Merry Nixmas, Broncos Country

It's the night before Christmas,
and all through Kansas City,
Not a Chiefs fan is dancing,
nor doing a ditty.

Bo Nix and friends will arrive,
in their finest all-white,
Sweeping the Chiefs in Arrowhead,
would make for a wonderful Christmas Night.

The Broncos are poised,
to win the AFC West,
For a decade they've waited,
to prove they're the best.

Pat Surtain and the Orange Rush,
love to attack,
Keep your head on a swivel,
or Nik Bonitto, your quarterback, he will sack.

Sean Payton has led the Broncos,
to be true contenders once again,
He's the right coach to take them to a Super Bowl,
a true leader of men.

Merry Nixmas, Broncos Country,
here's hoping a win is wrapped under the tree,
That we can all go into the new year,
dancing with glee.

It's not the new year yet, but Christmas is a great time to reflect on the previous year. Being with those who matter the most makes you realize how lucky you are. All those fun times, exiting moments, running up and down the hall in celebration of a touchdown.

Definitely, 2025 has been a magical season for the Denver Broncos.

Going into the Christmas game against the Chiefs, Denver is 12-3 and has a 62.5% chance of winning the AFC West this year. A combination of one win for Denver and one loss by LA would seal the deal for the Broncos.

That's the first goal, as Sean Payton stated after the Packers win. The second goal is to earn the highest seed possible.

Before the year kicked off, hopes were high sure. They were basically, "OK, let's make the playoffs again and keep growing." But if you told Broncos fans they'd be the No. 1 seed through 16 weeks, they'd have been elated and probably confused.

That's where we sit now, though. If Denver wins out—over hurting and eliminated KC, and the challenging Chargers—they'll be the No. 1 seed. They currently have a 44.3% chance of locking up that No. 1 spot, the first-round bye, and the two home games in the playoffs that come along with it.

The name of the game this year has been the defense first and foremost. As it has been for multiple seasons in the Mile High City.

Pat Surtain, Nik Bonitto, Zach Allen, Talanoa Hufanga, and too many more to name here have been absolutely dominant this year. They carried the offense to victories for most of the first half of the season, and even if they struggled against the Jaguars, Sean Payton says "I don't buy it," when asked if the defense is fading.

The way I look at it is this: the NFL is an offensive league, and even a great defense will have off days and be exploited by the rules that heavily favor the team with the ball.

That's why the best teams are complimentary.

After somewhat rough start to the season for the entire offense, as well as Bo Nix specifically, the second-year quarterback has surged as of late. He enjoyed four strong performances in a row before struggling against the Jaguars on Sunday. He's is bound to have a bounce back game on Nixmas; the Chiefs are down in the dumps at this point in the season. They may even rest starters.

Where his next challenges will present themselves are against LA in Week 18, then in the playoffs. The postseason is where defensive coordinators and players pull out all the stops to win.

Still, over the course of this season, he's gone from a semi-sophomore slump to being near his numbers from last year. That's a win. And while he's still not consistent enough overall, he's looked locked in, calm and composed in the pocket, and has a much better understanding of the offense in Year 2 at times. Like against Dallas, Kansas City, Washington (minus the silly pick), and Green Bay.

Like Nix's growth, the receivers and tight end Evan Engram have improved over the course of the season. Courtland Sutton continues to be the No. 1 guy, Troy Franklin has taken hold of the No. 2 position, and Pat Bryant has surged, too. (He's OK after being sent to the hospital late against Jacksonville, but will be held out this week at the minimum.) After a sluggish start, Engram came up huge against the Commanders, with a season-high 79 yards, and contributed in that Jacksonville game too.

JK Dobbins was a pleasant surprise before his foot was injured, but RJ Harvey has done very well in his stead despite being a rookie. Harvey's 11 touchdowns lead all Broncos scorers this season, and he'll be needed down the stretch and into the playoffs as well.

Even the special teams has stepped up this year. Wil Lutz has been near-automatic, Jeremy Crawshaw has shown off his big leg, and the return game has been solid overall.

For the first time in a long time, the Denver Broncos are playing complimentary football. All three phases.

Enjoy it, Broncos Country. This is what it's all about. This is what we dreamed about for years of laughably bad teams.

Remember 2017-2022? Those Broncos were horrendous overall at 35-63 (.357) and dead last in the AFC West 4-6 years. And usually this time of the year, they'd be folding up shop and getting run over by teams tuning up for the playoffs. They were 10-20 (.333) in games after Dec. 1 during that timespan.

Instead, the Broncos have given all their fans an early Christmas present all season long.

All while there are many teams struggling through a down year—the Chiefs, Bengals, Ravens, and more—which is why the Broncos need to strike while the iron is hot. Now.

A win on Christmas gets them one step closer to winning the West and that coveted No. 1 seed.

And if it all goes right, we'll all be yelling "Bo, Bo, Bo!"

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