Chiefs at Broncos Week Four: OPEN THREAD

Chiefs at Broncos Week Four:

OPEN THREAD

by Laddie Morse

When many of us looked over the Kansas City Chiefs schedule before the season began, it was thought that if they could get through the first 6 games against.. the Chargers, Steelers, 49ers, Broncos, Jags and Pats… that if they could go 3-3, they’d be in good shape. Now, having gone 3-and-0, it would be a major disappointment to end up 3-3. Right now the Chiefs have the best record, and the only unbeaten record, in the AFC. Teams thought to be the biggest AFC threats like the NE Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers are 2-2 and 1-2-1 respectively and have been replaced at the top of the conference by the Cincinnati Bengals and the Tennessee Titans who both have a 3-1 record. 

Winning breeds winning and since the Chiefs have been doing plenty of that against their division foes, they are favored tonight in Denver vs the Broncos. The current betting lines in Vegas are the Chiefs +3.5 points. I think it could be a little closer to 35 points difference once the Chiefs MahomeSick Cardiac Care Unit is done in Denver tonight… with the Chiefs playing doctor and the Broncos playing patient.

Yep, this offense is SICK. [SICK: Urban Dictionary defines sick as: crazy, cool, insane: to state something good]

The downside is, that fans are beginning to act like a Chiefs victory is a given. Ah… who am I fooling… it is a given. Not to say that some strange magic couldn’t unseat the best offense in the land right now but even the Chiefs porous defense should be able to get a hand full of stops against this Case Keenum led offense. Which means… that MahomeSick CCU should be able to land a load deep and wide TDs through the crisp mountain breeze.

Over at ArrowheadPride, they posted the predicted scores for this game and the average amongst their writers was 39-to-21. That’s an 18 point margin of victory and if the Broncos finish this game closer than two TDs I’ll be surprised.

In the first 3 games of this season, the Denver Broncos have scored 61 points while giving up 70 points for a -9 differential. In the meantime, the K.C. Chiefs have scored 118 points while giving up 92 for a +26 differential. Another way to look at these figures is… the Chiefs have a +35 point differential over the Broncos so far this year (in 3 games) which works out to approximately 12 points per game (or 2 TDs). The arguments for a possible Broncos win in Denver are that, 1) the Broncos defense is still great and 2) the Chiefs defense is horrible. The problem with that theory is, 1) giving up 23.3 points per game is nothing to call your Congresswoman about, even if she’s your mother and, 2) the 30+ points a game the Chiefs D is giving up are in large part due to the quick-strike offense employee.

While Broncos fans want to boast that their team is better at running he ball, they have faced the Oakland Raiders who rank 30th in the league vs the run and the Seattle Seahawks who rank 28th. In fact, the one good team the Broncos faced, the Baltimore Ravens, allowed RB Royce Freeman 53 yards rushing and he was the Broncos leading rusher.

The most dangerous weapon the Broncos have right now is Emmanuel Sanders who has 19 receptions for 269 yards and a TD. Another advantage the Broncos have is in sacks. The Broncos have 9 sacks while K.C. has 6… although, once again… you must consider the competition.

Most recently, the Chiefs record against the Broncos:

• 2017: 29-19W and 27-24W
• 2016: 33-10W and 30-27W
• 2015: 29-13W and 24-31L

So, the Chiefs currently have a 5 game winning streak vs the Broncos dating back to early in the 2015 season. In his piece called “How the Chiefs were built to take over the AFC West from the Broncos,” Adam Teicher talks about the Chiefs growing dominance over the Broncos and their other division rivals:

“A few factors play into this, including Manning’s retirement after that 2015 season. The biggest reason is the plan Kansas City set in motion in 2013 when Andy Reid was hired as the Chiefs’ head coach.”

Teicher goes on to point out,

“It took a couple of seasons for the team to see significant results, but eventually Kansas City has come to not only rule over the Broncos but also the other division rivals, the Chargers and Raiders. The Chiefs have won 17 of 18 games against AFC West teams by building an offense the others haven’t been able to keep pace with.”

HC Andy Reid designs game plans that are unique and can’t be easily prepared for by his opponents. He almost always breaks out a series of plays we’ve never seen or haven’t seen since the Knute Rockne pulled on a leather helmet. These Chiefs have had a lot of early success and it may have something to do with the initial 15 plays that Reid likes to script. I can’t help but look at Andy Reid in his media sessions like the evil (well, maybe not evil) puppet master who has just found the fanciest fandangled puppet, one that can do everything he envisions. That’s pretty much where the Chiefs are at right now… with Reid at the controls of a phenomenal talent at quarterback, one who is willing to do anything his coach asks of him. So far this year, the combination has been deadly, especially considering all the other talents pieces Reid has in place around him.

This game should be another run away train. So…

I’m going with the Chiefs, 52-to-24. Bank it!

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