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KC Chiefs: What we learned about each team in AFC West after week 9

By Leigh Oleszczak

KANSAS CITY, MO - NOVEMBER 03: Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) places the ball after a reception during the game against the Minnesota Vikings on November 3, 2019 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by William Purnell/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, MO - NOVEMBER 03: Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) places the ball after a reception during the game against the Minnesota Vikings on November 3, 2019 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by William Purnell/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Baker Mayfield #6 of the Cleveland Browns is stopped short of the line to gain on a third quarter keeper play on fourth down (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)
Baker Mayfield #6 of the Cleveland Browns is stopped short of the line to gain on a third quarter keeper play on fourth down (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images) /

For the first time this season, every team in the AFC West won over the course of a weekend. The KC Chiefs had the most thrilling victory, but credit the other three teams for continuing to fight.

No team had an easy game this weekend, which makes all four division teams winning even more impressive. The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Vikings on a last second field goal, the Raiders outlasted the Lions, the Chargers manhandled the Packers, and the Broncos handed the Browns yet another loss.

Normally we start with the losing teams and work our way to the teams who won, but we can’t really do that this week. Instead, we’ll go from the bottom of the division and work our way to the top of the division. So, let’s start with the Denver Broncos.

WHAT DID WE LEARN ABOUT THE BRONCOS?

The Broncos looked to hit rock bottom, or close to rock bottom, last week after suffering their sixth loss, but they bounced back in week nine, defeating the Cleveland Browns by a score of 24-19. Denver is now 3-6 on the year.

The most impressive part of this win for Denver is that they were relying on a guy who hadn’t started a game since his college days in 2015 to start at quarterback. Brandon Allen wasn’t perfect, but he made minimal mistakes and that was the difference. He went 12 of 20 for 193 yards and two touchdowns while getting sacked three times.

Denver’s run game got going, with Phillip Lindsay rushing for 92 yards off of nine carries and finding the end zone once. Rookie tight end Noah Fant finally got in the end zone too for the first touchdown of his NFL career. It was also his first big game, as he went for 115 yards and the touchdown (75 of those yards came on the touchdown).

The defense stepped it up too, recording two sacks and holding the Browns run game to under 100 yards rushing. They broke up the final fourth down attempt by Cleveland’s offense to ice the game and showed that they can still be a feared unit.

While the Broncos aren’t a playoff team this year, they came together and played well against the Browns. They’ll now head into their bye week at 3-6 and hope to continue this winning streak in week 11.

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