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Broncos-Chiefs stock report: Bo Nix using his legs again, but Denver’s receivers need to help him out

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Broncos-Chiefs stock report: Bo Nix using his legs again, but Denver’s receivers need to help him out


The gameplan, Sean Payton emphasized late Thursday night, did not have to be aesthetically pleasing to be effective. It was effective enough. The Broncos beat a shorthanded Chiefs team 20-13 at Arrowhead Stadium, on Christmas. But aesthetics or not, Denver continues to dance with fire, sitting at 13-3 with one game left to control their fate in the AFC.

Here’s The Denver Post’s stock report from a not-so-barnburner. A barn-cooler.

Stock up

Quinn Meinerz, mauling: Meinerz is a Pro Bowler for the first time this season for a reason. His omission in 2024 was a major oversight, and Meinerz hasn’t been quite as good in pass protection in 2025. But the Broncos’ right guard has again been one of the elite run-blockers in the business, and the big man put Chiefs star linebacker Nick Bolton in purgatory for long stretches Thursday.

It begun near-immediately, Meinerz tossing Bolton aside on the second play of the game to open up a first-down carry for RJ Harvey. It carried through for four quarters, Meinerz swatting Bolton aside at the second level to propel Jaleel McLaughlin for a 15-yard pop in the second half. The guard has consistently been the most important run-blocking piece on this Denver front, and he showed why again in an ugly game Thursday.

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Bo Nix, using his legs: The Broncos’ second-year quarterback has pivoted strongly away from scrambling to run in his rookie season to scrambling to throw in his sophomore season. It’s often resulted in magic. It’s also resulted in incompletions, when Nix could’ve picked up chunk yardage with his legs. This played out again Thursday, as Nix climbed the pocket on one first-half third down with green grass in front of him — but chose instead to fire a wonky-footed ball to Courtland Sutton on a drag, his laser landing just a hair too long for Sutton’s outstretched fingertips.

Payton said postgame that Nix himself had “made a comment” to him that he could’ve tucked it and ran, and Payton reminded him the same.

“I said, ‘Man,’ ” Payton recalled, “‘you got running room here.’ ”

So Nix adjusted, with a 14-yard scramble and two chunk 8-yard pickups from the second quarter on. He darted in for a third-quarter touchdown, too, on a designed QB draw, the kind of call that Payton has largely saved for special red-zone occasions this season. The combination of Nix’s legs and processing is his greatest asset in this Denver offense, and Thursday’s performance could’ve unlocked more awareness from him to take 8-yard scrambles when they’re available.

P.J. Locke: After a no-questions-about-it rough performance in his first start of the season against the Jaguars on Sunday, Locke leveled up against the Chiefs on Christmas. He was involved in a few defensive miscommunications against Jacksonville, as quarterback Trevor Lawrence looked his way a few times; there were no such obvious occasions against Kansas City on Thursday. Locke allowed just two catches on three targets for a combined total of zero yards to the Chiefs, and came up with a huge third-down tackle for loss in the third quarter.

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Yes, the Broncos were taking on a third-string quarterback in Chris Oladokun, who finished with a total of 66 passing yards. But Locke’s performance in Brandon Jones’ stead was still plenty encouraging.

The cleanup crew: Over the past five weeks — a non-insignificant sample size — Broncos reserve outside linebackers have been more productive than their $100-million-plus starting tandem of Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper. It’s a point that production by the star edge duo has slowed — they’ve combined for just 3.5 sacks in that timeframe as late-season wear and tear has taken its toll. More importantly, it’s a point that Jonah Elliss and Dondrea Tillman are playing fresh, a welcome development as the Broncos head into the postseason.

The pair single-handedly shut down one Kansas City third-quarter drive, with all the momentum swinging the Chiefs’ way after a questionable-at-best pass-interference call on Pat Surtain. Elliss and Tillman got in for a split sack on Oladokun on first down, and then Elliss made a ridiculously athletic play in the flat to swallow up a short dump-off to JuJu Smith-Schuster on 3rd-and-long. Inspiring stuff.

After gritting through an injury-plagued season, Elliss has 1.5 sacks, three quarterback hits and two tackles for loss across the past three weeks. Tillman continues to show he’ll play in this league for a while, with four sacks, two interceptions and eight quarterback hits in his past 10 outings. This is a sneaky-important piece to a larger puzzle of Vance Joseph’s defensive success.

