The Denver Broncos defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 24-9 on Sunday in an upset victory that surprised the NFL world.
It was an important win for the Broncos and new head coach Sean Payton — not because it snapped a 16-game losing streak to KC — but because it was the first step in climbing out of a hole after starting the season with a 2-5 record. Denver now has some positive momentum going into the bye.
“It’s an important game for us,” Payton said after the team’s upset win. “It wasn’t streak-driven. It was important for us to play well before the bye. Getting our third win — we dug ourselves in a hole. Obviously, we’re playing a good team. Honestly, and I told you guys during the week, not once has it [the losing streak] come up. I recognize there are a few players that have gone through that time frame, but when you have a new roster, the focus was really on this game. I thought we did the things you do when you win. We were plus four in the turnover battle. We rushed the ball better than they did.
“I thought we, defensively, did a fantastic job with their offense, and a tough offense. We didn’t have the sack production, but we had a lot of hurries, and I felt like we did a good job of keeping him off-schedule. Offensively, we really felt good coming into this game with our plan. You’re always frustrated because — I felt like it was one of those games where we could score a lot, but I was pleased with how we ran the ball. We had some big drives. Then in the kicking game, the turnover on that hurried-up punt was big. There were a lot of things to look at that were positive. We’re going to play in bigger games than that, but it is a division game, and I’m glad we won.”
After resting up this week, the Broncos will return to action when they go on the road to face the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football in Week 10.
