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Terrell Davis believes the Denver Broncos have what it takes to compete with the Kansas City Chiefs as early as this season.
The Chiefs have not only been the juggernauts of the AFC West division but the dominant force of the conference since Patrick Mahomes stepped in as the starting quarterback in 2018. They've won nine straight division titles and have never been eliminated any earlier than the AFC Championship Game in the Mahomes era.
However, the Broncos are on the way up. Denver clinched its first playoff berth in nine years behind a 10-7 season with their rookie franchise quarterback Bo Nix. Furthermore, they nearly defeated the Chiefs in Week 10 before a botched field-goal snap lost them the game at the end in a 16-14 loss.
“We beat Kansas City last year,” says the Broncos great in a one-on-one interview. “Albeit it was the last game of the season, they rested their starters. I think you just have to prove to yourself you can beat them in regular-season games. Remember, the first time they played, they just lost by a blocked field goal. They've been nipping on the heels of the Chiefs, and I think this is the year where they beat them without resting players, and then they kind of take over.”
The Hall of Fame running back acknowledges that the division is a tough one with the Los Angeles Chargers — a team that clinched a playoff berth last season — and the Pete Carroll-led Las Vegas Raiders in the AFC West. However, he believes the Sean Payton-led Broncos have the “right makeup” moving forward as they look to establish a consistent winning identity.
“The Chargers are going to be there. The Raiders they'll be a nuisance,” says Davis of the Broncos' rivals. “There's still just no doubt in my mind that this team has the right makeup, chemistry, coaching, ownership, GM. You talk about continuity; they didn't lose their coordinators.”
The “continuity” is what gives Terrell Davis confidence that this Broncos franchise has turned things around. From 2017 through 2023, Denver didn't have a single winning season. They'll look to clinch back-to-back playoff berths for the first time since the 2014 and 2015 seasons.
“They're just consistent with everything,” says Davis. “They return their whole offense, the quarterback, receivers. That's part of what I look at from teams — is the continuity there? Are you being consistent? I'm seeing that here, and so that gives me a lot of reason to be optimistic about this team.”
While the Broncos obviously exceeded expectations last season, they didn't have many quality wins over playoff teams. In fact, ignoring their Week 18 victory over the Chiefs — in which they rested their starters — the Broncos went 1-5 against playoff teams last season.
They'll have to up their level of play and establish a more consistent run game in order to match up with the elite teams of the NFL. It's worth noting that Denver lost to the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens by a combined score of 72-17.
The Broncos revamped their rushing attack, allowing former starter Javonte Williams to walk while signing veteran J.K. Dobbins and drafting All-American back R.J. Harvey in the 2025 NFL Draft.
“The offense wasn't too bad. They were middle of the pack with rushing. A little bit of that was Bo as well,” said Terrell Davis. “Obviously, that's an area that I say they can improve to give this team — I've always said that dangerous teams have a right and left punch — and Denver didn't have that last year. They had a good pass game, but they couldn't run the football.”
Davis obviously knows a thing or two about leading a dominant ground game to Super Bowls. He led the Broncos to their first Super Bowl win while taking MVP honors in Super Bowl XXXII after rushing for 157 yards and a record three touchdowns. He also rushed for more than 2,000 yards in a single season while winning MVP during the 1998 campaign as the Broncos won back-to-back Super Bowls.
The Broncos ranked 16th in rushing yards and 21st in yards per attempt last season.
“Not that this is going to be — like back in my day — where we were running the ball 40 times a game,” says Davis. “But there's going to be games where you need to lean on the run, and it's better to have it than not. That's the part where they can improve. They've already proven they can come back and win games. They've already proven they can put points on the board.”
The Hall of Fame running back says the Broncos already have the “confidence level” to take the next step this season. Terrell Davis goes so far as to predict they could win 12 or 13 games this season and potentially make a deep playoff run.
“The confidence level, they've got that,” says Davis. “They've got the swag now. They have the belief they could be good. We were screaming and yelling for them to bring in a tight end. They brought in Evan Engram. I'm really bullish on him. I think he is going to have the best season of his career. They've hit everything the way it was supposed to happen during the offseason.”
The continuity, the re-signing of all of the team's major players and the presence of Nix and Payton has Davis “excited” for how this season is going to go.
“They kept everything home,” says Davis of re-signing their players. “I don't see a whole lot of things that I'm questioning right now. That's what makes me excited.”
