The Denver Broncos didn't get off to the best start in the 2025 NFL Season, as they had limped out to a 1-2 start which included two last-second losses. All the Broncos did after that was win 11 games in a row and 14 overall, tying with the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks for the best record in football.
And if not for a tragic broken ankle, the Broncos may have very well won the Super Bowl. Denver isn't wanting to live in the past, though, as the 2026 season is a brand-new year that has nothing to do with the 2025 campaign.
This offseason, the Broncos did make a big-time move, bringing in Jaylen Waddle to try and finally give the offense what its been missing, so the roster is still among the best in the league, and there is still no doubt that the Broncos are one of the very best in the sport right now. However, recent power rankings disrespected the Broncos in an entirely new way.
Denver Broncos somehow ranked below the Chiefs in FanSided's latest NFL power rankings
Jason La Canfora ranked all 32 teams ahead of training camps beginning, and while the Broncos came in at a respectable No. 4 slot, which isn't the worst ranking, the Kansas City Chiefs, of all teams, are ranked ahead of the Broncos at No. 3:
"Some might think this is too high for the Chiefs, but if you consider the entirety of the Andy Reid/Patrick Mahomes tenure, how much lower would you ever stack them? And Mahomes, from everything I hear and from everything his opponents are anticipating, will be ready for Week 1, barring a setback.
Maybe he’s not all the way physically until late in the year, closer a year removed from his injury, but he will be as motivated as ever. 'You don’t bet against Mahomes and Big Red,' as one longtime NFL personnel exec with ties to Reid put it to me. They invested heavy draft capital into the defense and the offense will be better than a year ago.
The AFC West will be the best division in football and is well represented here. Denver’s defense could carry it back to the AFC Championship. Putting the Chargers in the top quarter of the league might be high to some, too — but new coordinator Mike McDaniel is going to rev up that offense — and they have an elite coach and quarterback, and Jesse Minter fixed the defense before becoming the Ravens head coach."
La Canfora misses the mark a bit with his analysis of the Broncos, as the team's defense did not 'carry' the team to the AFC Championship Game. What happened was the Broncos became the best late-game team in the sport, largely thanks to Bo Nix. If anything, Nix, who led the NFL in game-winning drives, was carrying this team to the doorstep of the Super Bowl.
It's also odd that Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid get so much credit here. Obviously, that duo is one of the best in NFL history, but even with a healthy Mahomes last year, the Chiefs went 6-8, and Mahomes tossed just 22 touchdowns against 11 interceptions for a poor 89.6 passer rating.
In the two seasons before that, Mahomes' passer rating has sat at a 93, which is nothing special. Over the last three seasons, the Chiefs have ranked 15th, 15th, and 21st in points scored per game, so the data would tell us that Mahomes and Reid aren't exactly lighting it up.
The Chiefs being ranked third is not a fair ranking, as the main components that have made this team go for years now in Mahomes and Reid have absolutely come back down to earth in recent years. Sure, the idea of 'don't doubt the Chiefs' has merit, as this team has dug themselves out of holes before, but as we saw in 2025, all holes aren't created equally.
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