The Broncosâ€"Chiefs rivalry is a rivalry between the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs in the National Football League's AFC West division. Since the American Football League was established in 1960, the Broncos and the Chiefs have shared the same division, first being the AFL Western Conference, and since the AFLâ€"NFL merger, the AFC West. For years, the rivalry has featured two of the best home-field advantages in the league. It also heated up in recent years due to the Chiefs and Broncos both having a winning record from 2013-2016.
The Dallas Texans/Chiefs dominated the Broncos in the 1960s, the decade of the AFL, winning 19 of 20 games. The Broncos have responded since then, winning the series of every subsequent decade and holding a 9â€"5 edge so far in the 2010s. The Chiefs/Texans lead the series 59â€"55, but since the Texans moved to Kansas City and became the Chiefs, Denver holds a 55â€"53 edge. Dallas swept all six meetings in the first three years of the rivalry.
This rivalry could be nicknamed "The I-70 Bowl" due to the fact that both Kansas City and Denver are connected through I-70.
Notable moments
1990â€"94
- September 17, 1990: In a game played at Mile High Stadium on Monday Night Football, the Broncos were trailing 23â€"21 with 1:44 left in the fourth quarter, after Chiefs' quarterback Steve DeBerg launched an 83-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Stephone Paige to give the Chiefs their first lead of the game. Broncos' quarterback John Elway engineered a comeback, which culminated with kicker David Treadwell hitting a 22-yard field goal as time expired. The game is also remembered for Broncos' safety Steve Atwater applying a punishing hit to Chiefs' running back Christian Okoye.
- October 4, 1992: The Chiefs were victimized by 8 of John Elway's 46 fourth quarter comebacks/game-winning drives, the most he had against one NFL team. Perhaps the most memorable comeback occurred on October 4, 1992, at Mile High Stadium. The Broncos trailed 19â€"6 late in the fourth quarter, and had not scored a touchdown in the previous 12 quarters. After the 2-minute warning, Elway threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Mark Jackson to narrow the gap to 19â€"13 with 1:55 left. After the Chiefs subsequently went three-and-out, the Broncos returned a punt to the Chiefs' 27-yard line. Three plays later, Elway threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Vance Johnson with 38 seconds left for a thrilling 20â€"19 comeback win.
- December 27, 1992: Less than three months after John Elway stunned the Chiefs with the aforementioned comeback win, the Chiefs exacted revenge on the Broncos at Arrowhead Stadium in the 1992 regular season finale, with a playoff berth on the line. The Chiefs routed the Broncos 42â€"20, with the Chiefs' defense scoring three touchdowns off Broncos' turnovers, and denying the Broncos a playoff berth in the process.
- October 17, 1994: John Elway and Joe Montana, two of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history, squared off in one of the greatest games in Monday Night Football history. Montana played the last two years of his 16-year NFL career with the Chiefs (1993â€"94), after playing the majority of his career with the San Francisco 49ers (1979â€"1992). The two teams matched each other score for score through the first three quarters, until Chiefs' kicker Lin Elliott nailed a 19-yard field goal to give the Chiefs a 24â€"21 lead with four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. After Broncos' tight end Shannon Sharpe and Chiefs' running back Marcus Allen traded fumbles over the next two possessions, Elway led the Broncos on a 6-play, 39-yard drive, and scored a 4-yard touchdown on a quarterback draw to give the Broncos a 28â€"24 lead with 1:29 remaining. However, the Chiefs would one-up the Broncos, with Montana connecting on a 5-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Willie Davis with only eight seconds remaining to give the Chiefs a thrilling 31â€"28 win. It not only gave Chiefs' head coach Marty Schottenheimer his first victory in Denver in eight tries, but the Chiefs also snapped an 11-game losing streak at Mile High Stadium.
