After dismantling Chiefs, it’s okay for Broncos Country to believe

DENVER — Inside Empower Field at Mile High on Sunday, there was a team that bumbled, stumbled and gaffed its way around from sideline to sideline and goalpost to goalpost.

For a change, that team wasn’t the Broncos.

Instead, it was the Kansas City Chiefs.

Two days before Halloween, the defending world champions, the team raging through its imperial phase came dressed as the Broncos of the last seven seasons.

The mental mistakes, the poor decisions, the slipshod execution … all of it belonged to Kansas City as the Chiefs absorbed a 24-9 flogging that saw the Broncos take out nearly a decade’s worth of frustrations on a frigid afternoon.

And by the game’s final moments, when Patrick Mahomes haplessly collided with his offensive tackle, Donovan Smith, en route to a sack, the mighty Chiefs were meek, bloodied, beaten and … above all, embarrassed.

Yes, Kansas City was a primary contributor to its own demise.

But the Broncos did their part to coax the mistakes.

From an opening three-and-out during which defenders plastered in coverage to the final quarter in which Mahomes was left madly circling about the backfield, extending plays that ultimately went nowhere regardless.

The Broncos followed the ideal game plan against a Mahomes-led team to the letter.

They ran the ball.

They bled the clock.

Teams that ran on more than 50 percent of their snaps and won the time-of-possession battle against the Chiefs came into Sunday 9-2.

Now they’re 10-2.

Broncos 24, Chiefs 9.

Well, #BroncosCountry, how about that.

Through dominance.

And end to the streak.

The power of belief returning to the
Broncos.

You can squint and see 6-6 from here, stunningly.

My postgame wrap from #KCvsDEN on a day we won’t soon forget around these parts. pic.twitter.com/WbG2CNrIAa

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) October 30, 2023

A giddy throng of 64,005 sung along to “Mr. Brightside” as Broncos drained the clock of its final minutes, savoring a team coming out of its cage after seven years of misery.

On a chilly day, after a frigid seven years, finally, some warmth returned to Broncos Country: the warmth of restored hope.

A WIN THAT MAKES THE BRONCOS ‘BELIEVERS’

This game stands as such, but not just because the Broncos snapped a numbing, humbling 16-game losing streak to the Chiefs that defined the “World of Suck” years that followed the team’s Super Bowl 50 triumph.

The most profound impact of the win is that it stands as the most tangible evidence that Sean Payton’s plan is starting to yield results.

Before Sunday, the positives were on the fringes. Vastly improved special teams, for one. A drop in false-start penalties, for another; after the Broncos had five against Chicago, they spent extra time working on pre-snap procedure and cadence, leading to just one false-start infraction in the subsequent three games.

Now, the Broncos have something truly tangible.

“This is as good of a win as I’ve had in my career,” right tackle Mike McGlinchey said. “It feels so good for the guys that have been here, that have fought tooth and nail to try and keep this place afloat. Justin Simmons, Garett Bolles, Tim Patrick, Courtland Sutton, guys that have been here for such a long time, putting their heart and soul into this organization.

In Mike McGlinchey’s eyes, the impact of the win on the Broncos’ outlook and morale is profound.

“I think it makes us believers,” he said. pic.twitter.com/lDmJL6cKRL

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) October 30, 2023

“And to come out and beat these guys, the defending world champs and the No. 1 team in the AFC — that’s a huge win, and it’s a win that’s going to make us believers, and it’s a win that can change an organization.”

Not to get all Ted Lasso on you here, but belief matters. And when losses accumulate, it becomes difficult to maintain it.

Sunday’s win provided a milepost. It was the Broncos’ biggest win since at least the 2016 season … and arguably their most significant triumph since Super Bowl 50 itself.

All because of the belief it can instill. And McGlinchey made this clear: It’s not about the belief from outside. It’s the belief within the locker room.

“Believers that you can win,” McGlinchey said. “And I don’t give a [excrement] what the outside of the locker room says. I don’t care about that. I care about what these guys think and what these guys feel.

“We can do this. And we proved that today.”

A COMPLETE EFFORT

It was complementary football.

Denver’s defense opened by quickly sweeping Kansas City’s attack off the field, forcing the quick three-and-out to start the game, setting up the Broncos’ first extended drive of the game.

And in the second half, after the Broncos consumed more than half of the third quarter with the initial series after halftime, the defense dispatched Mahomes and Co. after seven plays, forcing a punt. The offense proceed to chew another six minutes and 30 seconds off the clock.

“Our defense played their asses off all day today; to keep that team and that offense to no touchdowns is unbelievable,” McGlinchey said. “And like I said earlier this week, and I’ve told you guys since I got here, it takes all 22 guys to run the football, and we got 40 runs called today.

More from Mike McGlinchey on Broncos becoming “believers”: “Believers that you can win. And I don't give a **** what the outside of the locker room says. I don't care about that. I care about what these guys think & what these guys feel. We can do this. And we proved that today.” pic.twitter.com/ibwfnlUw98

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) October 30, 2023

“So, when you play defense like that, you stay on schedule, you control the whole flow of the game, and I’m proud of the way we did it.

This is not only the formula to beat the Chiefs. It’s the formula to get the most out of a season that appeared to be destined for doom just a fortnight ago and now seems pregnant with possibilities once again.

“That was the win that we needed to get over the hump and change things around here in Broncos Country,” edge rusher Jonathon Cooper said.

“I feel like that’s what we’re gonna do for the rest of the season.”

And after Sunday’s destruction of the defending world champions, all of a sudden, big dreams don’t seem so out of reach for a team that could be finding its form — and could see two backup quarterbacks in three weeks after the bye.

Because on Sunday, the Broncos weren’t the team that they were for the last seven years. They didn’t find a way to falter, and didn’t capitulate to an opponent’s will,

Instead, they dominated. And once you’ve done it once, you have the road map to make it there again.

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