Kansas City Chiefs: ‘Just Beat Peyton Manning’

By Ric Ruiz | Nov 29, 2014

All I want is for the Kansas City Chiefs to get a win against Peyton Manning! Is that too much to ask for?

After consecutive wins versus the Jets, Bills, and Seahawks I was feeling pretty good about the Kansas City Chiefs. Then here come the hapless, winless Raiders, ran around, over, and through the Chiefs Defense in the 1st half and went on to win a close yet frustrating and terribly disappointing 24-20 game, and left me feeling like truck had just run me over.

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Now with the Chiefs sitting at 7-4, a game behind the 8-3 Donkeys ahem, excuse me, the Broncos and ahead of the 7-4 Chargers (thanks to the tie-breaker), the Chiefs need this win desperately.

I am always hesitant to use the term “must win game” but, if ever there were a game that you feel was a must win this would be the one. With a win, Kansas City would be tied for 1st in the AFC West and stay ahead of the surging Chargers.

The Chiefs are precisely the type of team that can beat the Bronco’s, playing grind it out, smash mouth football, eating up the clock on offense, and keeping Peyton Manning sitting on the bench. When they do finally get a chance to step on the field the Chiefs defense possesses the type of impact players needed to slow down the Bronco’s passing attack. Most of you know the 3 keys to a Chiefs victory,

run the ball,
rush Manning with sacks and hits,
play smart defensively.

The Rams and Patriots have provided us with blue prints on how to slow down Manning and both teams successfully rushed 4 defenders and dropped 7. The key was getting to Manning with only 4 linemen. If the Chiefs are able to do this then it will be a long and miserable night for the Bronco’s offense. So why do I think the Chiefs will be able to pull off the win?

Here are 3 reasons why:

1 – The Chiefs are playing at home

The Chiefs home crowd is once again loud and proud much like it was throughout the early to mid 90’s. The mystique is back and you just have a feeling about this game in particular. The Chiefs came out flat against the Raiders and unfortunately spotting them 17 points was just too much to overcome.

However, that will not happen Sunday night versus the Broncos. Furthermore Andy Reid and the rest of the Chiefs coaching staff will have the Chiefs ready to play and firing on all cylinders.

2 – Jason Avant

Getting a legitimate #2 receiver that knows Andy Reid’s offense and has historically shown a propensity for getting space from defenders is huge. The Chiefs could use a burner that stretches the field but more than that they need a receiver that can create seperation via good route running and savvy.

I believe Jason Avant will be this person and enable AS11 to open up the air attack and finally put up some points when they will most need them

3 – The Eric Berry factor

By now 99.9% of all Chiefs fans know that Eric Berry is out for the year with cancer. The set-back is severe however Berry being out for the first quarter of the year could actually be their salvation. The Chiefs learned to play without him and that will be huge for them over the remainder of the year.

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You can not easily replace a player or Eric Berry;s caliber but with Ron Parker playing free safety, and Hussain Abdulah sliding back to strong safety the Chiefs have the players to compete.

However, more than the “next man up” mentality the Chiefs now have that extra motivational factor, that X-factor if you will. Playing for their falling comrade will be huge for the Chiefs.

The Chiefs will now dedicate the rest of this season to Eric Berry one of their team leaders. This will increase their passion, heart and motivation ever more so.

All else equal the team that wants it the most is always the winner and after this incident no team will want to win it more than the Chiefs.

So what do you say Chiefs fans? Can the Chiefs finally get over this hump against Manning?

Next: What's Going On In The AFC West

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