The Kansas City Chiefs have ruled the AFC West since Peyton Manning retired a decade ago, but their streak of nine straight division titles is in jeopardy.
Kansas City (5-4) travels to Denver on Sunday for a game that will either put the Chiefs back in the division race or leave them battling for a wild card. With a win, the Broncos (8-2) would open a 3 1/2-game advantage over Kansas City with six games left to play.
The Chiefs are not ducking the reality of their predicament.
“I think you understand this game is important,” Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes said on Wednesday. “That’s the biggest thing. It’s a divisional game and they’re always important, but with them having the lead on us, needing to go out there and win to have a chance to win the division, I think the guys understand that.”
It is the first of two games between the Broncos and Chiefs, who will meet in Kansas City on Dec. 25. The Sunday game will go a long way toward determining if the Christmas night game has division supremacy on the line.
The Chiefs won five of six games after an 0-2 start but went into their bye week after losing at Buffalo on Nov. 2. Now they face one of the toughest defenses in the NFL, and they may need to rely even more on Mahomes.
He is on pace for 4,437 yards passing, which would be his highest total since 2022, and he is utilizing his legs more than previous seasons. Mahomes rushed for a career-high 389 yards in 2023, and this year he has 285 rushing yards in just nine games, on pace for 538 yards.
Isiah Pacheco, the Chiefs’ leading rusher, missed the game against the Bills due to a knee injury and didn’t practice Wednesday. His status for Sunday was uncertain.
Kansas City will be tested against a Denver defense that leads the NFL with 46 sacks and ranks third in yards allowed (270.7 per game), sixth in passing yards allowed (179.5) and fourth in rushing yards allowed (91.2). The Broncos recorded six sacks in their most recent game, a 10-7 win over the visiting Las Vegas Raiders on Nov. 6.
The Broncos have stayed stout while missing cornerback Patrick Surtain II, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year who missed the past two games due to a pectoral injury.
Surtain, who is expected back after the Week 12 bye, isn’t the only defensive player hurting. Denver linebacker Alex Singleton is out for Sunday after having surgery last week to remove a cancerous tumor from a testicle, and rookie Karene Reid (hamstring) was placed on injured reserve this week.
The Broncos filled Reid’s roster spot by signing wide receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey off the New York Giants’ practice squad. Linebacker Garret Wallow, recovering from a hamstring injury, was designated to return from the IR on Wednesday and practiced with the team.
While the Denver defense has been solid, the offense has sputtered, and it took a hit with leading rusher J.K. Dobbins sustaining a foot injury against the Raiders. Backup RJ Harvey would carry more of the load if Dobbins can’t go, as expected.
Quarterback Bo Nix, who has three touchdown passes and three interceptions over the past two games, said he deleted his social media apps so he doesn’t hear the criticism online.
“And nobody’s ever bold enough to say it to your face,” he said.
