Broncos Country has been waiting a long time to have something that it could celebrate and that came on Sunday.
This wasn't just any win. Beating the Kansas City Chiefs was huge for this team and in more ways than one, has likely changed the direction of this season. Not long ago, a complete fire sale was being discussed and now, with the NFL trade deadline less than 48 hours away, the team may not make a single move.
After every game, we examine which players were winners for the Broncos and losers for the Broncos but after the first win over a rival in nearly a decade, there can be no losers. Instead, let's look at who stepped up and made the plays that led to this massive upset victory.
Winner: Russell Wilson
Russell Wilson didn't post huge numbers in this one and he still took some sacks on third downs where he just held the ball too long, but he made big plays when he needed to on three touchdown passes that helped pace the Broncos' win.
Russ also made some plays with his feet in this game, rushing for 30 yards. He did lose one fumble on a sack before halftime that gave the Chiefs three points (which ended up being their last points of the game) but other than that, he played a good game.
Winner: Running game
For the second week in a row, the Broncos' rushing attack gets into the winner's circle. The running game is pacing the offense and was one of the biggest factors in this win. It was obviously a part of the plan to run the ball as the Broncos rushed the ball 40 times compared to just 19 passes.
The running game was led by Javonte Williams who had 85 yards on 27 carries. He is really starting to gain steam as the season goes and that is an encouraging sign for this team.
If the Broncos can continue running the ball the way they have of late, that is their biggest key to success. In the last two weeks, the Broncos have gained 298 yards on the ground. That is the biggest reason they have won both of those games.
Winner: Ja'Quan McMillian
Now we go to the defensive side of the ball where Ja'Quan McMillian, another undrafted player making the most of his opportunities with this team, had himself a day.
With the Broncos already leading 14-3, McMillian made a diving interception on a ball intended for Travis Kelce. The Broncos weren't able to turn that into points, but it halted a Kansas City drive and kept the momentum on their side.
It was one of the biggest plays of the game.
In addition, McMillian had six tackles, two of which went for loss.
Winner: Baron Browning
The Broncos just activated Baron Browning off injured reserve last week but he has quickly made an impact for this defense. He had two sacks in this game and one of those resulted in a fumble of quarterback Patrick Mahomes, which the Broncos recovered.
Having Browning on the field makes the Broncos' defense much better and the trio of him, Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper off the edge with Zach Allen coming up the middle is looking to be a formidable pass-rushing group going forward.
Winner: Vance Joseph
The last game ball has to go to defensive coordinator Vance Joseph who has completely transformed this defense after the team was absolutely embarassed in Miami.
The Broncos couldn't stop anything at one point this season. They were giving up huge plays in the passing game, they were a turnstile on run defense, they couldn't tackle and the pass rush was almost non-existent. Add to that the fact that the team could not produce any turnovers and it legitimately looked like one of the worst defensive units to ever take a professional football field.
But that has not been the case in recent weeks. Even in the loss against the Chiefs in the first meeting this season, the defense played well. After a 10-day rest, that unit played quite well against the Green Bay Packers and this week, again against the Chiefs, the defense was incredible.
The defense forced four turnovers (the special teams got another one) and three of those were by Mahomes.
Justin Simmons got his fifth career interception of Mahomes as well, a number Broncos fans have to love because very few players get the better of him. Chiefs fans will point to the fact that Mahomes had the flu and needed IV treatment before the game but we know that if he would have had his standard Mahomes performance, we would have been hearing about another Michael Jordan flu game.
Give this defense a lot of credit. Joseph may not be a favorite in Broncos Country, but it would have been easy for him to throw his hands up and place blame elsewhere. He regrouped and put in the work to make some improvements and at this point, it's clear that he figured something out.