Thanks for the insight. Both times they had the opportunity to switch personnel based on defensive penalties, they switched to Ball. I hope you are right and it has nothing to do with an intention moving forward to feature him down near the goal line.
1st and 10 at Den 21 - Moreno
1st and 10 at Den 32 - Moreno
2nd and 9 at Den 33 - Moreno
1st and 10 at KC 47 - Moreno
2nd and 10 at KC 47 - Moreno (play is a long gain out of bounds, stops the clock and moves the chains)
1st and 10 at KC 18 - Ball
2nd and 11 at KC 19 - Ball (play draws a defensive penalty, stops the clock and moves the chains)
1st and 10 at KC 14 - Moreno
2nd and 9 at KC 13 - Moreno
3rd and 2 at KC 6 - Moreno
1st and 1 at KC 1 - Moreno (play draws a defensive penalty, stops the clock, resets the downs)
1st and 1 at KC 1 - Ball
One time they switched to Ball, one time they switched to Moreno. Denver ran 12 plays in the drive, and Moreno got 9 of them. Denver ran 7 plays inside the red zone, and Moreno was in on 4 of them. Denver ran two plays from the 1 yard line, and Moreno was in on the first one.
1st and 10 at Den 35 - Moreno
1st and 10 at Den 46 - Moreno
2nd and 10 at Den 46 - Moreno
3rd and 3 at KC 47 - Moreno (play is a long gain, resets the chains)
1st and 10 at KC 14 - Ball
2nd and 4 at KC 8 - Ball
More of the same on Ball's second touchdown. Moreno had the drive, Denver had a break in the action and a chance to swap personnel, Ball lucked into the touchdown.
Denver's first touchdown drive (the pass to Julius Thomas) was all Moreno- 5 snaps, Moreno in for all five of them, including two snaps with goal-to-go from the 9 yard line. Denver had gotten a 70-yard gain to Demaryius the play before, so if they'd wanted to change personnel to get Ball in once they reached the red zone, they would have had a perfect opportunity. They declined, and kept Moreno on the field, instead.
There was no pattern to the usage, no expressed preference for either Moreno or Ball in one area of the field over the other. When Denver had a chance to switch and felt it was worthwhile, they switched, whether they were in the red zone or not, whether they were switching to Ball or Moreno. All told, their three touchdown drives included 11 snaps in the red zone, and Moreno got 6 of them (54.5%). They included 6 snaps inside the 10-yard line, and Moreno got 4 of them (66.7%). They included four true "goal-to-go" snaps, and Moreno got 3 of them (75.0%). Usage-wise, there was nothing in the game to indicate that Denver preferred Ball over Moreno in high-leverage situations. Instead, it was a game of musical chairs, and Ball just twice happened to be the guy in the game when the music stopped.