The Denver Broncos’ postseason drought is over.
Playing in front of their home fans, the Denver Broncos defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 38-0 to clinch their first playoff berth since the 2015 season.
The Broncos received a little assist from the Chiefs who rested many of their starters – including Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Chris Jones and Trent McDuffie – having already clinched the No. 1 seed in AFC. But don’t tell that to a proud Broncos franchise who was yearning to end an eight-year playoff drought.
Sean Payton’s Broncos scored on their first four possessions as they raced out to a 24-0 first-half lead against an undermanned Chiefs club already eyeing an historic third-straight Super Bowl run.
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Denver had an opportunity to clinch a playoff spot last month but lost consecutive games to the Los Angeles Chargers and Cincinnati Bengals.
The two-game losing streak put Denver in a must-win Week 18 game against Kansas City to stave off the Bengals (9-8) who ended the regular season on a five-game winning streak.
“That’s all we’re focused on honestly. That’s all we’re focused on. I know that’s all I’m focused on,” Broncos outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper said earlier this week. “Like Coach (Sean Payton) said, we’re not ready to be done. We still feel like we have a lot of football ahead of us, and a lot of football to be played.”
The Broncos aren’t finished yet. Denver has a date with the Bills in Buffalo in the wild-card round of the playoffs.
Denver is the third AFC West team to reach the playoffs this season, joining the Chiefs and Chargers.