With America looking in Monday night, the Broncos cooked up a little something for the rest of the league to chew on.

Stir in a rock-slide defense, an opportunistic offense, then add a dash of history and it all was too much for the Kansas City Chiefs. The Broncos shoved themselves into the early AFC West lead with a 30-10 win against the Chiefs at Invesco Field at Mile High worthy of an exclamation point.

The win puts the Broncos at 2-1, good for a sliver of a lead over the 2-1 Chiefs in the division because of the head-to-head win.

It all came two weeks and one day after the Broncos looked as if they had fallen and would need a crane to get up after a 34-10 loss against the Dolphins in Miami.

"The gloom and doom was outside our building," Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer said. "Once we get in that building, on that practice field, it's just us, that's all that matters."

"The best thing about the game is that nobody got injured for us, just some feelings hurt . . . ," Kansas City coach Dick Vermeil said. "They just took us apart."

Just about the only thing that kept it from being a four-quarter celebration is the fact cornerback Champ Bailey will undergo a magnetic resonance imaging exam today on his left hamstring. Bailey, who was held out of much of the preseason because of a strained left hamstring, left the game with just less than 3 minutes to play in the second quarter and was limping noticeably after the game.

Bailey, already playing with a harness on the left shoulder he dislocated against the Dolphins, injured the leg while tackling Chiefs fullback Tony Richardson. Bailey briefly stayed on the Broncos bench with the team's trainers but went to the locker room before halftime.

He did not play in the second half, with rookie Darrent Williams taking Bailey's left cornerback spot for much of the remainder of the night.

"We'll see," said Williams, who started the game on defense in place of Lenny Walls. "I knew I had to go in there and hold up my end."

In all, the Broncos defense held the Chiefs high-powered rushing attack, which had averaged more than 160 yards a game in two outings, to only 74 yards, while the Denver offense produced 358 yards of its own, including 221 yards on the ground.

"Last week, we started fast and fumbled (on the first drive) and kind of went in the tank," Plummer said. "This week, we started fast and kept right on going."

The Broncos probably took the Chiefs' best shot on Kansas City's opening drive. After winning the toss, the Chiefs briefly had some mojo working, moving from their 30-yard line to the Broncos 36 in five plays.

Two plays later, on third-and-10, Kansas City receiver Samie Parker couldn't hang on to a pass. And with that, the Broncos ripped the rest of the game out of the Chiefs' grasp.

The Broncos took their first drive 68 yards for a field goal, took their second drive for a touchdown - punctuated by running back Mike Anderson's 44-yard scoring dash - and turned a Chiefs' fumble when Broncos linebacker Ian Gold ripped away the ball from Kansas City running back Larry Johnson into a touchdown on their third possession.

Add it up and the Broncos had a 17-0 lead with 2 minutes, 36 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

"We just played exceptionally well," Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said.

Plummer finished 13 of 18 passing for 152 yards and one touchdown. He also ran for one touchdown as the Broncos unveiled a variety of reverses and bootlegs that included two carries for receiver Ashley Lelie for 56 yards.

Anderson led the Broncos with 98 yards on 20 carries.

"As a group, as a whole, we knew we had to come out and just get it done," Anderson said.

The Broncos defense, flashing a wide array of fronts and coverage looks, had the Chiefs offense on its heels for much of the night.

With Kansas City left tackle Willie Roaf on the sideline because of a left hamstring injury, Broncos ends created some havoc, especially Trevor Pryce.

The Broncos sacked Chiefs quarterback Trent Green twice and hit him at least nine other times as he let go of the ball.

Plummer said, "I don't know if I've seen anybody dominate a game like Trevor Pryce did" and Roaf's replacement, Jordan Black, said, "I have to make an apology to the fans of Kansas City."

"I know their defense is a lot better than last year," Vermeil said. "I don't know how many times they knocked Trent down, but it was a ton and we're lucky he's alive."

And to cap an evening when the Broncos certainly got some folks' attention, receiver Rod Smith added another bit of history to his storied resume.

On the Broncos' fourth play of the second half, Plummer hit Smith for a 19-yard gain that sent Smith over 10,000 receiving yards for his career.

It made Smith the first undrafted player in league history to top the mark.

Former Washington Redskins receiver Gary Clark long has been listed as an undrafted player who topped 10,000 yards, but Clark was selected in a supplemental draft, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Smith left the game early in the fourth quarter because of a concussion, but Shanahan said he thought Smith could have gone back into the game if the score had been different.

"We started fast, the run game got cranked up . . . ," Plummer said. "And the defense was just bringing it. Just an all-around deal, that's what we've been looking for."

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