KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Denver Broncos are in the enviable position of spending Christmas night at Arrowhead Stadium, the home of one of their biggest rivals, with an opportunity to close in on an AFC West title and perhaps land the No. 1 seed and first-round playoff bye.

It's a position the Kansas City Chiefs know well.

Normally, they're the ones with all those things to play for this time of year.

But things have flipped upside down this season. The Broncos (12-3) are barreling toward Thursday night's matchup knowing that a win coupled with a loss or tie by the Chargers in their game Saturday against Houston would secure them the division title.

Kansas City (6-9) is just trying to survive with a third-string quarterback and a roster that is littered with injuries.

“You just have to keep winning. Whatever it takes to win the game,” Broncos quarterback Bo Nix said. “It doesn't really at this point matter what it looks like. All the cool, flashy stuff can have already happened, but now it's just who has more points.”

The Broncos did in their first meeting with the Chiefs, a 22-19 victory in November. But they did not this past week, when Jacksonville dealt them a humbling 34-20 defeat in Denver that snapped the Broncos' 11-game winning streak.

“This game specifically — every one of these players understands the significant of where we're at with two games left in the season,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said. “I think for both teams on a short week, there are defenses and offenses maybe, plays that neither of us got to use in the first game that still may apply. So that helps.”

The Chiefs will take all the help they can get.

Patrick Mahomes tore two ligaments in his knee two weeks ago. Backup quarterback Gardner Minshew tore a ligament in his knee last week in a lopsided loss to lowly Tennessee, which means journeyman Chris Oladokun will start for the first time in his career.

The Chiefs are missing their two best offensive tackles, their top two cornerbacks and their best wide receiver to a variety of injuries.

That doesn't mean the reigning AFC champions have quit, though.

“Any time you step into Arrowhead it's fun. You feel the love, you feel the energy,” defensive tackle Chris Jones said. “We are playing for something greater than yourself. There's a lot of kids, probably, a lot of first-timers there because of a Christmas game, a lot of people who paid their hard-earned money. You owe it to them to give your all and play your best and show up for the fans.”

Like father, like son

Denver cornerback Patrick Surtain II earned his fourth Pro Bowl honor this season, one more than his father earned during his NFL career from 1998-2008. The Broncos matched the Ravens, 49ers and Seahawks with a league-leading six selections.

“I have bragging rights now,” Surtain said with a laugh. “He can’t say too much now. I think it’s definitely great for the legacy and great for the Surtain lineage. It’s something I dreamed of, but I’ll keep perfecting my craft and keep on holding that name strong.”

Let Chris cook

While Oladokun will make his first NFL start on Thursday night, he did play the majority of last week's loss in Tennessee. It's been quite a journey for the former South Dakota State quarterback, who was cut by the Chiefs in training camp last year and spent the next eight weeks flying around the country for practice squad tryouts with various teams.

“It's hard to play in the NFL. It's hard to stick on a roster,” Oladokun said. “But it really motivated me. Really made me look in the mirror to see what I needed to get better at. I said, ‘If I get another chance, I won’t let it slip.'”

Arrow-dome Stadium?

Their game against Denver will be the first since the Chiefs announced Monday that they will be leaving their aging home in Missouri for a $3 billion domed facility to be built across the state line in Kansas. They will continue to play at Arrowhead Stadium through the end of their lease in January 2031.

Sutton-ly in trouble

 

The Chiefs could have their hands full against Pro Bowl wide receiver Courtland Sutton, who had four catches for 59 yards against them in November. Kansas City will be without its top two cornerbacks, Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson, because of injuries.

“We'll have to find a way to limit his catches,” defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said. “It's a tough ask.”

Final farewell

Travis Kelce could be playing inside Arrowhead Stadium for the final time Thursday night. He has yet to announce his retirement, but the tight end appears to be leaning that way, and a decision is expected shortly after the end of the season.

“He's been great,” coach Andy Reid said. “He's everything you want from a player representing an organization.”

Flagg scores 33 points, Davis adds 31 as Mavericks beat Nuggets 131-130

DALLAS (AP) — Cooper Flagg had 33 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, and Anthony Davis had 31 points and nine rebounds as the Dallas Mavericks beat the Denver Nuggets 131-130 on Tuesday night.

