The Denver Broncos are coming off an ugly and disappointing (yes, disappointing) 10-7 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday Night Football in Week 10.

There isn’t any other way to describe Denver’s performance in this game. It was ugly from the jump, and even though a win is a win, this should have been a blowout in favor of the Broncos.

Quarterback Bo Nix completed 16 of 28 passes for just 150 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. He also had five carries for minus-2 yards.

Denver did most of their offense on the ground, with veteran running back J.K. Dobbins logging 18 carries for 77 yards and rookie RJ Harvey adding nine more yards on four carries.

Dobbins left the game in the third quarter as a result of a hip-drop tackle that was unflagged. He would return to ice the game towards the end of the fourth quarter, but Dobbins’ status for their Week 11 meeting with the Kansas City Chiefs is in question.

Speaking of that Week 11 matchup against the Chiefs, the game has a lot of underlying implications for the American Football Conference West division. A win for the Broncos would push them to 9-2 and a win for the Chiefs would push them to 6-4 with hope of catching Denver down the line.

ESPN’s Dan Graziano believes this matchup will eventually decide the winner of the AFC West.

“Denver opened the week with one of the least impressive wins in NFL history, beating the Raiders 10-7 on Thursday night in a game I feel bad even bringing up,” Graziano wrote Monday. “The Broncos have won just two games this season by more than one score. They beat the Jets by two points, the Giants by one point and the Raiders by three. By rights, they should have lost at least two of those games, if not all three.

“But they didn't, and they're 8-2 and in first place.”

The Broncos have escaped numerous games with victories they honestly didn’t deserve, but their never-quit attitude propelled them to where they are now.

“If Denver wins next week, it'll go into its own bye week leading the Chiefs by three and a half games,” Graziano explained. “Even if Kansas City beats the Colts in Week 12, the Broncos would come out of the bye week with a three-game lead and six games to play. I never put anything past Reid and Mahomes, but that would be a tough hill to climb.”

Denver will need a lot out of Nix and the offense to overcome a tough and desperate Kansas City team this week.