As the Broncos prepare for their Christmas Day showdown with the Kansas City Chiefs, they find themselves facing extra pressure after a brutal loss to the Jaguars. Denver’s almost season-long winning streak came to an end, in its gap within the division shrank as well. The Broncos lost much of their margin for air, and can’t afford to lose anymore this week.

No matter how bad the Broncos or fans might feel about themselves after last week’s loss, no one should feel worse for themselves than the Kansas City Chiefs. After losing superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes for the rest of this season and potentially into next season, they also lost their backup, Gardner Minshew, and are on their third-string quarterback. The Chiefs play meaningless football against the Broncos for the first time in ages this week, and that should almost terrify the Broncos. 

After years of beating up on Denver, Kansas City has a chance to play spoiler this week against a Broncos team that could control its destiny for the conference’s top seed. If the Chiefs come to this matchup ready to play spoiler and knock around the Broncos, they could be in serious trouble. To avoid an embarrassing and potentially franchise-unsettling upset on Christmas night, the Broncos are going to need their veterans to come up clutch yet again. 

These three Denver Broncos are under the most pressure this week against the Chiefs3. Bo Nix

For Bo Nix, the past few weeks have been relatively friendly. His play has been considerably better than it was in the weeks prior; his arm arguably won them their matchup against the Packers. It was also far from their issue against the Jaguars, and his arm kept them in the game into the third quarter. He can’t afford to let down performance this week, especially against a still strong Kansas City defense. 

2. Nik Bonitto

Nik Bonitto was very candid following the Broncos’ loss to the Jaguars, shouldering a significant amount of the blame himself. The Broncos’ pass rush did nothing against the Jaguars in the second half; it was a major reason the Broncos were not able to stop Jacksonville when they had the ball. Two straight poor performances in December can already bring his brand-new contract into question.

1. Vance Joseph

Vance Joseph has very quickly gone from a slam-dunk head coaching candidate to on the fringes yet again, and this time could be a final nail in the coffin. The Broncos’ defense was brutal at home for two straight weeks and needs a huge performance this week. If they can’t handle a poor and depleted Chiefs offensive unit, Joseph could find himself entering his fourth season as the Broncos’ defensive coordinator over the summer.