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By Joe Kozlowski
Sports Team Lead
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In the world of sports, a rivalry implies somewhat of an equal footing. If you can simply win every game, there's no threat of bad blood or intense emotions.
By that metric, the Chiefs and the Broncos aren't exactly rivals at the moment. As you've undoubtedly heard, the reigning Super Bowl champs have dominated Denver in recent times. Heading into October 12's Thursday night meeting between the two clubs, Kansas City has won the last 15 contests in question.
And while that's undoubtedly an eye-catching number, just how massive is a 15-game winning streak? Well, let's put that into a larger context.
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When Was the Last Time the Broncos Beat the Chiefs?
At the risk of trotting out a cliché, the NFL is a league where any team can win on any given Sunday. In that context, any winning streak is worth celebrating. One stretching into double digits, understandably, is an even more impressive feat.
That's exactly what the Chiefs have against the Broncos. Ahead of the two club's first meeting of the 2023 season, KC has won 15 straight games against Denver. The last time the script was flipped was on September 17, 2015.
On that fateful day, Peyton Manning's Broncos secured a 31-24 victory over KC. Since then, though, the results have remained constant. Coaches have come and gone. There have been tight games and injuries. When the final whistle blows, though, the Chiefs come out on top.
What's changed for the Chiefs since 2015?
If you want the short answer, a great deal.
During the 2015 season, Alex Smith stood under center for Kansas City. His main receiving option was Jeremy Maclin, and Charcandrick West handled the bulk of the running back work. Jamaal Charles was still on the roster, but he only managed 71 carries across five games.
Andy Reid was already at Arrowhead in 2015, but what about the rest of KC's power players? Patrick Mahomes was still at Texas Tech, while Chris Jones was plying his trade at Mississippi State. Travis Kelce was a Chief and had started to emerge as a legitimate offensive threat—he caught 72 passes for 875 yards and five touchdowns during that season—but he wasn't yet regarded as an all-league star.
The biggest change, however, is in the trophy cabinet. In 2015, the Chiefs earned their first postseason win in 22 years. Now, the franchise has two additional Super Bowl wins to its collective name and boasts a reputation as one of the modern era's top teams.
The Broncos have been consistently inconsistent
On the whole, the Chiefs' changes since 2015 have been largely positive. The Broncos, however, have struggled through a series of false starts.
When the Colorado club last beat KC, Peyton Manning was starting at quarterback; Brock Osweiler also saw time under center that season when Manning was sidelined by injury. Since then, Denver has trotted out multiple different signal-callers—Trevor Siemian, Osweiler, Paxton Lynch, Case Keenum, Joe Flacco, Drew Lock, Brandon Allen, Jeff Driskel, Brett Rypien, Teddy Bridgewater, Russell Wilson, and even practice-squad receiver Kendall Hinton—with none of those men getting Denver back to the promised land.
The head coaching role has seen a similar, albeit slightly less dramatic, turnover. Gary Kubiak led the Broncos to a Super Bowl title, but he was replaced by Vance Joseph in 2017. Since then, Vic Fangio, Nathaniel Hackett, Jerry Rosburg (as an interim head coach) and Sean Payton have prowled the sidelines.
As for that 2015 Broncos squad, Manning primarily threw to the dynamic duo of Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders. Ronnie Hillman and C.J. Anderson did most of the work out of the backfield.
On the opposite side of the ball, a defense headlined by Von Miller, DeMarcus Ware, Brandon Marshall, Aquib Talib and Shaq Barrett did more than their fair share of the work.
When you compare those names to the talent on the 2023 roster, the disparity is rather stark.
What Did the Sports World Look Like in 2015?
Two NFL teams can only give you a limited sense of context. To zoom things a bit further out, let's consider the larger (sports) landscape.
The 2015-16 NBA season was yet to begin, but the Golden State Warriors were the reigning champs. LeBron James was still playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Karl-Anthony Towns was about to start his Rookie-of-the-Year campaign. Victor Wembanyama, the Association's newest star, was only 11 years old and, understandably, was yet to go pro.
On the baseball diamond, the 2015 MLB Postseason was rapidly approaching. That fall, the Kansas City Royals would defeat the New York Mets in the World Series. Salvador Perez, during his first stint with the club, would take home World Series MVP honors.
And, in the NHL, the 2015-16 season was less than a month away from beginning. Some of the changes there really do underscore the passage of time. Connor McDavid was embarking on his rookie campaign; Patrick Kane was still taking home league-level honors with the Chicago Blackhawks. Both three-on-three overtime and coach's challenges, which are now standard parts of the ice game, were new additions to the rule book.
What About the Rest of the World?
Now that we've covered sports, what about the wider world?
Well, in 2015, Barack Obama was the President of the United States; Joe Biden was sitting in the second chair as vice president. Across the pond, Queen Elizabeth II was alive and well on the throne.
But what about prices? Things that we deal with on a day-to-day basis tend to feel more tangible.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average prices in September 2015 are as follows:
- Unleaded regular gas: $2.39 per gallon
- One dozen eggs: $2.97
- One gallon of whole milk: $3.39
- One pound of ground chuck: $4.20
- One pound of white bread: $1.43
The beautiful—or awful, depending on your perspective—thing about sports, though, is that the Chiefs winning streak against the Broncos can crumble in a single moment. If a few bounces go the right way, all of the history goes out the window and we start again from scratch.
That, at the end of the day, is why we play the game.
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