Location
Empower Field at Mile High, Denver, Co
Time
8:20pm ET
1:20am Friday UK time
Coverage
FOX
NFL Network
Game Pass
Chiefs Radio Network
Sky Sports
Team Records
Chiefs 4-2
Broncos 2-4
Last 3 games
28th Oct 2018 Broncos 23 @ Chiefs 30
1st Oct 2018 Chiefs 27 @ Broncos 23
31st Dec 2017 Chiefs 27 @ Broncos 24
The story so far
It’s a long season. There will be ups and downs. You need to be playing your best in Dec and January, not September and October. Keep telling yourselves these things. You have to be able to run the ball and stop the run to go deep in the playoffs. Somebody remind Andy Reid of this please. Lack of balance on offence, lack of rest for the defence, in the thin mile high air that issue will be amplified.
Denver lost 4 straight but back to back wins have sparked hopes of a revival. The defence, which was abysmal the first 4 weeks, has perked up. The offence is as good as Joe Flacco makes it, which isn’t great in fairness. Watch for 40 carries from Freeman and Lindsay this week unless the Chiefs can jump an early lead.
This week is all about balance, Chiefs need to find it and make the Broncos lose theirs.
Head to head
Chiefs lead 63-55
Team Leaders
|
Passing |
Att |
Cmp |
Yds |
TDs |
|
230 |
147 |
2104 |
14 |
|
|
Rushing |
Car |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
|
48 |
258 |
5.4 |
2 |
|
|
16 |
80 |
5 |
0 |
|
|
Receiving |
Rec |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
|
32 |
497 |
15.5 |
1 |
|
|
23 |
365 |
15.9 |
3 |
|
|
16 |
291 |
18.2 |
2 |
|
|
17 |
281 |
16.5 |
3 |
One to watch
Rashad Fenton.
Fuller is out with a thumb injury. Breeland is questionable with a non injury issue. That leaves Ward and Claibourne as the starters and Fenton as the Nickle. I’m struggling to find another CB on the roster. Best guess is Mathieu plays a bit of CB and Sorenson comes in. Whatever way around they go, this is one banged up defence. Can’t stop the run and running out of DB, that is not a winning combination.
Key Matchup
Too many to mention.
So many injuries, so many backups playing. Next Man Up was a struggle last week, it’s even worse this. Can the patched up O Line hold up against a Denver D that registered 7 sacks last week? Can LeSean McCoy rush enough times to give the D a rest? Can we stop the run at all? Can a beat up secondary stop the pass?
I’m probably going with the LeSean McCoy v Denver run D here. Control the ball, control the clock and keep our beat up D off the field. Sound familiar?
Injuries
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
| PLAYER | POS. | INJURY | PART. MON. | PART. TUES. | PART. WED. | GAME STATUS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kendall Fuller | CB | Thumb | DNP | DNP | DNP | Out |
| Eric Fisher | T | Groin | DNP | DNP | DNP | Out |
| Chris Jones | DT | Groin | DNP | DNP | DNP | Out |
| Andrew Wylie | G | Ankle | DNP | DNP | DNP | Out |
| Cam Erving | T | Groin | LP | FP | FP | — |
| Anthony Hitchens | LB | Groin | LP | FP | FP | — |
| Derrick Nnadi | DT | Elbow | LP | FP | FP | — |
| Dorian O’Daniel | LB | Hamstring | LP | FP | FP | — |
| Sammy Watkins | WR | Hamstring | LP | LP | LP | Out |
| Laurent Duvernay-Tardif | G | Ankle | FP | FP | FP | — |
| Tyreek Hill | WR | Shoulder | FP | FP | FP | — |
| Patrick Mahomes | QB | Ankle | FP | FP | FP | — |
| Anthony Sherman | FB | Shoulder | FP | FP | FP | — |
| Bashaud Breeland | CB | Not Injury Related | — | — | FP | Questionable |
- The Chiefs did not hold practice on Monday or Wednesday this week. The above report is an estimation.
- CB Bashaud Breeland is listed as Not Injury Related (personal). He is not traveling with the team today and is questionable for Thursday night.
DENVER BRONCOS
| PLAYER | POS. | INJURY | PART. MON. | PART. TUES. | PART. WED. | GAME STATUS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bryce Callahan | CB | Foot | DNP | DNP | DNP | Out |
| Duke Dawson | CB | Foot | LP | LP | FP | — |
| Shelby Harris | DE | Ribs | LP | FP | FP | — |
| Ja’Wuan James | T | Knee | LP | LP | LP | Questionable |
| Ron Leary | G | Shoulder | LP | FP | FP | — |
| Mike Purcell | NT | Knee | LP | FP | FP | — |
| Emmanuel Sanders | WR | Knee | LP | FP | FP | — |
| Derek Wolfe | DE | Hip | LP | LP | FP | — |
| Will Parks | S | Wrist | FP | FP | FP | — |
What they said
Vic Fangio
“We’re going to have to move the ball and score points,” Fangio said. “It’s going to be hard to really slow their offense down a lot. Our offense is going to have to have a good game, no two ways about it.”
What we said
Tyrann Mathieu
”We all have expectations — especially me, coming here, wanting to be a part of this team,” he said. “My mindset is to obviously stick to the process — believe in the process — and understand that great things do sometimes take time. We’re still working toward our ultimate goal.”
Odds
Chiefs by 3
Match points 47.5
I’ve no idea how this game will go. Too many injuries for the Chiefs for me to be comfortable predicting the win this should be if both teams were healthy.
Prediction
Chiefs 23 Broncos 20
The D comes up with enough big plays to force FG rather than TD, the offence does just enough of the opposite. An uncomfortably close finish means sleep is hard to come by at 5am.
