Broncos beating Bills then facing carefree Chiefs would be poetic

The Denver Broncos have a big task awaiting them on Sunday as they head to Buffalo to take on the Bills.

No one is denying that.

The No. 7 seeded Broncos are considered the “cute” story of the AFC playoffs. The No. 2 seeded Bills are a juggernaut, with many predicting this is the year Buffalo and QB Josh Allen will finally breakthrough and win the Super Bowl.

That could certainly happen. Allen looks like the MVP of the NFL and it feels like every time you turn on a Bills game they’re putting 40 or more points on the scoreboard. There will be plenty of time this week to discuss how the Broncos pull off what would amount to a stunning upset.

But this isn’t about Buffalo. It’s about what the Chiefs did, or didn’t do, this past Sunday at Empower Field at Mile High. They didn’t take the Broncos seriously. At all. They rolled over and died in a pathetic 38-0 loss in which even the backup players looked like they had absolutely zero interest in being in Denver.

As Broncos head coach Sean Payton said last week, it was Andy Reid’s right to rest his starters. But Reid did more than just that. He had the rest of his roster completely unprepared. Reid clearly didn’t care one shred if Denver made the playoffs. He was also probably happy to keep the Cincinnati Bengals out of the postseason.

However, this is where things could get fun. If the Broncos shock the Bills, there’s only one place they can go in the divisional round. You guessed it: Kansas City.

The Chiefs were relaxed and carefree against Denver this past weekend. They had no worries in the world. Reid and his guys were happy to fly to the Mile High City, get their butts kicked, then head home. It’s almost like they wanted the Broncos in the playoffs, potentially watering down the AFC field.

Oh, how sweet it would be to make the back-to-back Super Bowl champions regret that decision.

Don’t forget what happened the first time the Broncos went to K.C. earlier this season. They should’ve won. Rookie QB Bo Nix led a phenomenal drive in the final minutes to put Denver in position to be victorious at the buzzer. The memories of Wil Lutz’s blocked 35-yard field goal won’t stop stinging any time soon, but the reality is the Broncos deserved to win that day.

In fact, you know what would make Alex Forsyth getting demolished be a thing of the past? Beating the Chiefs in the divisional round and going to the AFC Championship Game for the first time in nearly a decade.

Yes, I’m getting ahead of myself. But what Reid and the Chiefs pulled on Sunday might be tempting the football gods. Not only did they give the Dolphins and Bengals zero hope, they told the rest of the NFL they were perfectly fine with Nix, Payton and the Broncos making the dance.

Avoiding injury is one thing. Appearing to give very little effort is another. That’s what Kansas City did. And let’s hope it burns them down the road.

They could’ve sent Denver on vacation and another year of missing the playoffs if they wanted to. It’s clear, the Chiefs didn’t even have that on their radar. Ending their three-peat chances for that decision on Jan. 18 or 19 would be sweet.

The Broncos have to beat the Bills in Buffalo for this to have a shot to happen, but if they do, you can bet that’ll be a major storyline entering Chiefs and Broncos part three a couple of weeks from now.