KC Chiefs: Quarterbacks key to change of fortune in Broncos rivalry

Quarterbacks have been the key in who owns the Kansas City Chiefs/Denver Broncos rivalry and right now, the advantage goes to the Chiefs.

Flashback to New Year’s Day of 2012. The Kansas City Chiefs were facing the Denver Broncos for both teams’ regular-season finales with playoff implications on the line for both teams. That year saw the AFC West in a rare deadlock heading toward the finish line and three of the four divisional teams finished 8-8 on the year (the Chiefs finished at 7-9), meaning the winner of this game could very well be punching their ticket to the playoffs.

The Chiefs won that game by a score of 7-3, as Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow went just 6-of-22 for 60 yards and an interception (that’s not even the worst performance by a Broncos quarterback…). Denver still made it to the playoffs and somehow won a playoff game with Tebow as their quarterback.

Anyway, that game is being brought up because it was the last time the Chiefs would beat Denver until Nov. 15, 2015. The reason for that is Peyton Manning signed with the Denver Broncos after the 2012 season and turned this rivalry into a one-sided affair for the next three and a half years.

Peyton Manning proceeded to go 7-1 against the KC Chiefs during his time in Denver.

It was the same story every year while Manning was in Denver, which was that no matter the circumstances, the Broncos would beat the Chiefs. This wasn’t surprising in 2012 when the Chiefs were terrible, but once Andy Reid came to town in 2013, fans hoped the team could be a little more competitive against their divisional foe.

We started to see the Chiefs come close to knocking off Denver, including a game in Week 2 of the 2015 season where the Chiefs lost it because of a last-second Jamaal Charles fumble that the Broncos defense took into the end zone for the game-winning score. Chiefs fans were frustrated at the time of that loss because it felt like Kansas City would never beat Denver again.

Little did Chiefs Kingdom and Broncos Country know, however, that game would be the final time the Broncos would get the best of the Chiefs for at least four years (potentially more depending on the outcome of this weekend’s game). Manning was abysmal in the 2015 rematch between the Chiefs and Broncos, completing just five passes for 35 yards and throwing four interceptions.

The 2015 season was Manning’s last and while the Broncos won the Super Bowl that year, that loss to the Chiefs on Nov. 15 was the first of many they’d suffer to their divisional foes.