Broncos fans don’t have to sit through another primetime game against KC

The Broncos and Chiefs Sunday Night Football showdown on Dec. 11 was supposed to be a big game.

At least, we all thought so a few months ago.

That won’t be the case, at least not for Denver, as they’re likely just a couple weeks away from being officially eliminated from the playoff hunt. Kansas City, meanwhile, needs to keep stacking wins to ensure the No. 1 seed in the AFC. That should be relatively easy against a Broncos team that will probably be 3-9 by the time the two meet at Empower Field at Mile High.

So, with Denver’s dud of a season, the NFL made a no-brainer move by taking the game out of primetime. It will be replaced on NBC by Chargers and Dolphins, with Denver and KC kicking off at 2:05 p.m. that afternoon. The draw of Tua versus Herbert outweighed Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes against the stink of Nathaniel Hackett, Russell Wilson and the Broncos.

The Broncos have been the laughingstock of the NFL this year, particularly in primetime, so this makes sense. Let’s take a look…

• Week 1 at Seattle: A 17-16 loss on Monday Night Football, marred by two goal-line fumbles and horrible game-management that resulted in Brandon McManus missing a 64-yard field goal in the final seconds
• Week 3 vs. San Francisco: An ugly 11-10 win on Sunday Night Football over the 49ers, thanks largely to QB Jimmy Garoppolo accidentally shuffling out of the back of the end zone and taking a safety
• Week 5. vs. Indianapolis: A 12-9 overtime loss to the Colts on Thursday Night Football in one of the worst games you will ever see played. Wilson threw two awful interceptions, and missed a wide-open KJ Hamler in OT for a TD
• Week 6 at Los Angeles: A 19-16 overtime loss to the Chargers on Monday Night Football, thanks to another anemic offensive performance and key special teams fumble in OT

After each of those games, the Broncos led every national sports talk show in the country, for all the wrong reasons. It was always folks questioning Hackett and Wilson for decisions that were bad throughout.

The Broncos also played a “stand-alone” game against the Jaguars in London on Oct. 30, but that was on ESPN+ across the country, and kicked off early in the morning. Not nearly as many people saw Denver defeat Jacksonville, 21-17.

But you can bet America will be tuned in on Dec. 11. And network executives didn’t want the Broncos drawing the ire of fans everywhere, which they almost certainly would have.

This season can’t end fast enough.

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