Kansas City Chiefs: Rapid Reaction Vs Denver Broncos in Week 8

That wasn’t the prettiest of wins for the Kansas City Chiefs, but a win is a win, especially against a divisional foe and after a two-game skid. The Chiefs are now 6-2 on the season.

Monday Night Football is always fun for the KC Chiefs, but they didn’t play a perfect game against the Denver Broncos, or even a good game. With that said, however, they still won 29-19 over the Broncos and now have a three-game lead in the AFC West.

The biggest storyline in this game was the return of Jamaal Charles to Arrowhead Stadium. He looked good on the Broncos’ second possession of the game, but a few plays later fumbled the football. Marcus Peters picked it up and took it to the house for six.

We all remember that 2015 game against Denver where Charles fumbled on the final play of the game, which gave the Broncos the win. It almost felt like Charles owed us that one.

It’s clear that the AFC West isn’t what we thought it would be this year.

That scoop and score ended up being huge, as the Chiefs offense couldn’t get much going in this game. Alex Smith, who was having an MVP kind of season, struggled in this one, completing just 14 passes off 31 attempts for 202 yards and a touchdown. He also lost a fumble.

The run game has seemingly disappeared. Kareem Hunt managed just 46 yards on 22 carries and hasn’t scored since week three in Los Angeles. Is he getting worn out or are teams starting to figure him out? Or both?

Travis Kelce continued to own the Denver Broncos. He grabbed seven receptions for 133 yards and a touchdown. Kelce already has four touchdowns this year, which matches his total from a year ago.

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Kansas City’s defense has been meh lately, but the difference this week was they forced turnovers. The Chiefs secondary picked off Trevor Siemian three times and the special teams recovered a muffed Broncos punt. Oh, and then there was that Charles fumble that Peters scooped up and took back for a score.

Justin Houston was incredible in this game. He notched two sacks and looked dominant all night long.

The Chiefs run defense continued to struggle and had the Broncos chosen to just run the ball from the get-go, they’d probably have won this game. Denver put up 177 yards on the ground and Devontae Booker found the end zone in the third quarter.

This game got a little too close for comfort in the third quarter and the Chiefs never did put the Broncos away. Fortunately, Harrison Butker is one of the best kickers in the league and nailed all five field goals (including a long of 51 yards). He’s been an absolute steal.

While 6-2 feels good, this Kansas City Chiefs team is no longer invincible. Their run defense is bad and their secondary has some question marks (though they didn’t show as much tonight). The run game has vanished as well, which isn’t good at all.

Still though… It’s clear that the AFC West isn’t what we thought it would be this year. The Chiefs are 6-2, the Broncos drop to 3-4, and the Raiders and Chargers are both 3-5. Kansas City just has to keep playing average football to lock up the division.