Broncos at Chiefs: OPEN THREAD

Laddie Morse

A game against a division rival is a game that’s as important as it’s ever been. That’s why the Kansas CIty Chiefs can not take the visiting Denver Broncos lightly tonight. At all. This game is not just as important as any other game this year… it’s more important. Why? Because it helps to decide the division and the winner of the division goes on to the playoffs. Also, the Chiefs don’t want to let up on the Broncos either. They’ve not been having a very good season under new head coach, Sean Payton, at 1-and-4 ,and when you look at their schedule and results so far, the game that sticks out like a sore thumb is the 70-to-20 loss to the Miami Dolphins who the Chiefs face off against in a few weeks in Germany.

Everyone likes to focus on the 70-to20 game the Broncos lost to Miami bu aside from that blowout in Week Three, the Broncos have played three other game and only lost by 3 or fewer points:

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· 17-to-16 in Week One to the LV Raiders.

· 35-to-33 in Week Two to the Commanders.

· 31-to-28 in Week Four to the CHI-Bears.

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Besides those close games, the Broncos lost to the Jets who had a motivated Offensive Coordinator in Nathaniel Hackett, who used to coach for the Broncos, but the game was close until the end even though they lost 31-to-21. Plus, the Jets scored 13 points in the 4th quarter to take control of that game, but the Broncos were on the edge of a win until then.

The point is, we need give the Broncos their due. I’m sure no one else is doing that, but the Chiefs have to take this division foe seriously because they’ll travel to Mile High Stadium, two weeks from Sunday, to meet them all over again. So, K.C. needs to leave no doubt about who is the better team by giving them a good shellacking this time around.

There has been some debate about whether or not it’s been Russel Wilson or new coach Sean Payton who has kept the Broncos down this year. My position is that Russell Wilson has not been having a bad season. Is he a top 5 QB? No, and no matter what Patrick Mahomes says, he’s not been great this year. However, I don’t think the Broncos troubles are due to his play. Here’s a look at his stats this year:

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IOW, it’s been a problem… from a coaching standpoint.

David Bell wrote a great piece on Wednesday of this week called, “Are There Trap Games in the 2023 Season for the Chiefs?“ in which he points out the inherent dangers of this game with the Broncos… tonight. Give it a good read if you haven’t already. It can be found at ArrowheadOne.com. One of David’s points is that the next game for the Chiefs is a game versus the talented Los Amgeles Chargers who are another — far more dangerous — division foe. However, that game is ten days off, so let’s stay focused on this game tonight.

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History Since 2016

Let’s take a look at the record of the Chiefs and the Broncos since 2016. Many fans in Chiefs Kingdom like to dangle this record in front of Broncos fans and then laugh. The problem I have with that is… eight out of fourteen of those games were by one score or less.

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Also, prior to this current 14 game win streak by the Chiefs, the Broncos were winners of eight out of nine, which includes seven (7) straight. Yes, the Chiefs lead the series 71-to-55 (which includes playoff games), but that can turn around quickly so let’s not be taking a win over the Broncos for granted. We may have the upper hand now, but that can turn on a dime.

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The Chiefs Running Game

The Broncos are in last place (or is it first place) in some stats vs. the running game:

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In the meantime, there’s only ten teams who have gained more yards this year than K.C. while the Chiefs have gained 615 yards. The moral of the story is –> the Chiefs need to run the ball… a lot! Although the stats say the Chiefs need to run the ball a lot, the Chiefs coaches may know differently:

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.K.C. Sports radio is saying the Broncos will be rebuilding soon — again — and that probably begins by trading away Patrick Surtain II for a couple of first round picks (if they can get that). They seem to have traded a Peyton for a Payton but have had a mighty downfall from grace, since they last went to a Super Bowl in February of 2016 (for the 2015 season).

ALL… of the Broncos quarterbacks since they went to SB 50 include:

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2016 was also the last time the Broncos went to the playoffs. That’s 7 straight years they have played without any post-season experiences. At 1-and-4 this year, it looks like they’re headed to “Did not qualify” status again. There’s still plenty of games left in this season so I’ll wait to pass an exhaustive judgement.

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Injury Reports

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I doubt Travis Kelce plays tonight. On the other hand, I think Nick Bolton will play.

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Weather Report

We’ve been getting weather reports on local stations here in K.C. saying there would be rain in the forecast for over a Week now, for Thursday evening. Things are looking fairly clear… for now and if there is any rain, it will be in the later part of the game. However, the wind may be gusty all day. The Game is scheduled to begin at 7:15 PM CDT:

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Predictions

USAToday predicts:

Tyler Dragon: Chiefs 28, Broncos 16

Tyler says, “The Broncos are a mess.”

Victoria Hernandez: Chiefs 30, Broncos 17

Victoria says, “… the Broncos haven’t shown anything that would make them competitive this year…”

Safid Deen: Chiefs 27, Broncos 17

Safid says, “I like the Chiefs at home against the Broncos….”

The Denver Post – tale of the tape

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When you’re facing a team who’s defense is ranked 32nd in total defense and 32nd in run defense… you should win. We’ll see.

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FanDuel

So many betting sites are popping up that many of the usual sites that used to predict scores don’t do it any more… or i just can’t find them. However, FanDuel (a betting site) has the…

Chiefs winning 24-to-17 over the Broncos in tonight’s game.

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Madden (the game) Predicts a Shootout

Final score: Chiefs 48, Broncos 34

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My Prediction: Chiefs 42, Broncos 17

BTW… I was off by just 7 points (for K.C.) in last weeks game.

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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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