Even though they blew an 11-point fourth-quarter lead, the Kansas City Chiefs still had a golden opportunity to take a stranglehold on first place in the AFC West on Sunday. In fact, they probably should have broken the Denver Broncos' hearts after reaching second-and-goal from the four-yard line with a timeout in the closing moments.

Instead, they're left with regret while decrying the officiating the way many losing teams do.

Let's take it to that final sequence. For a moment, it seemed like the Chiefs really did it. When Patrick Mahomes fired a short pass to a wide-open Rashee Rice for a touchdown on third-and-goal with just four seconds on the clock, it looked like the Chiefs did exactly what they've done throughout the Mahomes era. They pulled victory out of the jaws of defeat. There was one problem. Right tackle Jaylon Moore moved just before the snap and negated the winning touchdown with a false start. One play later, the Broncos would sack Mahomes on fourth down to salt away the epic 28-24 divisional win.

Oof. What a brutal turn of events for Kansas City.

During his postgame press conference, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid cast doubt on there being a false start at all. He thought the Chiefs ran a clean play and had won the game, no questions asked. Because of course he did:

Hmm. Does Reid's claim have real merit? Or is he, as mentioned, doing the typical complaining about a costly call from a loser coach in a tight game? Watch a replay of the false start, and it's obvious. As Travis Kelce goes in motion across the formation, Moore blatantly flinches.

It was a textbook false start that will almost always be called by NFL officials:

With all due respect to Reid and everything he's accomplished, there is no universe where that shouldn't have been a false start. It's unfortunate it cost the Chiefs at the worst possible time, but there's a reason procedure penalties exist in pro football.