Another week in the NFL gets underway tonight as the 1-4 Denver Broncos travel to Kansas City to take on the 4-1 Chiefs. Last year, the Broncos and Chiefs played close games, but Denver ultimately lost both contests. They’ve now lost fifteen straight against Kansas City and have still never beat Patrick Mahomes. For tonight’s game, Andy Reid’s team is a 10.5-point favorite and the over/under is 47.5.
The Chiefs
Kansas City’s offence hasn’t quite found their rhythm yet this season, but the defending Champs are still in a great spot at 4-1. Tonight, they have a great opportunity to get things in order against a Denver Broncos defence that has allowed a league-high 181 points in just five games. Patrick Mahomes is still trying to find his go-to receiver, and it was clear last week as ten different players caught a pass from him but only Travis Kelce grabbed more than five. The young wideouts have all shined at different parts of the year, but the consistency is still lacking with them. Expect Rashee Rice, Skyy Moore, Kadarius Toney and Justyn Rice to all get some looks again tonight.
On the other side of the ball, Kansas City has actually been surprisingly good. The team is currently fifth in points against in the NFL and ninth in yards against, which is the best they’ve been in both categories since Mahomes was handed the reigns. Denver’s offence hasn’t been as bad as they were last season, but look for this Chiefs defence to make it very hard on Russell Wilson tonight. They haven’t allowed more than two touchdowns since Week 1’s loss to the Lions, and I expect that to continue past tonight into next week.
The Broncos
Things are really starting to go downhill for the Broncos, and it sounds like almost anyone on this team could be traded in the next few weeks. Even after last year’s disaster, the expectations for this season were high with Sean Payton coming in. Unfortunately, it’s only been more of the same or worse. Russell Wilson has been much better statistically, but the stats don’t really tell the whole story. At times, Peyton has looked very frustrated with the Broncos’ quarterback. I don’t expect things to get much better tonight for this offence in a hostile environment against one of the best teams in the NFL.
As tough as it’ll be for Denver to move the ball, it’s going to be one hundred times harder to stop it. Even with Travis Kelce questionable for the game, I expect to see Patrick Mahomes go to work tonight on primetime. Pat Surtain is the unit’s best player, but it’s likely very rare that Mahomes will throw his way considering the Chiefs don’t really have an obvious number one receiver for him to cover. If Denver has any chance of slowing Kansas City down, they’ll need to get to Mahomes quickly and consistently.
Broncos and Chiefs: The Pick
I don’t think it’ll be close tonight. The Chiefs are a dangerous opponent at the best of times, and for a team going through so much turmoil right now, it won’t be pretty. I’ll take the home side to cover the spread and get their SIXTEENTH straight win against Denver.
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