KC Chiefs: What we learned about each team in AFC West after week 15
The KC Chiefs continued to own the AFC West, dismantling the Denver Broncos on Sunday. We also saw the last game ever in the Black Hole and the Chargers putting the finishing touches on a forgetful season.
There were three total games played amongst the AFC West squads this weekend and only one came out of their game victorious. That team was, of course, the Kansas City Chiefs, who rolled the Broncos on a snowy day at Arrowhead Stadium.
Let’s take a look at what we learned about all four AFC West teams this weekend, starting with the earliest loser on Sunday.
WHAT DID WE LEARN ABOUT THE BRONCOS?
People were slowing starting to change their minds on what kind of Broncos team this was, but we saw when push came to shove, that this team still doesn’t have the talent to be on the same level as Kansas City. That was clear as day in their 23-3 loss to the Chiefs.
I’m baffled why, on a snowy afternoon in Kansas City, the Broncos didn’t opt to run the ball more. That’s been the Chiefs’ achilles heel for awhile now and the Broncos kept throwing instead. They did get down by quite a bit, but that was after they had failed offensive drives.
Rookie Drew Lock had looked like a quarterback that Broncos fans could get excited about, but the Chiefs gave him his first true “Welcome to the NFL” game. He threw for just 208 yards and was picked off once while getting sacked twice and getting hit another ten times. It was a tough day for the rookie in his Homecoming.
As mentioned earlier, Denver failed to run the ball the way they should have, totaling just 52 yards on the ground with Phillip Lindsay tallying 32 yards.
The defense got after Patrick Mahomes, sacking him three times, but the secondary allowed for him and Travis Kelce to have big days. Shelby Harris was the star of the day defensively, garnering two of those three sacks on Mahomes and hitting him twice as well.
Denver's strategy of not covering Travis Kelce has not worked in their favor.
— Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) December 15, 2019
With the loss, the Broncos are officially eliminated from playoff contention, so while they don’t have anything to play for, these last two games will be important for Lock and getting his confidence back after a not so great game. He should be able to rebound against a dinged up Lions defense in the late window of games next week.