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KANSAS CITY, Mo. —** Trevor Siemian's hopes of leading the Broncos back to the playoffs in his upstart first year as the Broncos' starting quarterback ended Sunday with the Broncos' Christmas-night loss to the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.

It was a frustrating game for Siemian, who completed 17 of 43 passes for 183 yards and last-minute interception in the 33-10 defeat, which eliminated the Broncos from playoff contention.

"It stinks," he said. "There's no other way to put it. It stinks. It's frustrating right now, but this is part of the deal. We knew we had to win these next two to give ourselves a chance, and we didn't get it done." 

The Chiefs jumped on the Broncos early, scoring touchdowns on their first two drives, but Siemian and the offense kept their composure.

"I think it's so early at that point, it doesn't really change how you're approaching the game," Siemian said. "With three quarters left, down two scores, that's nothing. That wasn't part of the thought process."

On the Chiefs' next drive, safety Justin Simmons picked off Alex Smith and returned it to the Kansas City 6-yard line. After a 5-yard pass to Demaryius Thomas, Justin Forsett punched in a 1-yard run to get the Broncos back within a touchdown. But Denver would not get back to the red zone.

The offensive woes were a chance of pace from the Broncos' previous game against Kansas City, a 30-27 overtime loss in Week 12. That day, Siemian scorched the Chiefs for 368 passing yards and three touchdowns.

"It's a little different animal coming in here," Head Coach Gary Kubiak said. "They're a good defensive football team. What they do, they're hard to make big plays on. I think they're the tops in the league as far as giving up big plays. We found some the first game; tonight, we weren't able to find them. No excuses, just didn't do it."

Those big plays certainly made a difference. In Week 12, Siemian completed seven passes that went for 20 yards or more, including two of 60 or more yards. Siemian had four on Sunday — the longest of which was for 32 yards. 

"I think they played well," Siemian said. "Hats off to them. It's a tough place to play, and they played well. I obviously was kind of frustrated, [and I] wish I would have played a little better, but hats off to them. They did a lot of good things."