What an unusual Sunday awaits the Kansas City Chiefs. There’s no undefeated record to protect, no playoff seeding to secure, and no scoreboard watching to see if another team’s loss will shape their destiny. The tailgates will go on, the pomp and circumstance of another NFL regular season finale will still fill the air, but come Monday morning, Kansas City’s fate will remain unchanged.
The only thing left to play for? Bragging rights.
Can the Kansas City Chiefs cap off an improbable season with a win over the Denver Broncos?
The Chiefs once held a commanding 16-game winning streak over the Denver Broncos, a stretch of dominance that only ended last season when Denver finally broke through. Even their last matchup—a low-scoring affair that ended with a last-second Chiefs victory—felt inevitable, as the Broncos have played second fiddle to Kansas City since Peyton Manning’s retirement.
This Sunday, Denver faces a much more urgent situation. A win secures their spot in the playoffs, but a loss means they’ll need both the Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals to stumble in their finales. The Broncos had opportunities to clinch a playoff berth earlier in the season but squandered them with costly mistakes in advantageous matchups. Now, their postseason hopes rest on a single game.
The question is: can a resting Chiefs squad spoil Denver’s playoff aspirations? Or will Kansas City prioritize health and preparation for the postseason over-delivering one final heartbreak to their AFC West rival? Our writers weigh in on what to expect from this intriguing matchup at Mile High Stadium.
Patrick Allen
These games are weird. Every year, some team needs to win to make the playoffs by simply beating a team with nothing to play for, and they lose anyway. As hilarious as it would be to see the Chiefs' backups beat the Broncos and end their playoff dreams, I don't see it happening. Denver is too well-coached and is at home.
Broncos 27, Chiefs 13
Matt Conner
Chiefs Kingdom will be feeling a giant boost of confidence in case something happens to Patrick Mahomes this postseason when they watch Carson Wentz go to work on Sunday in Andy Reid’s offense. Even with everything to play for, I think the Chiefs backups are going to enjoy playing the role of spoiler in a rival’s season.
Chiefs 18, Broncos 15
Braden Holecek
The Chiefs' backups are probably still capable of making things interesting for the Broncos. Making Denver sweat it out could be a massive boost for Kansas City entering the playoffs, by possibly keeping their division rival out of the dance. However, Sean Payton is too good of a coach. This Broncos defense is also very physical, to where the K.C. backups should not be able to score on them consistently. Denver gets in to take on the Buffalo Bills next week.
Broncos 30, Chiefs 18
Felix Johnson
I secretly pray for the downfalls of other teams every week, so knowing that Carson Wentz is capable of winning a singular football game with Andy Reid as his head coach and Spags calling the defense makes me smile. Also, Chiefs +10 in any scenario is a good one.
Chiefs 21, Broncos 20
Jacob Milham
How often can you call the Chiefs a "trap game" for another team? The Denver Broncos may claim they don't care who Kansas City chooses to play or rest this week, but in reality, they must care. Denver controls its own destiny, but the memory of their last meeting with the Chiefs still looms large. They had a 99.9% win probability on the final play of that game—and still lost. On paper, this Sunday’s matchup may not seem significant, but history tells a different story. Despite resting their starters, the Chiefs have a history of winning regular-season finales, and there's no reason they can't do so again. With nothing to lose and everything to gain by deflating their AFC West rival, Kansas City is set to inflict another heartbreak on the Broncos and send them home with no victory.
Chiefs 21, Broncos 17
Shawn O'Brate
Well, here we are at the end of the season with another game filled with backups for KC. These games are always tough to guess but I think Denver is going to make sure they don’t leave anything on the field. With that said, Spags is gonna try his best to keep guys healthy and still put a controlling defense on the field to mess with Bo Nix’s mind. Denver will win and hold that over all of Kansas City’s heads for years (“We beat Kansas City when they were 15-1…blah blah blah”), but the Chiefs won't care because they’re already on top (plus Cincy misses the playoffs which surely puts a smile on Mahomes’ face)
Broncos 26, Chiefs 21
Charles Robinson
Kick back and enjoy this preseason-esque action with a cigar and a cocktail and ring in the New Year. Carson Wentz and the Chiefs B-team might still be able to beat Denver, but ultimately if the Broncos do win it just equals Bengal tears, so the Chiefs really can't lose here. I think Denver playing for their lives outweighs what we will see as outstanding Chiefs depth by the end of this one.
Broncos 23, Chiefs 21
Stacy D. Smith
The Kansas City Chiefs have closed down the shop ahead of an essentially meaningless regular-season finale with the Denver Broncos. The game will have consequences for their division rival but will serve as little more than rest and an opportunity to give play time to young players to assess their potential future with the team. Carson Wentz is arguably the best backup quarterback in the NFL today so I expect that he'll have a solid day. Wentz will toss a couple of touchdowns, Carson Steele will get some long-awaited redemption with a high volume of carries, and the Chiefs will squeak by.
Chiefs 21, Broncos 20
Lucas Strozinsky
This game means nothing to the Chiefs and everything for the Broncos. As hilarious as it would be for the Chiefs to knock Denver out of the playoffs, Carson Wentz and Chris Oladokun won't get the job done, unfortunately.
Broncos 29, Chiefs 12