Why the Broncos care only about surviving and advancing to the next step

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — “Survive and advance.”

In the city to host more Final Fours than any other, the Broncos on Christmas night accomplished the three-word phrase that Jim Valvano made famous as a part of his N.C. State side’s 1983 run to the NCAA men’s basketball championship.

They did that in Thursday’s 20-13 win over the Kansas City Chiefs, and nothing more.

No style points. No flair. No strutting. It was workmanlike at best, a tougher-than-it-needed-to-be struggle at worst, depending on your perspective.

The plan was similar to the one with which they attacked the Las Vegas Raiders 18 days earlier; don’t push it down the field too often, try to create balance and sustain clock-chewing drives.

To that end, the Broncos opened Thursday’s game by guzzling eight minutes and two seconds from the clock on a game-opening field-goal drive.

Denver had just seven possessions before game-ending kneel down. Four of them consumed at least 14 plays. Three of them devoured at least eight minutes, and in the end, the Broncos quaffed 39 minutes and 28 seconds from the clock; per Pro Football Reference, they’ve never lost a regulation, non-overtime game since at least 1983 when holding the football for at least 38 minutes, improving to 30-0 in such situations.

Against the Raiders, this was the plan. Against the Chiefs, this was an adaptation to what Kansas City did.

“I give a lot of credit to Andy (Reid) and those guys, understanding how to give their team the best chance to win,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said.

“… I felt like last week, we saw the (Chiefs’) pressure tick up a ton against Tennessee. Any time you play (Chiefs defensive coordinator) Steve (Spagnuolo), and he is one of the best, he is going to give you looks you haven’t seen. On a short week we are preparing for all of those two-strong, four-week, max pressure and there wasn’t much of that and I understand why.”

Thus, the Broncos took what Kansas City conceded: short routes, quick outs and underneath options in the passing game. It helped that the Broncos were often productive on first downs and rarely fell behind schedule.

Yet despite draining the clock on offense and suffocating what was left of Kansas City’s attack, the Broncos struggled to shake free of the denuded remnants of the Kansas City Chiefs’ empire, a kingdom whose most prized jewels sit in storage or at the cusp of likely retirement.

Two red-zone drives ended in field goals. Kansas City turned two short fields into 10 of its 13 points; one of the short fields was set up by a tip-drill interception that Nick Bolton eventually nabbed to set up a 35-yard touchdown drive.

Kansas City had a narrow path to a potential win and nearly navigated it perfectly. But the Broncos were better — and as they proved on the late fourth down when Quinn Meinerz’s loud “Hut! Hut!” and RJ Harvey’s exaggerated movements forced the Chiefs’ first penalty of the night on an offsides call, they were savvier, too.

BRONCOS HAVE MATCHED A LEAGUE RECORD FOR ONE-SCORE WINS

Moments like that induced penalty — with Harvey aligned in the wildcat formation, never intending to take the snap — have been the difference for a Broncos team that has proven as comfortable at winning a game at the margins as in simply counterpunching a playoff contender as it did to the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers.

It lacks style points, but as Payton told his team after Thursday’s win, such matters are irrelevant.

“He kept telling us — he was like, ‘Our job is to win the game.’ That’s plain and simple,” wide receiver Courtland Sutton said.

“I’m sure the fantasy people don’t like it. I’m sure that the people who gamble on all our games, they don’t like it. But our job isn’t to please those people. Our job is to win the game.

“And so for us to find a way to win the game, that’s all that really matters. He always says that there’s a way to win every single game and each win isn’t going to be the same as the last. “So, his was the way we needed to win this one and we were able to walk away with the win and that’s all that matters.

The triumph was their 11th of the season by eight or fewer points, matching the NFL regular-season record set by the 2022 Minnesota Vikings and the 2024 Chiefs. And furthering the Broncos’ reputation among NFL cognoscenti is the fact that they have trailed in 12 of their 13 wins, including Thursday night; only against Las Vegas in Week 14 did they never look up on the scoreboard and find themselves behind at any point.

Power rankings may continue to gash the Broncos and minimize the quality of their wins. But the point is that the Broncos continue stacking those victories, and now have something invaluable: lengthy rest for a weary, battered but battle-hardened team as it awaits what could be its largest showdown in 10 years.

They survived to advance and make the Jan. 4 game against the Los Angeles Chargers mean everything that the regular season can bring. Not too shabby.

Related

Bo Nix won’t play in Broncos first preseason game, QB plan revealedBroncos list Jarrett Stidham as No. 2 QB on first depth chart of 2026 seasonBroncos 15th most valuable franchise in NFL, worth more than $9 billionA Week 1 win in Kansas City would change the national Broncos narrativeJonah Coleman looks like a first-round running back during training campIf Broncos need an emergency center, Quinn Meinerz is ready