1997â€"present
- November 16, 1997: The Broncos were trailing the Chiefs 21â€"19 at Arrowhead Stadium, and were backed up at their own 27-yard line with two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Quarterback John Elway led the Broncos down the field, with Jason Elam kicking a 34-yard field goal with only a minute left to give the Broncos a 22â€"21 lead. However, Chiefs' quarterback Rich Gannon drove the Chiefs to the Broncos' 37-yard line, and kicker Pete Stoyanovich hit a 54-yard field goal as time expired to give the Chiefs a 24â€"22 win.
- January 4, 1998: Less than two months after the aforementioned last-second win by the Chiefs, the Broncos returned to Kansas City for the divisional round of the 1997â€"98 NFL playoffs, and redeemed themselves by upending the No. 1 seed Chiefs 14â€"10, en route to their first Super Bowl win that season.
- October 5, 2003: Chiefs' return specialist Dante Hall returned a punt 93 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, after it seemed that the Broncos' special teams had him corralled for a loss deep in Chiefs' territory. This gave the Chiefs a 24â€"23 win over the Broncos at Arrowhead Stadium.
- November 14, 2010: The Broncos stormed out to a 35â€"0 lead against the visiting Chiefs before the second half, leading to a 49â€"29 victory. Chiefs' head coach Todd Haley was distraught after the game and snubbed a postgame handshake with Broncos' head coach Josh McDaniels, thinking that the Broncos were running up the score on the Chiefs.
- September 17, 2015: The Broncos trailed 24â€"17 at Arrowhead Stadium with 2:27 left, when quarterback Peyton Manning engineered a 10-play, 80-yard drive, culminating in a game-tying 19-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders with 36 seconds left. The game appeared to be headed to overtime, until Broncos' linebacker Brandon Marshall forced Chiefs' running back Jamaal Charles to fumble on the next play from scrimmage. Cornerback Bradley Roby then returned the fumble 21 yards for a touchdown to give the Broncos a stunning 31â€"24 comeback win.
- November 15, 2015: Two months after the aforementioned Broncos' comeback win, the Chiefs exacted revenge on the Broncos in a dominating 29â€"13 win at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The visiting Chiefs ended a seven-game losing steak to the Broncos, and their defense gave Broncos' quarterback Peyton Manning's his first (and only) 0.0 passer rating of his career. Entering the game, Manning needed only three yards to become the NFL's all-time leader in regular season passing yardage, however he threw for just 35 yards and four interceptions before being benched in the third quarter in favor of backup quarterback Brock Osweiler.
- November 27, 2016: The Chiefs were trailing 24â€"16 with three minutes left in regulation, when quarterback Alex Smith engineered a 13-play, 75-yard drive, culminating in a 3-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Tyreek Hill, coupled with a game-tying two-point conversion with only 12 seconds remaining, sending the game to overtime. Hill previously returned a free kick 86 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter and also scored on a 3-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. After each team exchanged field goals in overtime â€" a 44-yarder by Broncos' placekicker Brandon McManus followed by a 37-yarder by Chiefs' placekicker Cairo Santos, the Broncos were trying to win the game with a highly criticized 62-yard field goal attempt by McManus, but the kick was both short and wide-left, giving the Chiefs possession at the Broncos' 48-yard line with 1:08 remaining. Four plays later, and with five seconds remaining, Santos kicked the game-winning 34-yard field goal for the Chiefs, which initially caromed off the left upright.
Game results
Note: All game dates occur on Sunday unless indicated otherwise.
Source: Pro-Football-Reference.
1960s (Chiefs 19â€"1)
1970s (Broncos 12â€"8)
1980s (Broncos 11â€"8)
1990s (Broncos 11â€"10)
2000s (Broncos 11â€"9)
2010s (Broncos 9â€"5)
Connections between the teams
Coaches
Players
Notes
References
External links
- Denver Broncos' official website
- The Denver Post â€" Complete Broncos Coverage
- Pro Football Hall of Fame â€" Denver Broncos team history
- Denver Broncos at Sports E-Cyclopedia.org
- Kansas City Chiefs' official website
- The Kansas City Star â€" Chiefs' coverage
- Pro Football Hall of Fame â€" Kansas City Chiefs team history
- Kansas City Chiefs at Sports E-Cyclopedia.org
