NFL
NFL Week 17
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The Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs are facing off in the finale of today’s Christmas Day NFL games.
The Broncos lead 3-0 in the first quarter. Follow for play-by-play updates and analysis of tonight's game.
Share your thoughts with us at live@theathletic.com and check out our live schedule here.
Q1 0:00 – Broncos 3, Chiefs 0
A quick first quarter is over, with the Chiefs looking to match the Broncos' field goal or take the lead with a TD. The Chiefs will face third-and-3 from the Broncos’ 13-yard line after the break.
Q1 3:45 – Broncos 3, Chiefs 0
Bo Nix’s third-down pass is tipped by Kristian Fulton, and it bounces back to Nick Bolton for an interception. Heck of a play by the Chiefs’ defenders.
The Chiefs will have a short field, taking over in Denver territory at the 35-yard line.
Q1 3:45 – Broncos 3, Chiefs 0
Chris Oladokun and the Chiefs’ offense get one first down, but then two incompletions stall the drive. Kansas City has to punt, and Denver will take over at its 19-yard line.
Q1 6:58 – Broncos 3, Chiefs 0
Bo Nix’s first miss comes on third down in the red zone, and the Broncos will have to settle for a field goal. Wil Lutz nails the 27-yarder.
The drive covers 56 yards in 14 plays and 8 minutes, 2 seconds.
Q1 9:15 – Broncos 0, Chiefs 0
Bo Nix is 5-for-5 in the short passing game, and the Broncos are in the red zone on their first drive. Terrific start.
Q1 11:58 – Broncos 0, Chiefs 0
Bo Nix and the Broncos have quickly moved into the Chiefs’ territory. RJ Harvey is getting a lot of action early, both on the ground and in the passing game. Good start for the Broncos.
Q1 15:00 – Broncos 0, Chiefs 0
The Broncos will have the ball first as we finish off today’s Christmas Day tripleheader with the Broncos and Chiefs in Kansas City.
Denver and Kansas City are finishing off our Christmas football action tonight, now!
Denver and Kansas City will wrap up our Christmas tripleheader tonight as they continue their longtime AFC West rivalry. Kansas City leads the series 73-58, although the Broncos won 22-19 in November.
Despite their winning streak being snapped, the Broncos still enter play tonight as the top seed in the AFC. Here are your views on Denver:
💬 Stephen K: “Beat Kansas City and Chargers and we get the bye. Jacksonville was the hardest game we had left. We still are in first place in the conference. I kept thinking of the 1996 playoff game when we could not stop Jacksonville.”
💬 Bojo T: “Broncos are way ahead of schedule flirting with the No. 1 seed with a second-year QB while dealing with a $32 million cap hit for Russell Wilson. Good opportunity to deal with some adversity and hit the playoffs as a team with some warts similar to all of the AFC playoff teams.”
💬 Tom M: “Here is to hoping Denver can pull it together to beat the Chiefs. I can see Houston beating the Chargers this weekend which I think means Denver wins the division, rendering the last regular season game less important, but probably still a needed win for ultimate seeding.”
💬 R F: “Ultimately, the inability to run the ball and convert on third-and-short will end Denver’s season.”
The Broncos on Thursday placed starting center Luke Wattenberg on injured reserve with a shoulder injury, just weeks after he signed a four-year, $48 million extension. Wattenberg suffered the injury during Denver's 34-20 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 16, but he didn't miss a snap in that game. He will miss the final two games of the regular season and at least the first two rounds of the postseason. He'd be eligible to play in the AFC Championship Game, should the playoff-bound Broncos make it that far, but a rehabilitation timeline for Wattenberg isn't immediately clear.
Stepping in for Wattenberg against the Chiefs will be Alex Forsyth, a seventh-round selection of the Broncos in 2023 who was quarterback Bo Nix's starting center at Oregon for one season. Forsyth started four games for the Broncos when Wattenberg was on injured reserve and filled in admirably. But this is a much bigger spot. The Broncos can clinch the No. 1 seed in the AFC with victories in their final two games — tonight against the Chiefs; in Week 18 at home against the Chargers — but they could also fall as far as the No. 6 seed if they don't beat the Chargers next week.
For the first time in more than a decade, the Chiefs are locked into a losing record as the season winds down. Here are your views on Kansas City ahead of tonight’s game:
💬 Ziggy Z: “We may look back at this Chiefs dynasty and think their most impressive accomplishment was winning the AFC last year. It’s hard to believe something close to this roster played for a Super Bowl 10 months ago.”
