ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — The Denver Broncos are pretty good at winning ugly.
They tied a franchise record with 14 victories but didn't exactly roll over their opponents. Eleven of their victories required comebacks and the same number were by one score.
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Denver Broncos running back Tyler Badie (28) runs against Los Angeles Chargers cornerback Tarheeb Still during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/Eric Lutzens)
Denver Broncos cornerback Ja'quan McMillian (29) runs for a touchdown after intercepting the ball during the first half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/Eric Lutzens)
Denver Broncos linebacker Nik Bonitto (15) pressures Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Trey Lance (5) during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Denver Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton (14) runs against the Los Angeles Chargers during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/Eric Lutzens)
Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix (10) passes against the Los Angeles Chargers during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
“It doesn’t have to be aesthetically pleasing to be effective,” coach Sean Payton said after Denver's 20-13 win at Kansas City on Christmas night against Chiefs third-string quarterback Chris Oladokun, who was elevated to starter last month when Patrick Mahomes and backup Gardner Minshew got hurt.
If their first win at Arrowhead Stadium since 2015 comes with an asterisk, so be it.
Payton's mantra all season was that style points mean nothing. After all, the Broncos won their first AFC West crown in a decade, ending the Chiefs' nine-year reign atop the division, and he didn't care how it looked.
The Los Angeles Chargers sat most of their best players for their Week 18 trip to Denver, and the Broncos never found the end zone offensively, settling for four field goals and watching defensive back Ja'Quan McMillian score their only touchdown on a pick-6 for a gritty 19-3 win.
That secured the No. 1 seed over the New England Patriots, who also finished 14-3 but lost the tiebreaker to Denver, going 5-1 against common opponents to Denver's 6-0. The difference was New England's 20-13 loss at home to the Las Vegas Raiders on opening weekend.
Although the Broncos went 0 for 3 in the red zone in their regular-season finale, Payton said winning the AFC's No. 1 seed was enough to mitigate concerns over Denver's offensive hiccups.
“Look, am I ever happy? No,” Payton said. “But we shouldn’t be as coaches. ... There are some things when we watch that film that we’ll be like, ‘Ah.’ When people ask, ‘What’s the benefit of the 1 seed?’ Many will say it’s the rest. I personally think it’s the elimination of a game that you don’t have to play.”
The Broncos will learn their divisional opponent this weekend, and next week they'll host their first playoff game in 10 years.
The Broncos went 8-9 in 2023, Payton's first year in Denver. Parting with quarterback Russell Wilson after that season saddled the Broncos with a record $53 million in dead cap charges last season and another $32 million in 2025.
Payton, general manager George Paton and the Penner-Walton ownership family deftly navigated that whopping $85 million charge as Denver ended an eight-year playoff drought last year and led the AFC this season.
“I think it’s just all the people upstairs finding the right people to be in the building,” linebacker Nik Bonitto said. “That’s why you’ve kind of seen that growth every year with our team and it’s all leading up to right now, us being the 1 seed and being one of the best teams in football. It’s just been a three-year span of continuously trying to grow and have the right people in the building.”
Long before anyone considered the Broncos contenders for the Super Bowl, Payton said back in training camp that this was a special group capable of winning it all, and free-agent acquisition Talanoa Hufanga said he shared that sentiment.
“The minute he said it (I looked) around the group of guys that we got, blue-collar workers,” Hufanga said. “We show up every day, and our job is to get things done. It may not look pretty.”
Like last week.
“I know a lot of people want it to be a 30-0 score, but a win is a win,” Hufanga said. “We have to go back to the drawing board, figure it out so we come back and get another win next time.”
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Denver Broncos running back Tyler Badie (28) runs against Los Angeles Chargers cornerback Tarheeb Still during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/Eric Lutzens)
Denver Broncos cornerback Ja'quan McMillian (29) runs for a touchdown after intercepting the ball during the first half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/Eric Lutzens)
Denver Broncos linebacker Nik Bonitto (15) pressures Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Trey Lance (5) during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Denver Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton (14) runs against the Los Angeles Chargers during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/Eric Lutzens)
Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix (10) passes against the Los Angeles Chargers during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
U.S. forces have boarded another oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea. The announcement was made Friday by the U.S. military. The Trump administration has been targeting sanctioned tankers traveling to and from Venezuela.
The pre-dawn action was carried out by U.S. Marines and Navy, taking part in the monthslong buildup of forces in the Caribbean, according to U.S. Southern Command, which declared “there is no safe haven for criminals” as it announced the seizure of the vessel called the Olina.
Navy officials couldn’t immediately provide details about whether the Coast Guard was part of the force that took control of the vessel as has been the case in the previous seizures. A spokesperson for the U.S. Coast Guard said there was no immediate comment on the seizure.
The Olina is the fifth tanker that has been seized by U.S. forces as part of a broader effort by Trump’s administration to control the distribution of Venezuela’s oil products globally following the U.S. ouster of President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid.
The latest:
The State Department says it has sent a small team of diplomats and diplomatic security officials to Venezuela to make a preliminary assessment about the potential reopening of the U.S. Embassy in Caracas.
The department said the team, led by acting ambassador to Venezuela John McNamara, arrived in Caracas on Friday. The team is from the Venezuelan Affairs Unit, which is based outside of the country and has been since the embassy was shuttered in 2019.
The team is there “to conduct an initial assessment for a potential phased resumption of operations,” the department said.
