Bo Nix delivers a masterclass drive, as Broncos push Chiefs to the brink

Ding-dong, the witch is dead.

It’s over. Finally. The Chiefs reign in the AFC West has come to an end.

The Broncos getting a last-second, walk-off, 22-19 win over Kansas City on Sunday did the trick. After nine years of owning the division, Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and company are done atop the standings.

Denver is now 9-2, in the driver’s seat to win the division. K.C. is 5-5, listed under “In the Hunt” on the playoff graphic during “Sunday Night Football.” And everything feels right in Broncos Country.

Perhaps that’ll put an end to the hand wringing in the Mile High City. Coming into the game, Denver was the most-maligned 8-2 team in recent memory. Everyone was bagging on them. No one gave them a chance in a must-win game for the Chiefs.

But the Broncos answered the bell. And they won another game in the same fashion in which they’ve been racking up victories all season long.

Denver played great defense, holding Mahomes and the Chiefs to just 19 points. They didn’t turn the ball over, relied on their kicker and made plays when it mattered most. And Bo Nix was stellar in the biggest moment.

On the day, the Broncos quarterback was 24-of-37 for 295 yards. But the numbers don’t really tell the story, as they haven’t all season.

Yes, that’s a gaudy completion percentage. And sure, nearly 300 yards through the air is a good day. But none of that matters.

What’s really important is how Nix played on the final drive. What he did or didn’t do before is irrelevant.

With the game tied 19-19, the Broncos got the ball on their own 26-yard line with 2:59 to play. Less than a minute later, they faced a third-and-15 at their own 21.

Fail to convert and the Chiefs probably win the game. Punting to Mahomes at the two-minute warning in a tie game wouldn’t have been good. One or two completions to get into field-goal range and the Chiefs stroll out of Empower Field with a W.

But Nix made a play. He found Courtland Sutton for a 20-yard completion and kept the drive alive.

He wasn’t done yet, however. With 1:15 to play, the Broncos faced third-and-five at their 46-yard line. Once again, Nix found Sutton to move the chains.

The magic wasn’t over, though. Two plays later, Nix hit Troy Franklin for a 32-yard completion that put Denver in point-blank field goal range.

Take a knee. Make the kick. Ballgame.

Slaying the dragon is never easy. And that’s what the Chiefs have been for the past decade.

Kansas City has won nine-straight AFC West titles. They’ve been in seven-consecutive conference championship games. The Chiefs have played in five of the last six Super Bowls.

Knocking them off their pedestal wasn’t going to be easy. It was going to take a Herculean effort to push them off their perch.

Bo Nix was the right man for the job. In the biggest game of his career, with the country watching and the football world doubting, he answered the bell.

It was a drive to turn the tide in the division. But it was also a march to transform a franchise.

Two third-down conversions with the game on the line were the stuff of legend. Leading a game-winning drive against the king of the hill was something everyone will be talking about for years to come.

“He won,” Sean Payton said after the game about Nix. “That’s his job.”

The Chiefs are dead. The Broncos are rolling. And their quarterback is the reason why. Job well done.

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