KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A dominating first-quarter performance helped the Denver Broncos to a 29-16 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night at Arrowhead Stadium.

In the game’s first 15 minutes, the Broncos rode the legs of running back C.J. Anderson and reached the end zone on a pair of touchdown passes from quarterback Peyton Manning. The Denver defense was just as dominating, holding the Chiefs to minus-10 yards in the first quarter. The Broncos lead became 17-0 in the second quarter before the Kansas City offense picked up its initial first down.

The victory lifted the Broncos (9-3) into a tie with New England for the best record in the AFC with four weeks to play in the regular season. The loss dropped the Chiefs (7-5) to third place in the AFC West behind Denver and the San Diego Chargers. It was Kansas City’s sixth straight loss to Denver.

Anderson was the offensive star for the Broncos, running for 168 yards and catching a 15-yard touchdown pass, while Manning threw for 179 yards and two touchdowns. New kicker Connor Barth added five field goals.

Down 17-0 in the second quarter, the Chiefs tried to make a comeback as quarterback Alex Smith threw a pair of touchdown passes. Running back Jamaal Charles was kept under wraps by the Denver defense, running for just 35 yards. The Chiefs turned the ball over three times in the second half and Smith was sacked five times.

Kansas City had three plays and punted on their first two possessions.

In contrast, Denver put together an eight-play, 74-yard scoring drive between those possessions, with Manning connecting with wide receiver Demaryius Thomas for a 23-yard touchdown pass. When the Chiefs punted for the third time after three plays, Denver went on a 10-play, 48-yard drive that finished with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Manning to Anderson.

At the end of the first quarter, Denver led 14-0, had a 140-yard edge in offensive yards (130 to minus-10) and Manning was 5-for-5 on third-down passes, generating five first downs and two touchdowns.

It wasn’t until halfway through the second quarter that the Chiefs were able to create any type of energy. The defense stopped Denver on a 3rd-and-goal play at the 4-yard line, forcing a 22-yard field goal by new Broncos kicker Connor Barth and Denver held a 17-0 Denver lead.

Keeping the Broncos out of the end zone seemed to fire up the Kansas City offense as they went 69 yards on seven plays with quarterback Alex Smith connecting with tight end Anthony Fasano for a 20-yard touchdown.

At the end of the second quarter, Barth made a 24-yard field goal, setting Denver’s lead at 20-7 for halftime.

NOTES: Kansas City players wore T-shirts bearing the name and number of their stricken teammate, S Eric Berry, in Sunday night’s game. The front of the shirts read “Be Bold, Be Brave, Be Berry”. Last week, Berry was found to have a tumor in the right side of his chest that was preliminarily diagnosed as lymphoma. … The Chiefs also wore all red uniforms for only the third time in franchise history. They were 2-0 in the first games going all red. … Broncos CB Aqib Talib was not active because of a hamstring injury, making it seven straight seasons with Tampa Bay, New England and Denver where he did not play in all 16 regular-season games.