Stock down

Nix vs. two-high safety looks: Payton made clear postgame that the Chiefs played heavy doses of soft zone against Nix, an approach by defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo that turned out “differently than you thought going in,” as Payton said. It threw Nix off for long stretches in the first half, before he settled in for a 13-of-16 line in the second half and took a couple more shots.

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The NFL is a copycat league, though, and defenses in the coming weeks could look at what Spanguolo did to limit Nix — who finished 26-of-38 for 182 yards, a touchdown and an interception — and throw some guardrails on the Broncos’ offense come playoff time. Nix took what the defense gave him a few too many times in the first half, ignoring some promising deep outs for receivers like Courtland Sutton and Lil’Jordan Humphrey in favor of short dump-offs. Denver needs to self-scout here to avoid getting stuck in the mud.

Hands: That Nix performance, though, was belied by a simple fact: his receivers didn’t much help him out in the first half. Courtland Sutton had two drops on would-be touchdown balls on the same drive in the second quarter. He tightened up in the second half, but this is becoming a worrisome trend for Denver’s offense.

The Broncos now sit at one more game played than most of the rest of the league, and pass it more often than most of the rest of the league, too. Still, Denver’s now tied with Jacksonville for the most drops (36) of any team in the NFL in 2025, according to Pro Football Focus. It’s a symptom of a young receiver room, and occasional timing issues with Nix. But Denver’s offense can’t afford to so consistently leave opportunities on the table.

Nik Bonitto: The Broncos’ star outside linebacker played within himself Thursday night and largely did his job in a cage-rush-heavy gameplan, with three pressures against the Chiefs. The goal was not to get sacks, as Payton said postgame. So Bonitto’s declining sack pace — 4.5 sacks in his last 10 games after 8 in his first six — shouldn’t be much of a concern. What should be a concern is the effort, production, and clear decline in overall explosiveness.



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Game Thread: Denver Nuggets vs Golden State Warriors. March 29th, 2026. – Denver Stiffs

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Game Thread: Denver Nuggets vs Golden State Warriors. March 29th, 2026. – Denver Stiffs


Community Guidelines

Welcome to Denver Stiffs! We’re glad you’re here.

Denver Stiffs is a community where sports fans from all backgrounds gather to share their passion. We strive to create a fun and welcoming place for everyone to come fan with us. These guidelines help ensure that happens. Here’s the short version:

  • Be respectful in your interactions with contributors and fellow fans.
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These rules extend to our communities everywhere: in our comments, on social media, and in real life.

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Anyone who doesn’t follow these rules when engaging in our communities will at best be removed from the conversation, and at worst will end up banned from that community. These decisions will be made at the discretion of our community managers and other Mile High Sports personnel. Community managers and moderators have final say on interpretation of violating our community guidelines, and on all decisions resulting in a warning, suspension, and/or ban.

If you see any of these things happening in our communities, please flag it and it will be reviewed. You can also reach out via our contact page.



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Colorado No Kings protests draw crowds across Denver, state

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Colorado No Kings protests draw crowds across Denver, state


Carol Swan went to her first-ever protest in Denver’s Civic Center on Saturday dressed like Lady Liberty — a tiara of crystals and wire, a teal bedsheet-turned-dress that belonged to her late grandmother and a torch fashioned from aluminum foil.

The 74-year-old Lochbuie resident doesn’t like crowds. She normally protests alone every weekend on a busy street corner in the north metro area.

“But when we face our fears, they become less and less,” she said.

Swan was among tens of thousands of Coloradans who joined demonstrations across the state on Saturday to protest policies carried out by President Donald Trump’s administration as part of the nationwide “No Kings” movement.

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No Kings organizers have criticized the administration’s use of masked federal agents for “terrorizing our communities,” the war in Iran and “attacks on our freedom of speech, our civil rights, our freedom to vote.”

Protesters filled Civic Center and spilled into surrounding streets Saturday as speakers led songs and chants and encouraged attendees to stand up for what they believed in.

Swan’s reason for driving into the city was simple: to be among the voices saying they don’t support the president.

“Trump swore at his inauguration that he would uphold the Constitution, and he’s done anything but that,” she said.

This is the third nationwide No Kings demonstration in less than a year, with previous protests in June and October also drawing tens of thousands of people onto the streets across Colorado. More than 70 protests were scheduled statewide Saturday, from Burlington to Steamboat Springs and Cortez to Fort Collins. No Kings organizers said nearly 4,000 demonstrations were planned nationwide.