U.S. officials say no decision has yet been made on whether or when to fully reopen the embassy.
Republican Ho Nieh is the new chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, replacing fellow Republican David Wright.
Nieh, who was confirmed to the commission last month, previously worked at Atlanta-based Southern Co., which recently added two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle near Augusta.
Nieh worked at the NRC for two decades and is the agency’s first former resident inspector to serve as a commissioner.
Trump recently fired a Democratic commissioner as he continues to assert more control over independent regulatory agencies.
Richard Grenell, president of the Kennedy Center, says a documentary film about first lady Melania Trump will make its premiere later this month, posting a trailer on X.
As the Trumps prepared to return to the White House last year, Amazon Prime Video announced a year ago that it had obtained exclusive licensing rights for a streaming and theatrical release directed by Brett Ratner.
Melania Trump also released a self-titled memoir in late 2024.
Some artists have canceled scheduled Kennedy Center performances after a newly installed board voted to add President Donald Trump’s to the facility, prompting Grenell to accuse the performers of making their decisions because of politics.
Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum says that she has asked her foreign affairs secretary to reach out directly to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio or Trump regarding comments by the American leader that the U.S. cold begin ground attacks against drug cartels.
In a wide-ranging interview with Fox News aired Thursday night, Trump said, “We’ve knocked out 97% of the drugs coming in by water and we are going to start now hitting land, with regard to the cartels. The cartels are running Mexico. It’s very sad to watch.”
As she has on previous occasions, Sheinbaum downplayed the remarks, saying “it is part of his way of communicating.” She said she asked her Foreign Affairs Secretary Juan Ramón de la Fuente to strengthen coordination with the U.S.
Sheinbaum has repeatedly rebuffed Trump’s offer to send U.S. troops after Mexican drug cartels. She emphasizes that there will be no violation of Mexico’s sovereignty, but the two governments will continue to collaborate closely.
Analysts do not see a U.S. incursion in Mexico as a real possibility, in part because Sheinbaum’s administration has been doing nearly everything Trump has asked and Mexico is a critical trade partner.
Trump says he wants to secure $100 billion to remake Venezuela’s oil infrastructure, a lofty goal going into a 2:30 meeting on Friday with executives from leading oil companies. His plan rides on oil producers being comfortable in making commitments in a country plagued by instability, inflation and uncertainty.
The president has said that the U.S. will control distribution worldwide of Venezuela’s oil and will share some of the proceeds with the country’s population from accounts that it controls.
“At least 100 Billion Dollars will be invested by BIG OIL, all of whom I will be meeting with today at The White House,” Trump said Friday in a pre-dawn social media post.
Trump is banking on the idea that he can tap more of Venezuela’s petroleum reserves to keep oil prices and gasoline costs low.
At a time when many Americans are concerned about affordability, the incursion in Venezuela melds Trump’s assertive use of presidential powers with an optical spectacle meant to convince Americans that he can bring down energy prices.
Trump is expected to meet with oil executives at the White House on Friday.
He hopes to secure $100 billion in investments to revive Venezuela’s oil industry. The goal rides on the executives’ comfort with investing in a country facing instability and inflation.
Since a U.S. military raid captured former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, Trump has said there’s a new opportunity to use the country’s oil to keep gasoline prices low.
The full list of executives invited to the meeting has not been disclosed, but Chevron, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips are expected to attend.
Attorneys general in five Democratic-led states have filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration after it said it would freeze money for several public benefit programs.
The Trump administration has cited concerns about fraud in the programs designed to help low-income families and their children. California, Colorado, Minnesota, Illinois and New York states filed the lawsuit Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The lawsuit asks the courts to order the administration to release the funds. The attorneys general have called the funding freeze an unconstitutional abuse of power.
Iran’s judiciary chief has vowed decisive punishment for protesters, signaling a coming crackdown against demonstrations.
Iranian state television reported the comments from Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei on Friday. They came after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei criticized Trump’s support for the protesters, calling Trump’s hands “stained with the blood of Iranians.”
The government has shut down the internet and is blocking international calls. State media has labeled the demonstrators as “terrorists.”
The protests began over Iran’s struggling economy and have become a significant challenge to the government. Violence has killed at least 50 people, and more than 2,270 have been detained.
Trump questions why a president’s party often loses in midterm elections and suggests voters “want, maybe a check or something”
Trump suggested voters want to check a president’s power and that’s why they often deliver wins for an opposing party in midterm elections, which he’s facing this year.
“There’s something down, deep psychologically with the voters that they want, maybe a check or something. I don’t know what it is, exactly,” he said.
He said that one would expect that after winning an election and having “a great, successful presidency, it would be an automatic win, but it’s never been a win.”
Hiring likely remained subdued last month as many companies have sought to avoid expanding their workforces, though the job gains may be enough to bring down the unemployment rate.
December’s jobs report, to be released Friday, is likely to show that employers added a modest 55,000 jobs, economists forecast. That figure would be below November’s 64,000 but an improvement after the economy lost jobs in October. The unemployment rate is expected to slip to 4.5%, according to data provider FactSet, from a four-year high of 4.6% in November.
The figures will be closely watched on Wall Street and in Washington because they will be the first clean readings on the labor market in three months. The government didn’t issue a report in October because of the six-week government shutdown, and November’s data was distorted by the closure, which lasted until Nov. 12.
FILE - President Donald Trump dances as he walks off stage after speaking to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
