Strike 2: If someone had told you last August that the Denver Broncos would have to defeat the Kansas City Chiefs at Empower Field on the final Sunday of the NFL regular season in order to make the playoffs, you’d have taken that in a second.
This is how it should be.
Of course, this isn’t how it had to be. Some better decision-making, better play calling and better execution and the Broncos could have wrapped up a playoff spot two weeks ago. As the calendar turns to 2025, that’s ice water under the bridge now. All the Broncos can control is how they perform in the biggest game this franchise has played in almost a decade.
The foe is appropriate, given that the Chiefs are the now-and-future arch-nemesis. At 15-1, the defending Super Bowl champions are already locked in as the top-seed in the upcoming playoffs in the loaded AFC. They will reportedly rest most of their starters on Sunday, or at least treat the contest as sort of a preseason-type contest – playing a few front liners a series or three just to keep them sharp with a bye week looming before the playoffs begin.
Despite what many in Broncos Country want to believe, that won’t make this game any easier for Denver to win. The well drilled and seasoned Chiefs will be a formidable opponent regardless of whether it’s Patrick Mahomes or Carson Wentz (also a former Pro Bowl QB with a Super Bowl ring) taking the snaps. Don’t doubt that every guy in a red helmet out there will be playing his hardest and going all out to win.
Still, the Broncos will be battling the toughest foe of all: Themselves. Can they handle the pressure?
Can rookie QB Bo Nix – well-seasoned himself considering his more than 60 starts at the highest levels of college football – be able to keep his nerves in check and make big throws in pressure situations? Will he (and his head coach) be more willing to make plays with his feet as well as his arm? Considering the Broncos stale running game, Nix might be Denver’s best running threat, especially in critical moments.
Can the Broncos defense – which has alternated (sometimes in the same game) being dominant and being porous all season – step up once again against the machine-like Chiefs offense and limit KC to fewer than 20 points has they’ve done in the past three meetings (one a Denver victory) between the teams?
And can/will head coach Sean Payton cut loose? Will he be – and stay – aggressive and smart with his play calling for a full 60 minutes? Payton has spent much of 2024 treating the season like a full on test drive for Nix, doing things like throwing the ball deep in his own territory (and needlessly stopping the clock) while protecting a slim lead. Many times throughout the season, it’s been as if Payton was trying to expose his franchise QB to all the things he may see in future seasons when the supporting cast is better and the stakes are presumably higher.
Perhaps unexpectedly – even for Payton – the stakes are plenty high this Sunday. While no one expected Denver to be in this position, the fact remains that Broncos Country is desperate for a postseason berth, regardless of whom the opponent (the juggernaut Buffalo Bills) will be. Winning is everything and the only thing that matters this Sunday.
