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The Kansas City Chiefs are the winners of nine consecutive AFC West titles. 

Getting to 10 will require a miracle. 

The Denver Broncos rallied for a 22-19 win over the Chiefs on Sunday to seize command of the AFC West. With the win, the Broncos improved to 9-2 to take a two-game lead over the second-place Los Angeles Chargers (7-4) in the division. The Chiefs, meanwhile, dropped to 5-5, 3 1/2 games and a tie-breaker game behind the Broncos in third place. 

If the Chiefs are going to play in a fourth-straight Super Bowl and a sixth in seven years, it's looking increasingly likely that they'll have to do so as a wild-card team with a difficult path through the AFC playoffs on the road. And that's if they even make the postseason at all. 

The Chiefs still face a solid chance of making the playoffs. But they're 11 weeks into the season and they remain on the outside looking in at the AFC playoff picture. It's unfamiliar territory for the Chiefs and their fans.

Broncos defense holds Mahomes, sets up game-winning drive

The outcome of Sunday's pivotal game was very much up in the air until late as defense set the tone in a game that was tied at 6-6 at halftime. 

The Broncos scored the first touchdown of the game on a Jaleel McLaughlin run in the third quarter. The Chiefs tied the game at 13-13 with a Kareem Hunt run late in the quarter. Then they took their first lead of the game on a pass from Patrick Mahomes to Travis Kelce with 9:57 remaining.

But the Broncos blocked the extra point, allowing Wil Lutz to tied the game at 19-19 with a field goal on the other end, setting up Mahomes in a position he's been in many times before — with the ball in his hands and a chance to tie the game. 

But Denver's stifling defense did not relent with the game on the line. The Broncos forced a 3-and-out after punting the ball back to the Chiefs with 4:06 remaining in a tie game. A Ja'Quan McMillian sack of Mahomes on third down forced the punt.

That put the ball in Bo Nix's hand with his own chance to lead a game-winning drive. And he succeeded where Mahomes did not. 

Nix found Courtland Sutton for a critical third-down conversion near midfield. He then hit Troy Franklin for a 32-yard gain to set up Lutz for a game-winning field goal as time expired. 

Lutz was good from 35 yards to secure the walkoff win.

With the win, it's the Broncos who find themselves in control of the division. They're the last team besides the Chiefs to win the AFC West and are on track to secure their first division title since they won the Super Bowl with Peyton Manning after the 2015 season. 

And they're in a race with the New England Patriots (9-2) and Indianapolis Colts (8-2) for the No. 1 seed in the AFC and the conference's only first-round playoff bye.