💬 Josh M: “Half of the team on IR and a third-string QB. Tough to beat anybody.”
💬 Robert T: “We’re seeing now how much Patrick Mahomes really means to this team and how much he carries the entire roster. Last year without Patrick, the Chiefs would have won maybe seven games. This year without him, we’d probably be 1-14 (still would have beat Vegas). I hope KC fans appreciate what an awesome player he really is.”
💬 Haonusa: “We just need to reload with another strong draft and a few moves. We’ll be back for the next phase of the dynasty soon enough.”
Chiefs third-string quarterback Chris Oladokun will make his first NFL start.
At age 28, this opportunity has been a long time coming.
Oladokun has spent most of the last four seasons on the Chiefs’ practice squad. A year ago, though, he was cut by the team out of training camp, which led to a period when he tried to keep his NFL dream alive by flying to various locations across the country.
He acknowledged this week that the time period was difficult. On the weekends, he gathered with friends to watch NFL games on TV while still believing he had what it takes to compete at that level.
Oladokun promised to attack his weaknesses then, just in case he ever got another shot.
Two months later, the Chiefs re-signed him to the practice squad, and he’s been with the team ever since.
After season-ending injuries to QBs Patrick Mahomes and Gardner Minshew, Oladokun will get a two-game tryout with the Chiefs at the end of this season. He’s certainly persevered over time to earn this opportunity.
Chris Oladokun was dropped into a difficult position on Sunday, all of a sudden taking over the Chiefs’ offense just a week after being penciled in as Kansas City’s QB3. With Patrick Mahomes and Gardner Minshew both suffering serious injuries, it became Oladokun’s turn to run the show against the Titans.
While the Chiefs’ offense cratered, the 28-year-old battled in Kansas City’s loss, completing 11-of-16 passes for 111 yards. This was a bad situation all around, and to be fair to Oladokun, not many third-string quarterbacks could have done much more.
The Chiefs, while out of playoff contention last week, still played most of their starters in an attempt to win.
One has to wonder whether the game plan will change this week with an eye toward 2026.
Fourth-round rookie receiver Jalen Royals, for instance, received just three offensive snaps last week. Similarly, fifth-round rookie linebacker Jeffrey Bassa did not get in for a defensive snap in a game that had no stakes.
Chiefs coaches seemingly could benefit from seeing if both guys are ready for bigger roles next season. We’ll see if they get more opportunities tonight against the Broncos.
Courtland Sutton is getting rolling as the season comes to a close, even if another impressive game for the veteran wideout came in a loss.
He has found the end zone in three of his last four games and has featured heavily during this stretch, accumulating 38 targets. During the past month, Sutton has caught 24 passes for 323 yards, most recently totaling six catches for 86 yards and a score against Jacksonville.
Sutton is currently on pace for his second consecutive 1,000-yard season and the third of his career.
While Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce hasn’t officially announced whether he’ll retire after this season, it’s at least a possibility. And if he does decide to hang it up after this 2025 season, tonight’s game will be his last time playing at Arrowhead Stadium.
Kelce, 36, has played 13 years in the NFL, all with the Chiefs. He’s a surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer once eligible, and he’s added to his celebrity in recent years while dating (and later becoming engaged to) pop star Taylor Swift.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid spoke this week a bit about Kelce’s legacy if this is his final run.
“His numbers and personality and the person, I think, speak for themselves,” Reid said. “He’s a phenomenal person.”
So what reception will Kelce get from Chiefs fans tonight? And will Reid do anything creative with him — or potentially let him throw a pass?
Those storylines might be the most interesting part of an otherwise meaningless game for K.C.
After being selected in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft, RJ Harvey is starting to be utilized accordingly after JK Dobbins’ foot injury ended his season.
The rookie was coming off a career-high 19 carries in Week 15 against Green Bay, but he got only seven carries in Week 16 — a lot of which was caused by negative game script in the second half.
That said, Harvey did well with his opportunities, rushing for 51 yards, including a 38-yard touchdown run when he fought through several Jaguars defenders before finally diving for the pylon. He also caught four passes for 71 yards.
Harvey possesses impressive contact balance and the ability to make big plays happen out of nowhere, which Sean Payton will need to tap into in the playoffs.
Some milestone watches for the Broncos:
