Kansas City Chiefs vs. Denver Broncos: Live updates & analysis of Christmas game
It’s 60 degrees on Christmas, the Chiefs have been eliminated from the playoffs and Travis Kelce might — key word: might — be playing his last game at Arrowhead.
Just your typical Kansas City Chiefs game day, right?
In some ways, this game feels like “Freaky Friday” (on a Thursday). The Broncos have become the king of one-score games, with 10 of their 12 wins this season coming by eight points or fewer. Compare that to last season’s Chiefs, who went 15-2 by winning ... 11 one-score games.
This year, the pendulum has swung the other way. The Chiefs are 6-9, with seven one-score losses, and have been eliminated from postseason contention. Patrick Mahomes is out, and a host of players went on injured reserve ahead of this Week 17 game.
Now heavy underdogs at home, can the Chiefs pull off a Christmas miracle?
Here’s how to watch and listen to today’s Christmas NFL game.
KC Chiefs vs. Denver Broncos: Stats, score updates and commentary
Follow updates and commentary from our KC Star team, including Chiefs beat reporters Pete Sweeney and Blair Kerkhoff and columnists Vahe Gregorian and Sam McDowell, live at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
You can also see stats, scores and play-by-play below:
Three storylines for Chiefs vs. Broncos
1. So, who is actually playing for Kansas City?
The injury report for this game is huge. It’s even bigger if you include the names on IR, like Patrick Mahomes, Josh Simmons and most recently Rashee Rice, Trent McDuffie, Jaylen Watson and Tyquan Thornton.
So, who is actually playing? Travis Kelce is finishing out the season, and he maintains he’s dedicated to giving his all down the stretch. Trey Smith wants to play, repeatedly saying, “It’s my job,” in the locker room Sunday. And even if the QB room looks a little different — newly signed backup and all — the Chiefs will have some familiar faces on the field.
2. This game matters to the Broncos
There’s no question about the motivation edge, here. At 12-3, and coming off a loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Broncos are clinging to the No. 1 seed in the AFC. That would mean a friendlier home playoff path, starting with the conference’s lone bye.
As of Wednesday night, the betting line for this game was approaching two touchdowns, in favor of the visiting Broncos. And we saw what it looked like last year when a Chiefs team with no motivation, albeit for a different reason, met a Broncos team with lots on the line in Week 18:
That resulted in a 38-0 Broncos win.
3. A must ... lose game?
There are two schools of thought when it comes to games like these. There’s the obvious (but often not spoken of) side of NFL Draft positioning, which won’t make its way into the locker room but certainly has crossed the minds of fans. The Chiefs could land a top-10 draft pick, which would go a long, long way in helping rebuild a roster that clearly has some holes.
For players? It’s a different story. This game will be a big deal to Chris Oladokun, making his first NFL start on Christmas, and to plenty of others up and down the depth chart. The fans at Arrowhead, at least those in red, will be pulling for KC, and they’ll make their voices heard, too.
Even shorthanded, can the Chiefs conjure up some Christmas magic? It’s the rare situation where it’s probably better to lose, but don’t tell that to the coaching staff or players.
This story was originally published December 25, 2025 at 2:00 PM.
