DENVER — You better believe Wil Lutz knew.

As he trotted out for the game-winning field goal in Sunday's 22-19 win over the Chiefs, his mind flashed back to last year's gut-wrenching loss in Kansas City.

The scenario was nearly identical, as Denver took a knee and ran the clock down for a 35-yard attempt at a win.

"Saw it the whole way," Lutz said. "The whole way onto the field, obviously it's something you think about. … When you're part of a loss like that, you don't just forget about it, right? When I looked down and saw we were on the line again making it a 35-yard field goal I was kind of like, 'Shoot, here we are.'"

This time, there was no block. This time, there was no silent locker room. This time, there was no loss.

Lutz drilled the kick — his fifth field goal of the afternoon — and set off a raucous celebration as the Broncos improved to 9-2 and sent the Chiefs to 5-5.

"Look, I'd be lying right to everyone if I didn't say it was a big win," Head Coach Sean Payton said after the game.

The roots of this win — and of a 9-2 record that puts the Broncos atop the AFC through Week 11 — began on that afternoon in Arrowhead. Denver may have lost that afternoon, but the Broncos' performance indicated to themselves they could compete with the then-defending champions.

"That was a tough, gut-wrenching loss," Payton said. "But I think there was a feeling — and if you look at our record from that loss [it shows] — there was a feeling that we belong here. Listen, there are either wins or losses, but the response after that game last year with the blocked field goal was super. There was some irony, obviously, when we were taking a knee to kick the field goal. But I think that the confidence thing that we always talk about exists in that locker room with this group of guys. It's special."

Since that moment in Kansas City, the Broncos have won 14 of their last 18 regular-season games. They earned the franchise's first postseason berth since 2015 and are now poised for even bigger accomplishments, as they have a 75 percent chance to win the AFC West.

"I agree it was a turning point, for sure," Lutz said. "I mean, you saw what we did after that game, right? But I think we knew before that game last year that we had the right guys. It was never a question if we had the right guys in the locker room. That was just kind of, 'All right, how are we going to respond?' You look at the last year and a half since that game, this team has come together, we've found ways to win close games, which is kind of what Coach has been harping on all year. It's a lot of fun to do [this] with the guys you love and when you have a locker room like this."

The season is far from over, and the Broncos will need to add more wins to secure a division title and remain in the hunt for the top overall seed in the AFC. But as they knocked off the Chiefs for the third consecutive time at home and the third time in four attempts, there was something poetic about earning a win in the same situation that caused so much pain a year ago.

This group, which has responded to that loss, has grown — and it has shown on the scoreboard. A year after winning just once in seven one-score games, the Broncos are 7-2 in one-score games in 2025.

"We just know how to handle adversity," safety Talanoa Hufanga said. "I think that's one thing that is a testament to this team; regardless of the situations we are in, I think we are just built for whatever — whatever comes our way."

On Sunday, that meant responding to yet another fourth-quarter deficit en route to a win.

Just like last year, it required a game-ending drive, a third-down conversion, a kneel down and a kick.

This time, it went through — just like the Broncos knew it would.

"It's ironic it happened the same exact way," Nix said. "We've just got a resilient team that just believes we're going to win.

"At the end of the game when it's close, belief goes a long way."