Denver, CO
Saturday AFC Showdown Comes With Massive Stakes for Broncos
The Denver Broncos defeated the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas Night, but their inconsistent performance may not inspire confidence in the season finale. The Broncos will take on the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 18, which could be the deciding game for the division title, where the winner takes all.
However, since the Broncos beat the Chiefs, they remain a game and a half up on the Chargers, so if the Chargers lose to the Houston Texans on Saturday, Denver clinches the division. For Saturday only, Broncos Country will join Texans fans in rooting for Houston.
Chargers Are a Tough Matchup
Based on how the Broncos played against the depleted Chiefs, the Chargers will be a tough out in the season finale. The Chargers have been playing clean, efficient football over the past six or so weeks, and Bo Nix has yet to defeat them.
Of course, the games are played for a reason, and the Broncos could step up, address their issues over the next 10 days, and put together a great game plan to walk out with the win vs. L.A.
Unless several additional Week 17 games go Denver’s way, the Broncos will still have a lot to play for in that final game against the Chargers. However, having the division locked up going into Week 18 could take some of the pressure off the Broncos, who are pushing hard for the division title.
The Broncos need to play more freely, as everyone seems to be feeling the late-season pressure, which has led to the kind of silly mistakes they weren’t making earlier in the campaign. Teams want to reach critical mass in late December and be playing their best football, not the other way around.
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Issues to Fix During the Mini-Bye
Now, the Broncos’ defense is a much bigger issue and has been since they faced the Las Vegas Raiders in their first game. A lot of what made Denver’s defense so scary and hard to handle — the pass rush — hasn’t been the threat it was.
The Broncos have allowed the possibility of breaking the single-season sack record to slip through their hands, even though they’ve already beaten the franchise record set in 2024 (63). The single-season sack record is 72, and the Broncos have 64, after only sacking Chiefs third-string quarterback Chris Oladokun once.
The Broncos’ offense has been more efficient and consistent since Week 10, but the unit struggled to capitalize on the four scoring drives of 14-plus plays against the Chiefs, hitting paydirt on only 2-of-4 red-zone possessions. The Chiefs’ defense had a great game plan, forcing the Broncos to inch down the field, but it’s not as threatening as the Chargers’.
The onus is on the Broncos to show drastic improvements over this mini-bye. The offense needs to find consistency again, or hope that this latest Chiefs game was a fluke.
What’s at Stake
To be clear, either way, the Broncos will have a lot on the line in their season finale against the Chargers, but if the Texans can win on Saturday, giving the Broncos the division, it would be one less thing at stake. If the Broncos clinch the division with a Texans’ victory over L.A., they can only be the No. 1, No. 2, or No. 3 seed.
If the Texans don’t beat the Chargers and the Broncos lose next week, they could fall as far as the No. 6 seed in the playoffs. So, Saturday is an important day throughout Bronco-land, even though the team has already played this week.
The Takeaway
Internally, the Broncos have had Super Bowl aspirations since the end of last season, and they were none too quiet about those goals during training camp. The AFC is up for grabs, and home-field advantage could go a long way to making it to the Super Bowl.
Denver would secure the top seed and division crown with a win next week, regardless of what happens on Saturday at SoFi Stadium. However, if the Texans can give the Broncos a little help by taking the division out of the equation, it would be a Mile-High gift this holiday season, and perhaps even take some of the fight out of the Chargers for Week 18.
More Must-Read Denver Broncos Coverage
Denverites looking for a stellar cup of Joe don’t need to travel far to savor the flavor of excellent coffee.
That’s according to The World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops, a website that rates global hospitality establishments where coffee lovers can find better brew. The website recently announced its 2026 list of the best coffee shops in North America, Central America and the Caribbean and two local companies made the list.
Sweet Bloom Coffee Roasters came in at No. 43, while Queen City Collective Coffee ranked No. 61. Not bad for a list that includes must-hit destinations in places like Guatemala and Costa Rica, which are known for their exports of coffee beans.
The World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops decided the ranking through a mix of nominations and voting by both the public and experts. Places were evaluated based on the quality of coffee served, barista expertise, ambiance, sustainability practices, and innovation among other criteria, according to the website.
Sweet Bloom Coffee Roasters, which came on the scene in 2013, helped usher the so-called fourth wave of coffee locally, which focuses on honoring the beans’ agricultural roots and using techniques like pour-over to extract more flavor from each brew. The company started with a wholesale roastery and retail shop in Lakewood before expanding to Arvada through a merger with another company called Two Rivers, and later to Westminster. In 2022, Food and Wine magazine named Sweet Bloom’s Westminster locale the best coffee shop in Colorado.
Queen City Collective has certainly earned the popular vote among Mile High City coffee drinkers if the company’s expansion is an indication. Since opening its first retail location in 2018, in a spot shared with Novel Strand Brewing Co., Queen City has expanded to seven locations between Denver and surrounding suburbs, including Wheat Ridge and Aurora.
To see the full list of must-hit coffee shops across the globe, visit theworlds100bestcoffeeshops.com. For additional recommendations, check out our list of Colorado’s best coffee shops with picturesque patios and views.
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DENVER (KDVR) — With the mild winter and warm start to spring, beekeepers are seeing swarms earlier in the year and expect the season to be longer than usual.
Gregg McMahan is a dispatcher for the Colorado Swarm Hotline. It’s usually his job to send a beekeeper to collect a swarm when someone calls, but on Sunday afternoon, he decided to handle one himself.
“Nice little swarm,” McMahan said. “It’s tricky, though, because it’s hanging on a fence.”
A warm winter and spring mean swarm season has begun four weeks early.
“Never seen it like this ever,” McMahan said.
This call is to a house on Denver’s east side. When McMahan arrived, he saw a swarm had taken up residence on the fence.
“Absolutely typical, it is on the small side,” McMahan said.
He got to work, first luring them into a box when he spotted a good sign.
“See all these girls, they got their butts up, they’re fanning their wings. That’s telling us the queens in here,” McMahan said.
With the queen in hand, the rest began to follow her into the box.
McMahan said two years ago, he had 400 calls like this. Last year, only 100, the Swarm Hotline was as unpredictable as the weather, which has caused bee activity earlier in the year than ever.
“It makes it hard on the bees, you know? Two days ago, I’m collecting swarms in the snow,” McMahan said.
Rescuing them is integral to Colorado’s ecosystem. McMahan hopes people give a beekeeper a call instead of spraying them or harming them in any other way.
“They do a phenomenal amount of pollination within this state. Not only our native flowers but all the other flowers that people bring in,” McMahan said.
Slowly but surely, the swarm left the fence and moved into the box. McMahan loaded them into his truck to deliver them to their new home.
“Westminster to the Stanley Lake Wildlife Refuge, so these girls will have lakefront property tonight,” he said.
As he wrapped up, McMahan’s phone was buzzing more than the bees. Just another call to start a swarm season, he thinks, could be a long one.
“This year I’m already 20 swarms deep, so I’m expecting way more than 100 this year,” McMahan said.
To have a bee swarm removed for free from your property anywhere statewide, the Swarm Hotline number is 1-844-SPY-BEES.
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