“Ain’t gonna be no rematch,’’ Apollo Creed said to Rocky Balboa at the end of the fight.

“It’s just the first one. We got a lot of these things,” Patrick Mahomes said to Bo Nix at the end of the game.

Rudyard Kipling was wrong. Twain meet Sunday.

Mahomes vs. Nix II. Rocky beat Apollo in the rematch.

This is the most consequential game the Chiefs and the Broncos have played against each other since Jan. 4, 1997, in the NFL playoffs and the most significant game of 2025 for both before Christmas night, when the teams meet again.

Mark Twain would agree. Football, he said long ago, “beats croquet.”
Yet, football has become an ominous sport lately for the Broncos and too many elite players. The franchise’s eight-game winning streak and run of 10 consecutive home victories are in dire danger, dammit, Sunday because of injuries.

As if the Chiefs didn’t have enough providence and Mahomes on their side.
Saturday, the Broncos placed running J.K. Dobbins, who is fifth in rushing in the NFL with 772 yards and was on pace for 1,312 this season, on injured reserve with ligament midfoot damage as the result of an illegal hit by, of course, the Raiders. He will be forced to undergo a Lisfranc operation and miss the rest of the regular season and the playoffs.

In his first year here, Dobbins was the offense’s MVP, and Pat Surtain, the league’s DPOY in ’24, remains out with a pectoral. Starting inside linebacker Alex Singleton, who had successful testicular cancer surgery, is sidelined with fellow backer Jonah Eliss (hamstring).

The Broncos now list 11 players on injured reserve.
Payton and Nix must accelerate and accentuate an offense that, despite late victories, has been inefficient the past two games (28 points) and suffering mediocrity for the season (averaging 23.5 points, 17th in the NFL).
Mike Shanahan was nicknamed Mastermind, but Payton can’t be billed Brilliant Brain because of his screen-and-scream passing game.

Scoring 14 against the Chiefs and Mahomes won’t be satisfactory. Both teams have scored 235 points, but the Chiefs have played one less game.
Mahomes’ record against the Broncos is 13-1. Nix is 1-1 facing the Chiefs. Mahomes watched the last regular-season game last season. Nix and the Broncos blew out and shut out the Chiefs’ junior varsity.

Don’t hold your horses. Kansas City and Mahomes are back. In 130 games between the two teams over 65 seasons, the Chiefs lead in victories 73-57. The Broncos have prevailed 37 times at home. In their first game in K.C. after originating in Dallas the Chiefs poured 59 points on the Broncos. The Broncos once scored 49 on the Chiefs. In 2011, with Tim Tebow completing only two passes and the Broncos rushing for 244 yards, the Chiefs lost at home 17-10. On Jan. 1, 2012, with former Broncos starter Kyle Orton, the Chiefs won in Denver 7-3. However, the Broncos won the AFC West and advanced to the postseason.

Sunday’s game should be closer than gnats dancing the Argentine tango, although the Chiefs’ betting odds advantage increased to minus-4.5 Saturday. Andy Reid is 9-3 following bye weeks in K.C., but, then, Sean Payton is 10-3 when coaching winning teams vs. Reid.

In six overtime games with the Chiefs the Broncos won four, and also own the most overtime victories in NFL history: 30.

This feels like an O.T. with Mahomes and Nix (ranked 10th and 15th), but seems more like a matchup of Mahomes and Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph. Mahomes is 6-1 against Joseph’s defenses in Denver and Phoenix. But Joseph’s Sack Attack and sophisticated zone have limited the Chiefs quarterback to only 41 points the previous three confrontations. After accumulating 46 sacks, if the Broncos can get to Mahomes four times — he has been sacked three times in three of his past four games — 50 sacks in 11 games would be a league record.

The game is XL. The Chiefs can fall to .500, and the Broncos could again equal the league’s best record and be 9-2 for the seventh season in franchise history.

Mahomes told Payton in an aside that he “got one’’ in Nix. The Chiefs have a “great one.” Only one will win the season’s Sunday special and the second thing between the quarterbacks. Gonna be a rematch 41 shopping days away.