The Denver Broncos beat the Kansas City Chiefs 28-24 at Empower Field at Mile High on Sunday, Nov. 1, and moved to 6-2. They are in first place in the AFC West, a half-game ahead of Kansas City at 5-2, and hold the No. 2 seed in the AFC.

The record is much better than the scoring margin. Denver has scored 172 points and allowed 165, a difference of +7. Of the four AFC division leaders, no one is closer to even.

Point differential of the four AFC division leaders

The season started badly and turned on a run of close finishes. Here are all eight games.

1. Sept. 14Lost 31-10 at Kansas City on Monday night. Denver gained 176 yards, went 2 of 12 on third down and allowed 220 rushing yards, 173 of them to Kenneth Walker III.
2. Sept. 20Beat Jacksonville 20-13 at home. Denver trailed 13-6 going into the fourth quarter and scored 14 points in it. Bo Nix threw for 288 yards and Jaylen Waddle had 8 catches for 138.
3. Sept. 27Beat the Rams 30-26 at home. Denver trailed 16-0 at halftime, outscored Los Angeles 30-10 in the second half and won despite being outgained 482-257.
4. Oct. 4Lost 24-14 at San Francisco. Denver trailed 10-3 after three quarters and scored 11 in the fourth, but the 49ers scored 14.
5. Oct. 11Beat the Chargers 23-17 at Los Angeles. Denver was down 17-10 going into the fourth quarter, scored 13 and sacked Justin Herbert five times.
6. Oct. 15Beat Seattle 17-14 in overtime on Thursday night. Denver led 14-3 after three quarters, Seattle tied it with 11 points in the fourth, and a field goal won it. The defense sacked Sam Darnold five times and intercepted him twice.
7. Oct. 25Beat Arizona 30-16 on the road. Nix ran 7 times for 73 yards and a 62-yard touchdown, and RJ Harvey scored on a 52-yard catch. Denver did not turn the ball over.
8. Nov. 1Beat Kansas City 28-24 at home after trailing 24-13 in the third quarter. Malcolm Roach sacked Patrick Mahomes on the final play.

Add up the quarter scores and one period stands out. In regulation, Denver has outscored opponents 70-45 in the fourth quarter, a margin of +25. In the other three quarters combined it has been outscored 99-120, a margin of -21.

Denver's points per quarter, eight games (regulation)

Denver trailed after three quarters in five of its eight games, and against the Rams it came back from 16-0 down at halftime to tie after three. It won three of the five games in which it was behind going into the fourth quarter: Jacksonville, the Chargers and the Chiefs. It lost the other two, at Kansas City and San Francisco.

Denver has won 15 straight games decided by one score over the last two seasons. Five of them have come this year, and the margins have been small.

Margin of victory in each Denver win

The two losses were by 21 and 10 points. That is how a 6-2 team can have a +7 margin: it has not been blown out often, but it has also not won big. Only the Arizona game, a 30-16 win, was decided by more than one score.

Quarterback Bo Nix has completed 149 of 250 passes (59.6 percent) for 1,493 yards, nine touchdowns and three interceptions in eight games, and has been sacked 10 times. He has also run 32 times for 114 yards and two touchdowns.

His numbers are modest. What stands out is when he has delivered. Against the Chiefs it was his 15th career game-winning drive in the fourth quarter or overtime, the most by a quarterback in his first three seasons since the 1970 merger.

Both of his first two touchdown passes against Kansas City came on fourth-and-goal: one yard to Waddle before halftime and two yards to tight end Nate Adkins in the fourth quarter. Denver then trailed 24-21, and a short pass to rookie running back Jonah Coleman went for 51 yards. Coleman scored from the 5 on the next snap.

Denver has gained 2,184 yards and allowed 2,842, a difference of 658. In six of the eight games it gained fewer yards than its opponent, and it won four of them: the Rams, the Chargers, Seattle and the Chiefs.

The reason is the ball. Denver has turned it over six times and taken it away 10 times, a margin of +4.

The offense has not been efficient on third down. Sean Payton said Denver is 10 for 48 on third down during the winning streak, including 2 for 11 against the Chiefs. The Broncos have made up for it with the red zone, where they were 3 for 3 against Kansas City, and with fourth-down calls: both of their goal-line fourth-down attempts in that game ended in touchdown passes.

Denver’s 31-10 loss at Kansas City on Sept. 14 stayed with the team. Before the rematch, Payton wrote a number on the locker-room board: 48, for the days between the games.

The win was Payton’s 200th as a head coach, counting the playoffs. It also put Denver back in the AFC West lead, and the Broncos jumped from fifth to second in the AFC seeding. They sit ahead of Pittsburgh (6-2) only on conference record, 3-1 to the Steelers’ 3-2.

Denver visits the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, Nov. 8, at 1:00 p.m. ET, which is 8:00 p.m. in Cairo. After that it has a bye week and then hosts Las Vegas on Nov. 22.

Carolina is 3-4 and has lost two in a row, most recently 27-19 at Green Bay. The Panthers fired defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero last week, and defensive line coach Todd Wash is now calling the defense. Bryce Young was sacked six times against the Packers.

Denver has trailed going into the fourth quarter in five of its eight games. Carolina, meanwhile, is making a defensive change in the middle of the season. Sunday will show whether the Broncos can win without needing another late rally.