ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — The Denver Broncos have finally knocked the Kansas City Chiefs from their throne in the AFC West.
Now comes the hard part.
After falling behind in every game this season, the Broncos (11-2) never trailed in cruising past the Las Vegas Raiders 24-17 on Sunday for their 10th consecutive victory. The Chiefs (6-7) lost on Sunday night, ensuring someone other than Kansas City — either Denver or the second-place Los Angeles Chargers — would win the AFC West for the first time in 10 years.
Although Sean Payton made bumping the Chiefs from their lofty perch a top priority, he was in no celebratory mood over K.C.’s downfall.
“Everything right now has that ‘work in progress’ sign,’” Payton said Monday, adding, “The focus gets so inwardly driven to our own team. I recognize that a team that’s won the division for however many straight years won’t win the division this year. But it’s more important to focus on, ‘All right, how do we finish this next quarter pole this season, starting with a real good team in Green Bay?’”
Win out, and the Broncos will have both their first division crown and the AFC’s No. 1 seed for the first time in a decade — they hold the tiebreaker over the Patriots (11-2). They’re the league’s only team that’s unbeaten at home this season and they have three of their final four games in Denver.
Those opponents are no cupcakes.
Denver’s next two games are against division leaders in the Packers (9-3-1) and Jaguars (9-4), and they close out at home against the Chargers, who beat them 23-20 in Week 3 and are 3-0 against Denver and Payton under Jim Harbaugh.
Those three teams are a combined 11-5 on the road so far.
The Broncos’ last road game comes Christmas night at Kansas City, where the Chiefs are 5-2 and where the Broncos haven’t won since 2015.
Winning 10 in a row, nine of them requiring comebacks, has built up a callous as the Broncos navigate this daunting stretch over the final month.
“I think there’s a confidence in your team, but there’s also a respect each week for the opponent,” Payton said. “And then there’s also a formula that your team knows is necessary because it’s happened. The formula of putting a good Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in — many say the games are won on those three days before the games are ever played — and so I would say we’re a more experienced team having had that success, having had some tough games, close games.
“We’re a smarter team today relative to understanding the fine line in our league.”
What’s working
The Broncos’ run game, which had struggled following J.K. Dobbins’ foot injury that required surgery. Rookie R.J. Harvey led a 152-yard effort with 75 yards on 17 carries with a touchdown. For good measure, he led the team with six receptions for 25 yards. Jaleel McLaughlin added 22 yards on four carries and fullback Adam Prentice ran twice for 22 yards. Overall, the Broncos averaged a healthy 4.9 yards a carry.
What needs help
OK, the Broncos are great at comebacks. Now they have to work on their close-outs. They had a comfortable 24-7 lead Sunday before allowing backup quarterback Kenny Pickett to lead the Raiders to 10 points, including a last-second field goal. The only reason Dan Carlson had a chance at a field goal on the game’s final play was a boneheaded move by safety Brandon Jones, who drew a delay-of-game penalty for not allowing receiver Tyler Lockett to get up after a 26-yard gain. That penalty stopped the clock with 5 seconds remaining. “We’re going to run the clock out,” Payton said. “That wasn’t real smart.”
Stock up
Denver’s offense. Breaking from their trend of three-and-outs that stresses a dominant defense, Bo Nix & Co. put together three extra-long drives, including an opening possession tone-setter that covered 81 yards in 14 plays and chewed up 8 minutes, 54 seconds. Their first drive after halftime was a 14-play, 86-yard masterpiece that ate up 9:13, and in the fourth quarter they put together a 19-play, 85-yard drive that took 10:17. That left them with a time-of-possession advantage of 39:03 to 20:57.
Stock down
Without a loss since Sept. 21, there’s really nobody whose stock is falling in Denver.
Injuries
DT D.J. Jones (ankle) and TE Nate Adkins (knee) did not play.
Key stats
—10-game winning streak is the Broncos’ longest since they won 11 in a row in 2012.
—16-4 record over their last 20 regular-season games, the best mark in the NFL in that span.
—40-40 Evan Engram had a pair of receptions Sunday, giving him 40 catches for the season. He joined Jeremy Shockey (2002-10) as the only tight ends in league history with 40 or more receptions in each of their first nine seasons in the NFL.
Next steps
The Broncos begin their brutal stretch run by hosting the Packers, who just took over the lead in the NFC North with a 28-21 win over the Chicago Bears for their fourth straight victory.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Copyright © 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
