went to the bench with four fouls and 7:57 to go that the Jayhawks established some breathing room. Lawson scored inside to give Kansas a 57-56 lead, and after Vick knocked down a baseline jumper, Lawson added another bucket to force Wildcats coach Jay Wright into a timeout.

That set up the frantic finale.

NO QUINERLY

Villanova freshman Jahvon Quinerly watched from the bench after an Instagram post earlier in the week criticizing his own program. Wright said Quinerly had apologized and it would be used as a “teaching moment.” The five-star recruit has played in only eight games this season.

CELEB SIGHTINGS

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Hall of Fame Royals third baseman George Brett were in the crowd. So was a handful of former Kansas players, including Nick Collison, who is No. 2 on the school’s career scoring list.

BIG PICTURE

Villanova played much better than it did in a loss to Penn earlier in the week, putting a scare into the No. 1 team in the country. But the Wildcats were just 3 of 15 from beyond the arc in the second half, and they were dominated on the glass for the second consecutive game.

Kansas has certainly earned its ranking, beating a trio of ranked teams already this season. The one thing the Jayhawks haven’t done is win a true road game, and they’ll get that opportunity when they head to No. 20 Arizona State next weekend.

UP NEXT

Villanova plays UConn next Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Kansas hosts South Dakota on Tuesday night.

Listen as the ‘Voice of the Chiefs’ Mitch Holthus recaps Thursday night’s loss to the Chargers and takes a look at next Sunday’s prime time matchup with the Seahawks in Seattle.

The Holthus Hotline airs Saturday mornings on your home for Chiefs football, KFIX (96.9-FM), at 8 a.m. during the Chiefs season.

FHSU Athletics

NEW ORLEANS – The 2018 Fort Hays State men’s track and field team has added another success to their season as the distance medley relay earned the honor of being named a top team. The United States Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association recognized the quad for running the top NCAA Division II time for last outdoor season. The distance medley team is the only from FHSU honored for the season.

The honor names the Tigers as an Accusplit Relay Award Winner for navigating the best time of the year. The mark of 9:57.22 qualified the quickest time at the feet of Oscar Carmona, Jacob Schumacher, Bill Oyet and Brett Meyer. Fort Hays State recorded this time at the Drake Relays in April, where they took first place. The time beat the runner-up that day by just under three seconds.
The fastest Division I time went to Villanova who ran the event in 9:34.37. Although the distance medley relay is not an event used by the NCAA at the national meet, the Tigers were still awarded as the top team in the division.

Dr. Jason McCullough, coach of the Fort Hays State track and field programs, will represent the quad and be recognized at the 2018 USTFCCCA Convention hosted at the San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa December 17-20.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Arrowhead Stadium was already emptying by the time Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers jogged to the locker room, triumphantly waving his hand as a satisfying cascade of boos washed over him.

He had finally beaten the Kansas City Chiefs.

It sounded perfect.

Rivers led Los Angeles on a feverish fourth-quarter comeback Thursday night, capped by a debatable pass-interference call, a tense video review of the last touchdown and the gutsy decision to try a 2-point conversion. And for the first time in years against Kansas City, everything turned out perfectly for Rivers and the Chargers in a 29-28 victory that clinched their playoff spot.

“This was big. Here or at home, whatever,” Rivers said, “we needed to beat these guys.”

The Chargers (11-3) trailed 28-14 when Justin Jackson’s touchdown run with 3:49 to go gave them a chance. They quickly got the ball back from Patrick Mahomes and the NFL’s highest-scoring offense, and Rivers led a tense final drive that included a fourth-down dart to Travis Benjamin to keep it alive.

That crucial penalty on Kendall Fuller in the back of the end zone gave the Chargers the ball at the 1, and Rivers found Mike Williams along the sideline on the next play. And when his TD catch with 4 seconds left was confirmed, coach Anthony Lynn sent his offense back onto the field.

Williams hauled in the conversion to end five years’ worth of frustration.

“We didn’t come here to tie. We came here to win. So to me it was a no-brainer,” said Lynn, whose team became the first since Minnesota in Week 15 of the 2002 season to win with a 2-point conversion in the final 10 seconds of regulation.

The comeback allowed Los Angeles to forge a first-place tie in the AFC West, though the Chiefs (11-3) hold the tiebreaker with a better division record. More satisfying was the simple fact that Rivers and the Chargers had finally snapped their nine-game losing streak against Kansas City.

They hadn’t beaten the Chiefs since 2013, the last year they made the playoffs.

“Oh, it’s satisfying,” Benjamin said. “We talked about it. We knew it had been a couple years and we wanted to go into this game and change that and we did.”

Rivers threw for 313 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions, and Williams had seven catches for 76 yards and two scores while adding another on the ground. Jackson ran for 58 yards and a touchdown in place of the injured Melvin Gordon and Austin Ekeler.

Mahomes was held to just 243 yards and two touchdowns for Kansas City, and his inability to pick up a first down in the closing minutes proved costly. The Chiefs forced the Chargers to burn two timeouts on their last drive, but Mahomes was sacked by Isaac Rochell and Kansas City had to punt.

The Chiefs never got the ball back on offense.

“They found a way to win and we didn’t,” Mahomes said. “You have to find a way in this league.”

Hyped by the return of star safety Eric Berry, it looked for a while as if the Chiefs would simply resume their vexation of Rivers at Arrowhead. Steven Nelson leaped to snag a jump ball for a pick on the second play of the game, and Rivers tossed another just before halftime.

Mahomes and Co. took advantage of their early momentum.

Kansas City breezed downfield after Nelson’s interception, and the young MVP candidate threw a dart to Demarcus Robinson — while in the grasp of Chargers safety Adrian Phillips — for a 7-0 lead.

Then after a punt, Darrel Williams took a screen pass for his first career touchdown.

The Chargers finally reached the end zone in the second quarter, when Mike Williams caught a short TD pass. But it came moments after wide receiver Keenan Allen hurt his hip while trying to make a leaping grab in the corner of the end zone — he briefly returned before sitting out the rest of the game.

Mike Williams continued to pick up the slack the rest of the game.

After the Chiefs pushed their lead to 21-7 on Damien Williams’ touchdown run, the Chargers’ big, rangy wide receiver answered with a 19-yard end-around for a score. And when then Chiefs went on another methodical scoring drive to take a 28-14 lead with just over 8 minutes left in the game, Mike Williams helped to lead the Chargers to an answering touchdown to stay in the game.

He made two more big catches in the final seconds to put them over the top.

“Everybody needed to come together and make plays,” Mike Williams said, “and that’s what we did.

TONY G’S AWARD

The Chiefs added TE Tony Gonzalez to their Hall of Fame at halftime. The six-time All-Pro played his first 12 seasons with the Chiefs before finishing his career in Atlanta. His name was unveiled next to that of WR Carlos Carson on the ring of honor inside Arrowhead Stadium.

INACTIVE STARS

Gordon (knee) tried to warmup before telling Lynn he couldn’t play, joining Ekeler (concussion) on their inactive list. The Chiefs were missing RB Spencer Ware (hamstring) and WR Sammy Watkins (foot).

INJURIES

Chargers: Allen received treatment on the sideline after nearly making his spectacular TD catch, and he returned briefly before slowly walking off. He left for the locker room and did not return.

UP NEXT

Chargers: Return home for a prime-time game against the Ravens on Dec. 22.

Chiefs: Visit the Seahawks for another prime-time game Dec. 23.