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The Broncos are riding a high from an impressive 26-6 shut-down victory over the New York football Giants on Thanksgiving. They now travel to Arrowhead Stadium where they are a collective 1-16 in the month of December. This (really they all are now) is a vital game for the Broncos if they want to keep pace for a playoff spot.
Denver heads into the game ranked 5th overall in team defense in the NFL (17th against the run and 5th against the pass). Kansas City is ranked 30th overall in team defense (27th against the run and 30th against the pass).
Denver is currently ranked 18th in the league in total offense (18th in passing and 16th in rushing) while the Chiefs are sitting at 30th (27th in passing and 22nd in rushing).
Honestly, I cannot think of any meaningful advantage that the Chiefs have over Denver at this point except for the punter…maybe. The Chiefs have some talent spattered about but are so miserable as a team that I almost (not really) feel bad for them.
All that being said, they are holding that historical advantage going into the game although those numbers are a little skewed from when they actually had decent teams. In the past couple years, they haven’t had that sort of dominance at home that they once held. Arrowhead is a tough place for any team to play and their fans will bring it, without question.
For the Chiefs to have any shot in this game they must do a few things well. If they can establish any sort of a running game, it will be a good start. They will absolutely need this to free up Matt Cassel to throw the ball. They will have to block for him in order to do anything and so far, that has been a challenge.
The Chiefs defense will have to step up as well and get to Orton. If not, I look for Denver to pick them apart in the air and by establishing the running game early, much like the Giants game. If Kansas City can get to Orton and contain the running game, they will have a good day.
For Denver to win, they will have to do exactly what I just mentioned. Establish the running game and keep Orton clean. The team should have starting right tackle Ryan Harris back, which will help tremendously. They are the superior team in almost every sense but they need to keep that attitude in check and play like they are equal. Kansas City showed everyone what they can do against the Steelers 2 weeks ago and Denver cannot get caught up in that business. The team played with a fire they had been missing last week and I look for the veterans like Dawkins to step up and get them ready again. You have to win division games, especially the ones you really have no business losing.
The defense will need to hound Cassel and force him into bad decisions. They will also need to contain any rushing attack and force the offense to be one dimensional. Turnovers will be an absolute key (I know I sound like a broken record) to this game. The numbers don’t lie, when Denver wins the turnover battles they win the game, plain and simple.
I am going to go against the grain even though I said I would not. In my predictions, I said the Chiefs would win this game. I just cannot see that happening in a game where Denver needs to display the real team that they are and not the one that was lost for 4 games. I think the coach and veterans will have the team ready to go and ready to play an important game. They need this win to stay in the hunt, and I say the Broncos will beat the Chiefs in their house by a final score of 31 – 13.
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