Originally Posted by MagicHef:
Congrats on beating the Jags.
Broncos did that too
Everything that has happened since Broncos last beat KC Chiefs
Scott Loring6w ago
Time is such a funny thing. It always stays the same, and yet we are constantly amused by it. Perhaps, as author C.S. Lewis ascertains, time is so spellbinding to us because we were made for an existence where time is not a factor. Regardless, the Kansas City Chiefs winning streak over the Denver Broncos has evolved from a talking point into a full-on comedy routine.
It’s more and more baffling to look back on that day and put into perspective just how long this streak has lasted. And if I say so myself, reading this one out loud makes it all sound even more preposterous. Give it a try: Sept. 17, 2015. The last time the Broncos beat the Chiefs.
That was the game that was infamously lost when Jamaal Charles fumbled with just 0:27 remaining and the Broncos scooped it up for the game-winning score. It was also safety Eric Berry’s first game back from defeating cancer. There are only three players still remaining on either roster from that game: Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, long snapper James Winchester, and Broncos kicker Brandon McManus.
If you were to go back in time to Sept. 17, 2015, you would find that you had probably never heard of Chris Jones or Tyreek Hill. Both were still in college. Chiefs center Mitch Morse was a rookie in his first game at Arrowhead that day. Mitch Morse is 30 now.
Incredibly, 11 quarterbacks and one wide receiver have lined up under center for the Broncos since they last beat the Chiefs on Sept. 17, 2015 (each one regrettable):
Peyton Manning
Trevor Siemian
Paxton Lynch
Brock Osweiler
Case Keenum
Joe Flacco
Brandon Allen
Jeff Driskel
Brett Rypien
Kendall Hinton
Drew Lock
Teddy Bridgewater
Russell Wilson
What about the youngest current Chief? What was he doing back then?
A few players who were still playing in the NFL back when the Broncos last beat the Chiefs: NFL Hall of Famers Charles Woodson and Calvin Johnson. Here’s another:
Be honest: Do you remember Jared Allen playing for the Bears or the Panthers?
Tom Brady has thrown 241 touchdown passes since that 2015 game, a statistic which by itself alone would place him 28th all-time in NFL history. Of course, Brady was 38 years old at the time, so that doesn’t include the 399 touchdowns he had already thrown until that day.
And hey, speaking of Tom Brady… Antonio Brown was only making headlines for being good at football back in 2015. Now go back and read that one again. That’s how far back we’re talking.
Alabama running back Derrick Henry was beginning his Heisman Trophy-winning season in September of 2015. Henry has carried the ball 1,659 times in the NFL since then.
Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley was just beginning his rookie campaign. Did I say Los Angeles Rams? I’m sorry, I meant the St. Louis Rams! The franchise hadn’t even moved back to L.A. yet in 2015. And Gurley is now two years removed from even playing the game.
For the fantasy football buffs: Popular first-round picks in every fantasy football league that season included Packers running back Eddie Lacy, Bears running back Matt Forte, and Eagles running back DeMarco Murray.
And in local college athletics, Gary Pinkel was still the head coach at Mizzou in 2015. Hoopsters Cheick Diallo and LaGerald Vick had just come on campus at KU and had yet to play a single minute in a Jayhawk uniform. And if you get the chance to ask current Broncos offensive lineman Dalton Risner where he was when the streak started, he’ll begrudgingly tell you he was a redshirt freshman at Kansas State.
What about other sports? In September of 2015, the Royals were wrapping up the regular season of their eventual World Series championship run of 2015. That means (you guessed it):
That also means the Royals’ famous 8th inning rally at the Astros (and the phrase “Next man up”) in the ALDS, and the impressive defeat of Jose Bautista and the beer-league Blue Jays in the ALCS are more recent than the Broncos’ last defeat of the Chiefs.
The MLB debuts of Adalberto Mondesi, Whit Merrifield, Hunter Dozier, and Ryan O’Hearn are all more recent than a Broncos victory over the Chiefs.
The Golden State Warriors had just won the NBA Championship – for the first time in 40 years. Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, and Kevin Garnett were still playing in the NBA.
Current high school seniors were in 5th grade back then. Disney Plus didn’t exist. Neither did TikTok or Fortnite.
Do you like pop culture? Here’s a list of movies that are more recent than a Broncos win over KC: Zootopia, Moana, Sing, Trolls, The Greatest Showman, Deadpool, The Revenant, and Doctor Strange.
It’s a strange streak, for sure, and since then the rivalry has seen some remarkable games. Of course, there was the first win of the current streak, later in 2015, in which Peyton Manning was rendered useless and benched in the third quarter. Then there was the double-doink field goal game as time expired in overtime in 2016, Mahomes winning his first career game with all backups in 2017, the Mahomes left-handed pass in 2018, the scoop-and-score by Reggie Ragland after Mahomes got knocked out of the game in 2019, “the Snow Game” later in 2019, the Sorensen pick-6 and Pringle kickoff return game in 2020, another dramatic scoop-and-score by Nick Bolton to secure the victory in January 2022.
There is no end in sight for Denver. The Broncos’ streak of futility appears safe, with the front office, coaching staff, and current roster each an outright catastrophe in its own right. Of course, “any given Sunday,” blah blah blah. The acquisition, exorbitant contract extension, and subsequent play of Russell Wilson appear to give the Chiefs a distinct advantage in this matchup until Jesus comes. Enjoy the ball game.
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