Broncos–Chiefs rivalry

Broncos–Chiefs

Denver Broncos Kansas City Chiefs
First meeting	October 30, 1960 Dallas Texans 17, Denver Broncos 14
Latest meeting	November 27, 2016 Chiefs 30, Broncos 27 (OT)
Next meeting	December 25, 2016
Statistics
Meetings total	113 (including the playoffs)
All-time series	The Chiefs lead 58–55 (including the playoffs)
Postseason results	The Broncos lead 1–0 January 4, 1998: Broncos 14, Chiefs 10
Largest victory	Broncos: 38–3 (2012); Chiefs: 59–7 (1963)
Smallest victory	1 point (occurred 6 times, most recently in 2003).
Longest win streak	Broncos: 8 (1976–79); Chiefs: 11 (1964–69)
Current win streak	Chiefs: 2 wins (2015–present)
Playoff and Championship success
AFL Championships (3) (1960–69) Chiefs – 1962, 1966, 1969 Super Bowl Championships (4) Broncos (3) – 1997 (XXXII), 1998 (XXXIII), 2015 (50) Chiefs (1) – 1969 (IV) AFL Western Division Championships (2) (1960–69) Chiefs – 1962, 1966 AFC West Divisional Championships (21) (1970–present) Broncos (15) – 1977, 1978, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1996, 1998, 2005, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 Chiefs (6) – 1971, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2003, 2010 AFC Wild Card Berths (15) (1970–present) Broncos (7) – 1979, 1983, 1993, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2004 Chiefs (8[lower-alpha 1]) – 1986, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 2006, 2013, 2015 Super Bowl Appearances (10) Broncos (8) – 1977, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1997, 1998, 2013, 2015 Chiefs (2[lower-alpha 2]) – 1966, 1969

The Broncos–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 AFL–NFL merger, the AFC West. For years, the rivalry has featured two of the best home-field advantages in the league.

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 9–3 edge so far in the 2010s. Since the Texans moved to Kansas City and became the Chiefs, Denver holds a 55–51 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

1990–94

• September 17, 1990: In a game played at Mile High Stadium on Monday Night Football, the Broncos were trailing 23–21 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.^[1] The game is also remembered for Broncos' safety Steve Atwater applying a punishing hit to Chiefs' running back Christian Okoye.^[2]
• 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.^[3] Perhaps the most memorable comeback occurred on October 4, 1992, at Mile High Stadium. The Broncos trailed 19–6 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 19–13 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 20–19 comeback win.^[2][4]
• 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 42–20, with the Chiefs' defense scoring three touchdowns off Broncos' turnovers, and denying the Broncos a playoff berth in the process.^[2]
• 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 (1993–94), after playing the majority of his career with the San Francisco 49ers (1979–1992). 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 24–21 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 28–24 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 31–28 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.^[2][5][6]

1997–present

• November 16, 1997: The Broncos were trailing the Chiefs 21–19 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 22–21 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 24–22 win.^[2][7]
• 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 1997–98 NFL playoffs, and redeemed themselves by upending the No. 1 seed Chiefs 14–10, en route to their first Super Bowl win that season.^[2]
• 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 24–23 win over the Broncos at Arrowhead Stadium.^[2][8]
• November 14, 2010: The Broncos stormed out to a 35–0 lead against the visiting Chiefs before the second half, leading to a 49–29 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.^[9]
• September 17, 2015: The Broncos trailed 24–17 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 31–24 comeback win.^[10][11]
• November 15, 2015: Two months after the aforementioned Broncos' comeback win, the Chiefs exacted revenge on the Broncos in a dominating 29–13 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.^[12]

Game results

Note: All game dates occur on Sunday unless indicated otherwise.
Source: Pro-Football-Reference.^[13]

1960s (Chiefs 19–1)

1970s (Broncos 12–8)

1980s (Broncos 11–8)

1990s (Broncos 11–10)

2000s (Broncos 11–9)

2010s (Broncos 9–4)

Connections between the teams

Coaches

Players

Notes

References

External links

• Denver Broncos' official website
• The Denver Post – Complete Broncos Coverage
• Pro Football Hall of Fame – Denver Broncos team history
• Denver Broncos at Sports E-Cyclopedia.org
• Kansas City Chiefs' official website
• The Kansas City Star – Chiefs' coverage
• Pro Football Hall of Fame – Kansas City Chiefs team history
• Kansas City Chiefs at Sports E-Cyclopedia.org