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Denver’s No Kings protest began on the steps of the Capitol shortly before noon, with attendees hoisting signs criticizing cuts to foreign aid and sharing expletive-laden messages against Trump. Several woman dressed as suffragettes in floor-length dresses, formal pantsuits and hats and carried signs or wore sashes that demanded “Votes for Women.”

Lifelong Denverite Christina De Luna, 29, was watching the crowd mill around a closed-off Broadway with a Mexican flag tied around her shoulders.

“I come from a family of immigrants, and I feel like this is a way of supporting them and taking a stance on the right side of history,” she said.

De Luna said she thinks the protests make a difference: They raise awareness about what’s going on in the U.S. and remind people to come together as a community.

“What’s going on in the world right now with immigrants and anyone who looks and sounds different, it’s not OK,” she said. “We should all be treated equally, and coming out here is about fighting for equality and basic human rights.”

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A member of Rise and Represent leads people marching downtown on Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Denver. Thousands gathered to march in the No Kings Protest. (Photo by Rebecca Slezak/Special to The Denver Post)

Partners Diane Larson, 67, and Don Hiser, 72, drove from Parker to join the No Kings demonstration in downtown Denver. The couple said they were dismayed by what was happening in the country — that they lived through the Vietnam War and civil rights movement, and things had never been this bad.

“I think this is a start,” Hiser said. “You have to start somewhere, and if you don’t show up, you don’t change anything.”

“We care about what happens to people,” Larson added. “It’s really important to make sure everyone’s voices are heard, because we’re not standing idly by.”

Saturday was also the first time Ajani Brown, 33, attended a protest. Brown came to the park dressed as Captain America to pass out flyers with his union. He shared a hug and fist-bump with a passing Spider-Man.

“It feels like I’m doing something that’s a lot bigger than myself,” he said. “It’s about righteousness. It’s about freedom of expression.”

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Demonstrators began marching through downtown about 1:30 p.m., with the crowds spanning city blocks. A video taken from a high-rise at 19th and Lincoln streets and shared on social media by Christine Piel shows marchers at 19th Avenue and Lincoln Street, with the crowd stretching south down Lincoln and out of view toward Civic Center.

Law enforcement blocks protestors from going onto the interstate on Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Denver. Thousands gathered to march in the No Kings protest. (Photo by Rebecca Slezak/Special to The Denver Post)
Law enforcement blocks protestors from going onto the interstate on Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Denver. Thousands gathered to march in the No Kings protest. (Photo by Rebecca Slezak/Special to The Denver Post)

Although the protest appeared to stay largely peaceful, Denver police officers used smoke cannisters and pepper balls to disperse a “small group of demonstrators” who blocked the road near 20th and Wazee streets, where police were staged to stop people from marching onto Interstate 25, agency officials said.

Police declared an unlawful assembly at 2:35 p.m. and used the smoke cannisters, switching to pepper balls when someone threw a cannister back at police. Eight people were arrested, and one person was arrested about two hours later for throwing things.

No Kings protests across the Front Range also saw significant crowds, including at least 3,000 people in Longmont.

Carlos Álvarez-Aranyos, founder of the Boulder-based group American Opposition, criticized Trump’s handling of the war with Iran and the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“If one man can ignore the law, detain people without due process and drag this country into a war without the consent of its people, then we are no longer living in a democracy,” he said. “We are living under a king, and we are here today because we refuse to accept that.”

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More than 1,000 people gathered at Lincoln Park in downtown Greeley, where residents Kyleen and Kathy Gilliland carried a large flag as they marched with the group around the streets near the park.

“Our country is in distress,” Kyleen Gilliland said. “It’s going upside down because the rich are empowered and the little guy is left behind. And that’s not what America stands for.”

Times-Call reporter Dana Cadey and Greeley Tribune reporter Anne Delaney contributed to this report.

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Purple Row After Dark: Is Denver the best sports town in the US?

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Purple Row After Dark: Is Denver the best sports town in the US?


In case you missed it, the Denver Summit — the Mile High City’s new NWSL team — made quite a debut today:

The game ended on a 0-0 draw, but what a great day for Denver sports.

And that raises an interesting question: Is Denver the best sports town in the United States?

The sooner the Mile High City gets a WNBA team, the better.

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Me, I think you can’t beat Denver for sports. But I’m willing to entertain other perspectives. Let us know in the comments!

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