As the Broncos danced a jig after a 22-19 win Sunday night at Empower Field at Mile High, the Chiefs lurched out of their locker room and onto the team bus as if Broncos Country had kicked their dog and stolen their lunch money. 

This was a Patrick Mahomes the state of Colorado has never seen.

“I didn’t come through,” the Chiefs magician and Broncos killer muttered under his breath. 

Athletes always know the score.

And the mighty Chiefs know their reign atop the AFC West is over. Sitting at 5-5 and staring straight up at the 9-2 Broncos, the Chiefs know their nine-year stranglehold on the division has been ripped from their stubborn grip by the likes of Nik Bonitto, Jonathan Cooper and Zach Allen.

“It’s obviously something we haven’t dealt with so early in a season,” Mahomes said afterward.

Now, before dancing on Kansas City’s football grave, you’d be wise to remember there’s still a chance the Chiefs are playing at Denver in a divisional playoff game this coming January.

“I think we have the pieces to win out,” Chiefs star defensive lineman Chris Jones said.

Even then, the Broncos are not scared of the big, bad Chiefs anymore.

They’ve figured ’em out.

In his last three starts at Mile High, the Broncos have intercepted Mahomes six times and twice sent him home with defeats.

Sunday’s was a Broncos win almost 10 years in the making. Why? After losing 16 straight games to the Chiefs, a streak that began when Peyton Manning was still the quarterback here, the Broncos now have won two of the last four. And after Mahomes opened his career with a 13-1 record against the Broncos, he’s now lost two straight starts against them, both in Denver.

As Mahomes lamented the latest Mile High loss with a striking look of defeat on his face, the great quarterback all but ceded the AFC West to the Broncos or Chargers, who stand at 7-4. 

“Obviously it’s going to be tough to get back into the division race,” Mahomes said. “But at the end of the day, the goal is to get into the playoffs and try to make a run at it.”

Over 75,000 fanatics made for the loudest crowd I’ve heard at Mile High since the Super Bowl 50 season. They’ve waited almost a decade to witness with their own eyes the end of the Chiefs era in the AFC West.

It’s been so long, Broncos quarterback Bo Nix was in the eighth grade the last time someone other than the Chiefs won this division.

So how do you make a football magician look like a normal NFL quarterback? Employ one of the most expensive and talented defenses in football and let Vance Joseph handle the coordinating side of things. That’s all. 

“They’re the No. 1 defense in the National Football League,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said.

The Broncos sacked him three times, but that isn’t the measuring stick when it comes to stopping Mahomes. The measuring stick is in the fourth quarter when he’s under center in a one-score game. And with the Chiefs holding a 19-16 lead and the ball with 8 minutes left in regulation, the Broncos forced him into a three-and-out. And again, with 4 minutes left? Same deal.

From Broncos owner Greg Penner to extremely well-paid coach Sean Payton, knocking the Chiefs out of pole position in the AFC West was the No. 1 priority for the Broncos in 2025. They were not shy in saying so.

“In order for us take that next step, we obviously had to beat them guys,” said Ja’Quan McMillian, the undrafted cornerback who picked off Mahomes with a critical play in the red zone.

This is not a vintage Chiefs team. It’s now 0-5 in one-score games, the scenario that used to spell doom for the poor saps opposing Mahomes. But it was the Chiefs who entered Sunday with all the urgency that comes with a must-win game, which it was for Kansas City, not the Broncos.

And the Broncos still made the game-changing plays, like McMillian’s interception.

And the Broncos still made fewer mistakes, though both teams committed 10 penalties.

“When you play good teams,” Reid said, “you’ve got to do the right things.”

And the Broncos still scored twice in the final 5 minutes, not the Chiefs.

“It sucks,” Mahomes said. “You’ve got to feel that.”

The scariest sight at Mile High used to be No. 15 in a ketchup-and-white jersey with the ball in his hands and a close game counting down. But Mahomes’ final two possessions ended with a whimper, punt-punt.

What stood out to Mahomes on a sun-drenched afternoon the Broncos took control of the Chiefs’ division?

“Having the opportunity at the end of the game and not coming through,” he said.

The Broncos wouldn’t allow it. They made sure enough was enough.