Ranking the 25 biggest NFL rivalries of all time

16. Top NFL rivalries – Kansas City Chiefs vs. Denver Broncos

• All-Time History: Chiefs lead 67-55
• First Meeting: Oct. 30, 1960 (Texans 17, Broncos 14)
• Last Meeting: Dec. 6, 2020 (Chiefs 22, Broncos 16)
• Postseason History: Broncos lead 1-0

A byproduct of the four AFC West teams being together since the early days of the AFL means that some nasty rivalries have formed. One of the most famous is the Chiefs-Broncos rivalry, which started out with Kansas City dominating early before Denver struck back.

The Chiefs, who began their existence as the Dallas Texans, utterly smoked the Broncos for the entirety of the 1960s, winning 19 of 20 meetings against Denver. The fortunes of the franchises flipped entirely after that as the Broncos found success, most notably with John Elway from 1983 until 1998, narrowly winning the series in each decade from the 1970s through the 2000s.

Games between the Chiefs and Broncos are often physical fights with some notable star power, often involving quarterbacks like Elway, Joe Montana, Peyton Manning and Patrick Mahomes. The teams have combined to win the last 11 AFC West titles, a trend that could continue this season with both rivals right in the hunt as we hit the stretch run.

For a series that has been so close over the years, it is interesting to see how much quarterback play can dictate the rivalry. Manning went 7-1 against the Chiefs before he retired while the Chiefs have not lost to Denver since then, going a perfect 7-0 in games Mahomes has started against the Broncos entering 2021.