For the first time in the Patrick Mahomes era, the Kansas City Chiefs are looking up at the Denver Broncos in the AFC West standings. Sunday’s trip to Denver feels less like another midseason checkpoint and more like a full-blown divisional pivot point.The Broncos enter Week 11 at 8-2, riding a seven-game winning streak powered by one of the NFL’s stingiest defenses. Kansas City sits at 5-4, fresh off a bye and a loss in Buffalo. Instead of leading the pack, the Chiefs find themselves in third place and chasing momentum.Mahomes didn’t downplay what’s on the line.“They’re first in the division, and they have a couple games on us,” he said Wednesday. “It’s huge for the division, and that’s always our first goal is win the division.”The Chiefs have made the AFC West their annual property for nearly a decade, stacking nine straight division titles under Andy Reid, Alex Smith and Mahomes. That run has been built on beating division rivals early, finishing strong late, and rarely letting a challenger get close enough to breathe on them.This year has been different. The season opened with a divisional stumble against the Los Angeles Chargers in Brazil, and while Kansas City has remained competitive in every matchup, close finishes have gone the wrong way. Four one-score losses have taken a toll, allowing Denver to surge ahead while the Chiefs search for their late-game edge.Reid acknowledged the reality of the standings and the strength of the race around them.“The AFC West is tremendously strong, and we’re all trying to shoot for the same thing,” Reid said. “They’re all good teams and well coached.”The Broncos have earned their spot at the top behind a relentless pass rush that leads the league with 46 sacks. They pair that front with the NFL’s best third-down defense at 28.1 percent and the league’s top red-zone touchdown defense at 37.5 percent, a combination that has carried them in tight moments.Among those tight moments was a 10-7 last Thursday against the last-place Las Vegas Raiders in Denver. Kansas City counters with a top-10 offense and a top-five defense. The offensive line continues to rotate pieces, and the Chiefs remain without running back Isiah Pacheco. The efficiency is there, especially on fourth downs, but the closing punch that defined past seasons has yet to show up consistently.“We haven’t been able to win in these big moments that we used to,” Mahomes said. “In order to get to where we want to get to, we have to learn how to do that and that all starts this week.”This matchup is the first of two remaining between these rivals, with a Christmas night showdown at Arrowhead still looming. But for the first time in years, Kansas City heads into the stretch run as the hunter, not the hunted.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. —

For the first time in the Patrick Mahomes era, the Kansas City Chiefs are looking up at the Denver Broncos in the AFC West standings.

Sunday’s trip to Denver feels less like another midseason checkpoint and more like a full-blown divisional pivot point.

The Broncos enter Week 11 at 8-2, riding a seven-game winning streak powered by one of the NFL’s stingiest defenses.

Kansas City sits at 5-4, fresh off a bye and a loss in Buffalo.

Instead of leading the pack, the Chiefs find themselves in third place and chasing momentum.

Mahomes didn’t downplay what’s on the line.

“They’re first in the division, and they have a couple games on us,” he said Wednesday. “It’s huge for the division, and that’s always our first goal is win the division.”

The Chiefs have made the AFC West their annual property for nearly a decade, stacking nine straight division titles under Andy Reid, Alex Smith and Mahomes.

That run has been built on beating division rivals early, finishing strong late, and rarely letting a challenger get close enough to breathe on them.

This year has been different.

The season opened with a divisional stumble against the Los Angeles Chargers in Brazil, and while Kansas City has remained competitive in every matchup, close finishes have gone the wrong way.

Four one-score losses have taken a toll, allowing Denver to surge ahead while the Chiefs search for their late-game edge.

Reid acknowledged the reality of the standings and the strength of the race around them.

“The AFC West is tremendously strong, and we’re all trying to shoot for the same thing,” Reid said. “They’re all good teams and well coached.”

The Broncos have earned their spot at the top behind a relentless pass rush that leads the league with 46 sacks.

They pair that front with the NFL’s best third-down defense at 28.1 percent and the league’s top red-zone touchdown defense at 37.5 percent, a combination that has carried them in tight moments.

Among those tight moments was a 10-7 last Thursday against the last-place Las Vegas Raiders in Denver.

Kansas City counters with a top-10 offense and a top-five defense.

The offensive line continues to rotate pieces, and the Chiefs remain without running back Isiah Pacheco.

The efficiency is there, especially on fourth downs, but the closing punch that defined past seasons has yet to show up consistently.

“We haven’t been able to win in these big moments that we used to,” Mahomes said. “In order to get to where we want to get to, we have to learn how to do that and that all starts this week.”

This matchup is the first of two remaining between these rivals, with a Christmas night showdown at Arrowhead still looming.

But for the first time in years, Kansas City heads into the stretch run as the hunter, not the hunted.