Merry very early Christmas, Broncos fans.

Under the tree this year: The Kansas City Chiefs and quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

Denver is visiting Kansas City on Christmas Night, the league announced Monday. The Week 17 tilt is set for 6:15 p.m., will be streamed on Amazon Prime and is one of what are expected to be several prime time slots for Sean Payton’s team this fall. The NFL releases the full schedule for all teams at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Not many on the schedule will be bigger than this one, though. The late-season, holiday time slot against the Chiefs could represent Denver’s best chance in years to end the Chiefs’ reign atop the AFC West division.

Kansas City has won the division nine straight years and waltzed to the title again in 2024. The Broncos have not won at Arrowhead Stadium since 2015 when Peyton Manning was at the helm of Denver’s offense.

The Broncos should have won last fall at Kansas City, but a Wil Lutz field goal to win the game on the final snap was blocked by Chiefs linebacker Leo Chenal.

The division rivals have matched up once before on Christmas Day, back in 2016, when the Chiefs won 33-10 and knocked the Broncos out of playoff contention in the process.

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