Kansas City Chiefs: Five Keys To Victory Vs Denver Broncos
By Alec Tilson
Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
2. Move Peyton Manning
You wouldn’t know Arrowhead Stadium is a tough place to win if you just looked at Peyton Manning‘s career stats in Kansas City.
He’s 6-1 here lifetime. The one game he did lose here in 2004, he threw for 472 yards and 5 touchdowns, but the Chiefs’ offense ran it 42 times for 203 yards and three touchdowns that day, and Manning doesn’t play nose tackle. (Via Pro-Football-Reference)
The numbers indicate it – Peyton owns the Chiefs. Let’s own that and figure out a way to change it.
Stop the running attack, force Manning to drop back on 3rd-down, and find out if this Broncos offensive line can execute when the heat comes.
And that starts with moving Peyton Manning from the comfort of his own pocket.
How? Stuff the run game.
If Manning can hand the ball off 35 times with success tonight, he will. That only makes his job easier. It opens up play-action, it presents 2nd-and-short and it wears down a defensive front.
If the Denver run game isn’t effective, like last week versus Baltimore, you get opportunities to force Manning’s hand.
The Chiefs can force third down pass situations, blitz an inexperienced offensive line, and up its chances for takeaways.
Last week, the Ravens allowed just 69 yards on 25 carries against the Broncos. As a result they forced 18 3rd-downs, sacked Manning four times and picked him off once.
The Ravens also won the turnover battle and committed fewer penalties, they just couldn’t score the ball.
That’s the recipe to limiting Manning, though. Stop the running attack, force Manning to drop back on 3rd-down, and find out if this Broncos offensive line can execute when the heat comes.
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