Flagg’s career-high fourth 3-pointer gave Dallas a 126-121 lead with 3:17 left, and he assisted on Naji Marshall’s left-corner 3 that put the Mavericks ahead 131-125 with 1:12 left.

The Nuggets, who trailed 50-29 early in the second quarter, got their first lead early in the fourth quarter and pulled within a point in the final minute, having a shot to win after forcing the Mavericks into a 24-second violation with 7.8 seconds left. However, Peyton Watson’s 3-point attempt from the left corner at the buzzer rimmed out.

The Mavericks snapped a two-game losing streak, during which they blew fourth-quarter leads, and have taken the first two games from the Nuggets this season. They won 131-121 at Denver on Dec. 1.

Jamal Murray had 31 points and 14 assists, and Nikola Jokic had 29 points and 14 assists for the Nuggets, who had an 11-game road winning streak snapped. Jokic, the NBA leader averaging 12.1 rebounds, had seven to match his season low.

Denver’s Tim Hardaway Jr., a former Maverick, matched season highs with 23 points and seven 3-pointers.

Both teams completed back-to-backs. The Nuggets won 135-112 over Utah at home on Monday while the Mavericks lost 119-113 at New Orleans.

The Nuggets took their first lead 106-103 in the first minute of the fourth quarter.

Flagg, who has four double-doubles but no triple-doubles, tied his career high for points in a quarter with 14 in the first – hitting all seven field-goal attempts, two from downtown.

Nuggets forward Cam Johnson left the game with an apparent knee injury early in the fourth quarter. Denver coach David Adelman said the extent of the injury won't be known until Johnson has an MRI.

Up next

Nuggets host Minnesota on Thursday, and Mavericks visit Golden State.

Scott Wedgewood makes 32 saves and Avalanche beat Mammoth 1-0 for 6th straight win

DENVER (AP) — Scott Wedgewood made 32 saves for his second shutout of the season, and the NHL-best Colorado Avalanche beat the Utah Mammoth 1-0 on Tuesday night.

Wedgewood's 10th career shutout helped extend Colorado's home winning streak to 13 games. The Avalanche have won six in a row overall and eight of nine heading into the holiday break.

Colorado’s 61 points are the second most in the NHL after 36 games behind the 1929-30 Boston Bruins, who had 63 points at that stage.

Samuel Girard scored the lone goal for the Avalanche (27-2-7), who remain unbeaten in regulation at home (15-0-2). They have not lost on home ice since Carolina’s 5-4 shootout win on Oct. 23.

Vitek Vanecek stopped 25 shots for Utah, which had won two of three.

The Mammoth’s No. 1 goaltender, Karel Vejmelka, was a late scratch with an upper-body injury. Utah signed Colten McIntyre to an amateur-tryout agreement to serve as Vanecek’s backup for the night.

Vanecek had a strong performance against the NHL's top-scoring team. The Avalanche averaged 4.6 goals in the five games heading into Tuesday night.

Girard stole the puck from Clayton Keller in the neutral zone, skated in ahead of Keller and beat Vanecek with a backhander at 7:57 of the second period.

Wedgewood kept the Mammoth off the scoreboard with big saves in the second period. He made a blocker save on Daniil But, stopped Dylan Guenther on a breakaway late in the frame and 30 seconds later made a glove save on Keller that stood after a review.

Utah turned up the pressure in the third period and pulled Vanecek for an extra skater with 2:03 left but couldn't get the equalizer.

Up next

Mammoth: Off until Monday night, when they host Nashville.

Avalanche: At Vegas on Saturday night.

Nuggets forward Cameron Johnson avoids major knee injury but will miss a few games, AP source says

DENVER (AP) — The Denver Nuggets got good news Wednesday when an MRI revealed that forward Cameron Johnson suffered only a bone bruise to his right knee and not any ligament or structural damage, according to a person familiar with the medical test results.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team didn't announce the results of Johnson's MRI.

Johnson got hurt early in the fourth quarter of Denver's 131-130 loss at Dallas on Tuesday night.

There isn't a timetable for his return but Johnson is expected to miss a few games. He's the third Nuggets starter sidelined by injury, joining Aaron Gordon (hamstring) and Christian Braun (ankle).

The Nuggets host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Christmas night.