Strike 2: The 2024 Denver Broncos aren’t as good, week-in and week-out, as the world champion Kansas City Chiefs. Just look at the standings. KC is 9-0 and Denver is 5-5.

But the gap is closing. And it’s closing faster than anyone thought it would.

Suddenly, after a last-second blocked field goal was all that prevented the Broncos from posting their second win in the last three games against KC, all that talk about the AFC West being out of reach for the next decade because of the big, bad Chiefs dynasty seems out of date. Any honest person who watched KC’s 16-14 nail biting win over visiting Denver could see that what used to be a gap as wide as the Grand Canyon between the two teams is now much more like a narrow crevasse. It’s one that Denver should be able to leap over in a year or two.

Yes, KC is coming back to the pack, a little. Games they used to dominate are now typically one score affairs, won by the world champs on guile and experience more so that overwhelming talent. Yes, Patrick Mahomes remains the standard bearer among NFL quarterbacks. But the difference between he and Broncos rookie Bo Nix is not close to what separated Mahomes and say, Paxton Lynch or Drew Lock. And the difference between Mahomes and the likes of another AFC West signal caller, the Chargers Justin Herbert, is shrinking almost weekly.

The league – including the Broncos – is catching up to the Chiefs.

After the previous game, it was easy to say that the Broncos didn’t belong in the same conversation with the best teams in the AFC. Baltimore rolled them and brought into question Denver’s lighter schedule and their inability to play with the big guys. We all know that the Broncos still don’t have the 53-man roster to go toe-to-toe every week with the heavyweights. However, the way they bounced back against the world champs – on the road for the second straight week – showed continuing signs of big time growth.

Just think about some of the names that stood out in Arrowhead: Riley Moss. John Franklin-Meyers. Cody Barton, Nik Bonitto. Audric Estime. Devaughn Vele. These are not household names. These are just really good football players who could soon be part of a championship roster.

The task ahead now is to prove the KC game was not a fluke. Denver has four winnable games coming up (three of them at home) starting next Sunday when they host Atlanta. After a quick trip to Las Vegas, there are two home games against Cleveland and Indianapolis. Then comes another big test against the LA Chargers, a team that bullied Denver a month ago.

That game could be a playoff elimination tilt.

Kansas City visits Empower Field on Jan. 5. A meaningful game in January.

Give credit to Broncos relatively new ownership for bringing back a championship mindset. Give credit to Sean Payton for being the established head coach this organization needed and for sticking with defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, the right man for the job.

The Broncos aren’t ready to win the West just yet. But the time is growing near.