The Denver Broncos (6-2) pulled off yet another comeback victory in a 28-24 win over the Kansas City Chiefs (5-2) at Empower Field at Mile High on Sunday afternoon. Here are five quick takeaways from that crucial divisional win.
1. Sean Payton reaches 200th career win: With Sunday's victory, Denver coach Sean Payton became the sixth-fastest coach in NFL history to reach 200 wins, joining Don Shula (286 games), George Halas (287), Curly Lambeau (300), Bill Belichick (307) and Paul Brown (309). It took Payton 320 games (including the playoffs) to reach that milestone. Sunday marked Payton's 300th regular-season game, and he's 37-21 with Denver (20-5 since 2025).
2. Jonah Coleman should lead the backfield: It has become abundantly obvious that J.K.
Dobbins has not returned to his pre-injury form after his 2025 campaign was cut short ten games into the season. Dobbins rushed seven times for 13 yards on Sunday, averaging 1.9 yards per carry (an eight-yard loss certainly didn't help that average). Rookie Jonah Coleman, meanwhile, rushed 11 times for 41 yards and a touchdown while adding four receptions for 63 yards. Coleman is clearly the team's best option at running back right now.
3. Emmett Johnson nearly beat the Broncos himself: Denver's defense did a much better job containing Ken Walker after an embarrassing performance in Week 1, but Emmett Johnson did his best to offset that. Johnson turned five receptions into 128 yards and a touchdown while his lone carry went for 15 yards. He also had a 44-yard kick return late in the game to help jump-start KC's comeback attempt on the final drive of the game. Fortunately, Johnson's efforts came up short as the Broncos' defense held on to secure a win at the end.
4. Bo Nix’s batted passes are a concern, but he was clutch again: Nix had four passes batted down at the line of scrimmage on Sunday. Perhaps not all of the blame falls on him (right tackle Mike McGlinchey was driven back into Nix's throwing lane multiple times), but it's not a good trend. Nix had the seventh-most passes batted down in the league (six) going into Sunday's game. He made up for it, as usual, in the fourth quarter, leading two touchdown drives in yet another comeback win. Nix now has 12 fourth-quarter comebacks and 15 game-winning drives in his young career.
5. Approaching trade deadline, Broncos now lead AFC West: Denver moved into first place in the division following Sunday's win over Kansas City. With the NFL trade deadline (Nov. 10) now just over one week away, will the Broncos be aggressive? The team is expected to pursue offensive weapons — perhaps another running back, dynamic tight end or even a wide receiver. We'll see if general manager George Paton has another move lined up after the team brought in receiver Jaylen Waddle via trade this spring.
Up next, Denver's set to face the Carolina Panthers (3-4) on the road in Week 9 ahead of a Week 10 bye.
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This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: 5 takeaways from Broncos' 28-24 comeback win over Chiefs
