Patrick Mahomes was out with a knee injury, as was backup Gardner Minshew, forcing Oladokun into his first career start. He was down to his fifth and sixth offensive tackles and without injured wide receivers Rashee Rice and Tyquan Thornton.

A Broncos team on a barnstorming tour through the 2025 season needed only beat a Chiefs team that lost all of its close-game mojo from a year ago, lost six of seven games leading into Week 17 and lost future Hall of Fame quarterback Patrick Mahomes to a torn ACL, too.

Kansas City Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt (29) signals for a first down after a short gain in the first half of the Chiefs’ game vs. the Denver Broncos on Thursday, December 25, 2025, at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Dominick Williams [email protected]

Nix's fourth-quarter touchdown pass helped Denver survive a gritty Chiefs performance in Travis Kelce's potential final home game

The Kansas City Chiefs were defeated by the Denver Broncos on Christmas Day in Week 17. The matchup's final score was 20-13 in Denver's favor.

Broncos head coach Sean Payton praised the Chiefs and Andy Reid after Denver's 20-13 Christmas Day win over Kansas City.

With the victory, the Broncos inched closer to winning the AFC West crown. A loss on Saturday by the Los Angeles Chargers to the Houston Texans will wrap up the division. Denver controlled the ball for almost two-thirds of the game,