Game: Denver Broncos @ Kansas City Chiefs
Date / Time: Sunday, September 12, 2023, at 7:15 P.M. CT
Place: GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium
TV: Amazon Prime (Stream)
Listen: 106.5 The Wolf (Kansas City residences only)
Betting Lines: Chiefs -10.5 | Over/Under: 47.5
The Kansas City Chiefs (4-1) enter a three-week slate of games against the AFC West, beginning with the Denver Broncos (1-4) coming to Arrowhead for a primetime matchup on Thursday evening. Kansas City has won the last 15 consecutive meetings over their foes from the Rockies and aims to tally their 16th in front of their home crowd.
After an abysmal 2022 campaign, the Broncos were projected to have an improved 2023 under head coach Sean Peyton. However, Denver is off to a terrible start as their season has steadily nose-dived with each passing week. Denver began the season 0-3 before finally securing their first win over Chicago but fell back to Earth in a 31-21 loss to the Zach Wilson-led New York Jets.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs offense had a field day the last time they faced a struggling defense. That was just a few weeks ago when they accounted for 456 yards of total offense as they mauled the Bears 41-10. This week, Mahomes and company will be going up against the 32nd-ranked defense of the Broncos.
In fact, Denver has allowed 28 plays of 20 yards or more through five games this season, which bodes well for the Chiefs offense, which has struggled to be consistent so far this year. Despite their defensive woes, Denver has some stars on the defensive side of the ball that shouldn’t be taken lightly. One of those star playmakers is second-year cornerback Patrick Surtain II, who’s recognized as one of the premier defensive backs in the NFL.
On offense, quarterback Russell Wilson has played noticeably better and has 11 touchdown passes to just two picks thus far this season. Denver’s offense has mainly been at their best on their opening drives and has scored 27 points on their opening possessions. Wilson has gotten more familiar with his receiving core, and Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jude will be two names Kansas City needs to gameplan for. But the real deep threat for Denver is rookie WR Marvin Mims, who’s racked up 246 receiving yards and has five catches of at least 25 yards or more.
It’ll be interesting to see if Denver can move the ball against the Chiefs’ defense because it’s been a far more difficult task than in previous years. Through five games, Kansas City currently ranks ninth in the league in total defense and has not allowed more than 22 points in a single game. Additionally, no offense has scored over 20 points so far this year.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes began his career against the Broncos, defeating them to cap off the 2017 campaign with a 27-24 victory. Since then, Mahomes is 11-0 against Denver and is 26-4 against AFC West opponents since he became the Chiefs starting QB in 2018. But the Chiefs’ divisional dominance goes back to when head coach Andy Reid first took the team in 2013 – Kansas City is 47-13 against the AFC West since Big Red took over as HC.
The Chiefs will look to keep those streaks alive when they clash with Denver in the latest edition of one of the oldest rivalries in the NFL.
