Sean Payton Stands on the Formula That Helped Broncos Dethrone Chiefs

And just like that, game week is upon the Denver Broncos.

The Broncos will travel to Arrowhead Stadium to take on the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football, kicking off the season. For a fan base dying for the return of Broncos football, that's how you start the season off with a bang — and go from zero to 60.

The Broncos swept the Chiefs last season for the first time in more than a decade. Since Andy Reid was hired as head coach, the Chiefs have been one of the NFL's premier teams, and they've only missed the playoffs twice: in 2014 and last season.

The Broncos played a part in the Chiefs' downfall last year, vanquishing them in Denver in Week 11 when Kansas City was utterly desperate to stay alive. In Week 15, quarterback Patrick Mahomes suffered a multi-ligament knee tear, but Kansas City's season was already over.

Broncos head coach Sean Payton has competed with Reid enough to know that he'd be remiss to assume anything other than it'll be business as usual for the Chiefs this season. Of course, there are questions surrounding the Chiefs, not the least of which is Mahomes's knee, but the Broncos are approaching their division rival no differently than they have since Payton arrived in Denver.

But after two years of putting wood on the fire, it finally exploded into an inferno for all to see, as the Broncos dethroned the Chiefs for the AFC West crown. Payton reflected on what it took to knock the Chiefs off their perch on Monday as the Broncos reconvene to officially begin game-planning for Week 1.

“The first thing is focusing as a team on improving," Payton said. "There’s a sense of urgency when you get somewhere new."

Broncos Back On Top

Sean Payton and Andy Reid — Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton greets Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid following the game at Mile High. | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Winning the division was nothing new for the Broncos as an organization. Last year was the club's 16th AFC West championship all-time.

But it had been eight long years since the Broncos had last done so, and none of the players on the roster were around for that. Payton had to help this team relearn how to win, and he did so with gusto and in a shockingly short amount of time.

The respect Payton has for Reid and his defensive coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo, is palpable. For Payton and the Broncos, knocking off the Chiefs was a hard-won achievement, but now they face the stiff task of defending their divisional crown.

"We have a ton of respect, obviously, for Andy, his staff, and what they’ve accomplished, that team," Payton said. "So our task, or our goal, was really get to work and find the right 53 guys each season and work on the details of the game. So it’ll be a big challenge, especially with the crowd noise in Kansas City this year.”

The Broncos feel great about their initial 53-man roster this year. Denver might have the deepest roster in the NFL, which made it exceedingly hard on the rookies and bubble players to make the cut.

Get Ready For the Noise

Bo Nix. — Bo Nix calls the signals pre-snap against the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium last season. | Scott Winters / IMAGO / Icon Sportswire

Preparing for the crowd noise will be a big part of Payton's preparation this week. Chiefs fans are going to be fully energized for the return of Mahomes and for the chance to bury what happened last year in the dustbin of history.

The problem is, the Broncos stand in their way.

No longer do the Chiefs have an uninterrupted path to the AFC West crown. The Los Angeles Chargers are a thing, to be sure, but the Broncos have made it clear that, with Payton and Bo Nix in the fold, the Chiefs will have to fight to the death for divisional supremacy.

When Payton arrived in Denver, the Chiefs had won seven straight division titles. As Broncos head coach, Payton is 4-2 against the Chiefs, with his only losses coming at Arrowhead in 2023 and 2024.

As much headway as Payton has made in Denver, the Broncos have never defeated a Mahomes-led Chiefs team at Arrowhead since he entered the league in 2017.

The Broncos won there last season, but Mahomes was sidelined on Christmas Day. Payton and Nix got close in 2024, but a last-second blocked field-goal attempt saw the Chiefs snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, sending the Broncos home stunned.

The Chiefs are just a different animal with Mahomes in the lineup. The Broncos will act accordingly.

"I think we’re looking at it and expecting someone who’s 100 percent, someone who’s moving well based on what limited footage you get," Payton said of Mahomes on Monday. "He’s going to be one of those guys that threatens you not only in the pocket, but out of the pocket. So our approach has been pay close attention to what we’ve seen historically film-wise, how we defend not only him, but their team.”

The Takeaway

Broncos-Chiefs will be here before you know it. The Broncos get an extra day to prepare, so it's going to be an epic throwdown between two rivals supremely motivated to make a statement.

The Chiefs are hoping to proclaim that they're back and that last season was an aberration. The Broncos are looking to prove that the division is now theirs, and that they're the new 800-pound gorilla at the top of the AFC West mountain.

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