DENVER -- For the fifth time this season, the Broncos put together a fourth-quarter comeback, but this time it secured them the best record in the NFL and came against a Kansas City Chiefs team that has ruled the AFC West and vexed Denver for almost a decade.
Wil Lutz made a 35-yard walk-off field goal as the Broncos defeated the Chiefs 22-19 on Sunday to improve to 9-2, tying the New England Patriots atop the league standings.
Score one, coach Sean Payton said, for toughness in the tightest spots.
"[There is a] Nick Saban quote about toughness, about how much you can take,'' Payton said. "He likened it to hurricane windows -- you can get the 139s, the 150s or the 189s [wind-speed rating].
"It's finding the 189s -- sometimes you've got to pass on what may look attractive, but it's finding those guys who can tune out the noise. And there's been a lot of noise. ... I hear some of the narratives and I just want to, like, cry.''
These Broncos head into their bye week with no tears amid their first eight-game win streak since they won 11 straight to close the 2012 regular season. Sunday's victory also put them 3.5 games ahead of the Chiefs (5-5) in the division race and two ahead of the Los Angeles Chargers (7-4), who lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Broncos have not clinched the AFC West since 2015, when they went on to win the Super Bowl.
"If you tracked any championship team you would find the tough wins, the close ones. ... There's going to be those heavy wins,'' Payton said. "I'd be lying to everybody if I didn't say [Sunday's win] was a big one.''
The Broncos' defense limited the Chiefs to one touchdown in four red zone trips, sacked Patrick Mahomes three times -- increasing their league-leading sack total to 49 -- and intercepted him once. Broncos cornerback Ja'Quan McMillian had two of the sacks and the interception.
Kansas City entered Sunday 17-2 against Denver since the start of October 2015, a stretch that included a 16-game win streak. But the Broncos have now won three of their past four meetings with the Chiefs and, as the division leader, believe a new day might be dawning.
"They've been running this league for a while, been the top of the conference a long time,'' Broncos linebacker Jonathon Cooper said. "They're a good team, but we're a good team. [You] can turn on the film: We're learning how to win games, and we've got a really good team. ... Overall, that point is being made -- at 9-2 it's hard not to get that point.''
"They've been the champs of this division nine years in a row,'' Broncos guard Quinn Meinerz said. "They're a good team, we're a good team, and we played better today.''
Quarterback Bo Nix took a knee to put the ball at the Chiefs' 16-yard line for Lutz's game winner. It was a fitting end, some Broncos said, as the field goal attempt was the same distance as the one Lutz lined up for in Arrowhead Stadium on Nov. 10 last season when Chiefs linebacker Leo Chenal blocked the kick on the game's last play to seal Kansas City's 16-14 win.
Despite the heartbreak, the Broncos went on to win four of their last six games and earn a wild-card berth.
"That loss in Kansas City was when the 189 miles an hour was tested,'' Payton said. "A gut-wrenching loss, [but] after that loss there was a feeling that we belong here. There was some irony, obviously, [Sunday] when we were taking the knee to kick the field goal.''
The Broncos will come out of their bye week with road games against the Washington Commanders and Las Vegas Raiders. They will then finish the season with three home games (Green Bay, Jacksonville, Chargers) sandwiched around a Christmas night game at Kansas City.
"At the end of the day, we've just got a bunch of ballers,'' Broncos safety Talanoa Hufanga said.