Kansas City Chiefs: Predicting results of every game in 2019
Week 15 – Kansas City Chiefs vs Denver Broncos (Chris)
By week 15, the Chiefs should be preparing not only for the playoffs, but for a home playoff game after a first-round bye. The Broncos, on the other hand, may be realizing that their quarterback problem is really more of a general manager problem.
Since the retirement of Peyton Manning, the Broncos have struggled to find at least a serviceable quarterback. The offseason trade for Joe Flacco and the drafting of Drew Lock will have done nothing to improve the team’s record in recent seasons.
In 2018, the veteran Flacco was benched in favor of the Ravens’ rookie, Lamar Jackson. It’s unlikely he’ll be reviving his flailing career in the Rocky Mountains.
The chance for the rookie quarterback to unseat Flacco will have to come after the first eight games, as he starts the season on injured reserve/designated to return. Halfway through the season, it’s unlikely that Lock’s return and potential takeover will be able to right the ship.
Another factor that may turn out to work against Denver is that they have a new head coach for 2019. While Vic Fangio is one of the most respected coaching names in the league, this is his first stint as a head coach in his over three decades in the NFL.
Fangio may be able to maintain Denver’s status as one of the league’s more revered defenses with players like Von Miller, Chris Harris, and Bradley Chubb, but he will have a ways to go to improve the offense to compete. If a team isn’t able to put points on the board, then they won’t be able to hang with Kansas City.
The Chiefs go into 2019 with a seven-game win streak against the Broncos. Denver hasn’t beaten Kansas City since 2015, and 2019 isn’t looking good to change that trend.
If Fangio’s presence is enough to move the needle for Denver, it could make for a good mid-December AFC West showdown at Arrowhead. That’s not likely to happen, though, as the Broncos are fighting to simply have a winning season, while the Chiefs are focused on winning the Super Bowl.
PREDICTION: Denver will have a really hard time coming into the house of an AFC West rival and the loudest stadium in the world and walk away with a victory. Kansas City will have an appetite for January football and will bring a greater intensity as a result. The Chiefs are much more talented than the Broncos and that will plainly show in Week 15.
Chiefs 37, Broncos 13
STANDOUT PLAYER: Linebacker Damien Wilson will show Chiefs Kingdom why his addition to the roster was so important. His name will be mentioned often with eight solo tackles, which essentially shuts down Denver’s run game.