KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Broncos right guard Quinn Meinerz had spent time during the past few weeks yelling, “Hut! Hut!” It paid off Thursday night. Meinerz played a key role in drawing Kansas City star defensive tackle Chris Jones offsides with 2 minutes left, leading to the go-ahead touchdow n in Denver’s 20-13 win over the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. With the heavily favored Broncos (13-3) facing fourth-and-2 at the Chiefs 9-yard line on the first play after the 2-minute warning, the Broncos lined up as if they were going to go for it with the score tied 13-13. Running back RJ Harvey lined up in the wildcat with quarterback Bo Nix out wide. Meinerz then barked what he had been practicing and Jones jumped offsides. That gave the Broncos a first down and three plays later, Nix threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Harvey with 1:45 left for a 20-13 lead. “That was part of a game-plan thing we’ve had for a handful of weeks,’’ Meinerz said. “We had to bring it out (Thursday).” Head coach Sean Payton said the Broncos lined up in an “oddball formation” that they hadn’t shown this season. He said that if the Chiefs hadn’t jumped, he would have had Wil Lutz attempt a field goal. “That was a got-to-have-it,’’ Meinerz said. “We needed to score that touchdown, not three points.” Center Alex Forsyth, now the starter after Luke Wattenberg was put on injured reserve earlier Thursday with a shoulder injury, said that when the Broncos get a player in that situation to jump offsides “everybody (on the offensive line) gets (Air) Jordans” shoes. Even after the touchdown, the Chiefs (6-10) drove to the Broncos 21 with 26 seconds left with third-string quarterback Chris Oladokun. But they turned the ball over on downs, and the Broncos won at Kansas City for the first time since 2015. Denver Broncos running back RJ Harvey (12) runs the ball against the Kansas City Chiefs during the first half of an NFL football game, Thursday, Dec. 25, 2025 in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann) The win put the Broncos in position to claim their first AFC West title since 2015 if the Los Angeles Chargers (11-4) lose or tie Saturday against Houston. The Broncos close the regular season against the Chargers at home Jan. 3 or 4. A win in that game would assure them of the No. 1 playoff seed in the AFC. The Broncos were favored by 13.5 points over the Chiefs, who have lost star quarterback Patrick Mahomes and backup Gardner Minshew for the season with knee injuries, as well as several other top players. But Payton said the Broncos can’t control what the oddsmakers say. He believed the Chiefs, despite heading for a losing record this season, would be a tough foe due to their winning tradition. “Hard-fought win,’’ Payton said. “You’re playing the heart of a champion. … Our players have a ton of respect for this program. There’s just been too much winning here. … I think our players knew we were going to get their best shot.” The Broncos have often beaten struggling teams by a narrow margin. Previous narrow wins came over the New York Jets, New York Giants, Las Vegas and Washington. “I don’t care what anybody says about how we’ve been winning these games,’’ said Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton. “I don’t care what anyone says about the aesthetics of how these games were going. I don’t care about the quality of teams. … Every team you play in the NFL is qualified to go out there and perform.” Sutton caught four passes for 40 yards on a night that Nix mostly threw short passes. Nix completed 26 of 38 passes for 182 yards with one touchdown and one interception and ran for 43 yards. Payton said Kansas City’s strategy on defense was to let the Broncos run the clock while trying to shorten the game. The Broncos controlled the time of possession 39:28 to 20:32. Their two touchdown drives were both 14 plays, lasting 9:47 and 6:18. Their first touchdown came when Nix scored on a 9-yard run to put the Broncos up 13-10 with 1:55 left in the third quarter. The Chiefs then tied the score 13-13 on a 47-yard field goal by Harrison Butker with 8:03 left in the game. The Broncos in the first half had a 14-play drive that took 8:02 and a 16-play drive that took 8:04. But both led to field goals by Lutz. The Chiefs led 7-6 at halftime. They had gone up 7-3 on a 5-yard touchdown by Oladokun to running back Brashard Smith early in the second quarter. That followed Nix late in the first quarter, having a pass batted by Kristian Fulton and picked off by Nick Bolton at the Denver 35. The Chiefs took a 10-6 lead early in the third quarter on a 53-yard field goal by Butker that was set up by a 27-yard pass interference penalty on star cornerback Pat Surtain. Butker’s field goal in the fourth quarter was set up by a 44-yard punt return by Smith. The Broncos had 303 yards to just 139 for the Chiefs. Oladokun completed 13 of 22 passes for just 66 yards. The Broncos had just one sack, by outside linebacker Dondrea Tillman in the third quarter. That was their 64th sack of the season, one more than last year’s team record. Payton said the Broncos didn’t necessarily look for sacks but wanted to “cage” in Oladokun due to his running ability. After last Sunday’s 34-20 loss to Jacksonville, outside linebacker Nik Bonitto had criticized Denver’s defense in the first four games after the bye week. But he liked it a lot better how it looked Thursday. “We played really good,’ Bonitto said. “I felt like there is still some stuff we could sure up for sure when it comes to just dialing in plays, but I felt like we overall played good.” On offense, Nix said it was simply a matter of taking what the defense gave the Broncos. “They were taking things away,” Nix said. “So, it was finding completions underneath. This was one of those games … You weren’t going to throw for a lot of yards. Just see how many completions you can hit in a row and then get the ball to playmakers in space.” But when it came to the biggest play of the game, the Broncos didn’t need Nix under center. He was standing far away when Meinerz yelled, “Hut! Hut!” ...read more read less