In the “Masque of The Red Death” about a prince, Edgar Allan Poe declared that avoiding dying is hiding from the inevitable.
In the “Rise of The Red Power” about the Chiefs, Dontari Poe killed the Broncos in way that was inexcusable.
So for those wanting to sympathize with the collapse of the rival kingdom, save your Kleenex for more worthy causes.
The Chiefs and their fans have delighted in their dominance of Denver, understandably so after how John Elway and Peyton Manning treated them for two decades. That seems like a long time ago. The Broncos have lost nine straight games at Arrowhead Stadium.
Is it too much to ask for Denver to beat them before they move with Dorothy and Toto to Kansas?
There should be no solace for the Chiefs without Patrick Mahomes. What they have done to the Broncos is wicked.
Don’t believe it? Think back to Poe on Christmas night in 2016.
As defending Super Bowl champions, the Broncos clung to playoff hopes. The night before the game, coach Gary Kubiak told Elway, the general manager, that he planned to retire because of health reasons.
This became the Broncos’ last stand. And the Chiefs sawed the legs off their throne, gleefully embarrassing them.
With 1:55 remaining and the Chiefs leading 26-10, Poe, a 346-pound defensive tackle, took a direct snap and flipped a 2-yard scoring pass to tight end Demetirus Harris.
He was the first defensive-only player to throw a touchdown since 1981.
If that isn’t rubbing their nose in it, what is? There is no other reasonable interpretation.
Yes, it was on the Broncos to stop it. And that was not happening with their default setting set on Cancun. But it does not mean they should forget it.
The Chiefs ended the Broncos’ run as rulers of the AFC West with a gadget play that made them look foolish, like easy marks. It was Chiefs’ prerogative, but a decade later, Denver must return the favor.
Time to Reid the room.
Andy Reid is well-liked, an all-time great. And yet the Chiefs coach had no problem pantsing the Broncos. He insisted that no lead was safe, no points enough. Anything less than the Broncos doing the same would be disrespecting Reid, wouldn’t it?
The opportunity for payback comes with a matching platform and context. The Chiefs were in the mix for the division crown when they extinguished the Broncos’ playoff hopes with Poe’s dagger. Denver is chasing the AFC’s top seed and its first conference title since 2015, which marks the last season when the Broncos won in Kansas City.
It only seems like that is when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. It was definitely when “Uptown Funk” topped the charts by Bruno Mars.
So spare me the sorrys about the Chiefs. The Broncos need a victory, and the Chiefs are ripe for a punch in the throat.
They are wounded, compromised, eliminated, their season ending before the AFC Championship Game for the first time since Mahomes became the starter. They are playing third-string quarterback Chris Oladokun — rhymes with never heard of him.
Cry me a river.
Nobody turned on the faucets when the Broncos were rolling out Brandon Allen, Paxton Lynch and Jeff Driskel. Heed the advice of Lou Holtz — just for clarification, he is not a kicker for the Broncos — who famously said when it comes to problems, “90 percent of people don’t care and the other 10 percent are glad you’ve have them.”
Don’t get a soft spot for the Chiefs now.
They are in a bad way. Tough. They will be fired up for primetime, if no other reason, this sets up as Travis Kelce’s last home game. He is a future Hall of Famer, a lynchpin in the dynasty.
He alone is a reason for not taking it easy, for keeping the throttle open. He has caught 133 passes for 1,627 yards and eight touchdowns in 21 games against Denver. And how many of those came after he pleaded his case to refs like he was on episode of “Judge Judy”?
Sure, 99 % of the players from the 2016 Chiefs team are no longer there. Who cares? Redemption does not have an expiration date.
The Broncos should do it for Trevor Siemian, whose three interception performance in 2017 led to his benching.
Do it for Vic Fangio, who had the keen idea to leave time for Mahomes to work his way down the field for a game-winning drive.
Do it for Courtland Sutton, who had an interference call go against him that was so egregious it had Twitter experts running to see if the rules had changed. It not only shifted momentum, but prevented Jerry Rosberg from winning his interim coaching debut.
Do it for Drew Lock, who returned as a local legend from Lee’s Summit High School, and played for long stretches like he was colorblind.
Do it for Justin Simmons, who deserved better for his excellence against the Chiefs that was never rewarded.
Do it for Sean Payton, who forgot how to use timeouts in his return to coaching in 2023, and helped the Chiefs by stopping the clock.
Do it for Broncos Country. Life was a much better place when Shannon Sharpe was making Derrick Thomas lose his mind over his strategic trash talk. Or when Pete Stoyanovich was going full Heimlich on field goals in the playoffs. Or when Bradley Roby was executing a scoop and score.
The Chiefs deserve nothing but respect for what they have done over the last decade.
But they also deserve to be barbecued without a morsel of remorse. As Poe, Edgar, not Dontari, knows: when injuries venture into insult, there is no other choice than to vow revenge, to punish with impunity, especially on national TV during our most famous holiday.
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