Kansas City Chiefs: Four things to watch vs Broncos in Week 13
Division Rival Game
Although the Kingdom has had such long success against the AFC West, the Raiders and Chargers have proven these games are difficult and can even lead to losses. The second game against the Raiders and the Week 2 win against the Chargers were decided by less than a touchdown.
Even though the Broncos have a losing record and this seems like a slam dunk, the Chiefs still need to be careful. The AFC West rivals see the Chiefs twice a year and know them better than anyone else in the league. They know the speed of the offense and the weaknesses of the defense.
The Broncos haven’t had any success recently but there have been several games where they made things close and even made Mahomes uncomfortable. With how well the Broncos pass rush has been playing this season, don’t count the Broncos out completely.
Watch the Run!
The Broncos are going to come at the Chiefs with their running backs. As mentioned before, they haven’t had much success passing against the Chiefs, as Lock hasn’t figured out how to make big throws against this defense yet.
On top of that, the Broncos haven’t had much success passing, in general, this season. They are 27th in the league in passing and 14th in rushing. Even with Lock back, I can’t imagine the Broncos not relying on the run and use play-action passing if they find success.
The Chiefs should use this game as an opportunity to get their run game going. The Broncos D is ranked seventh against the pass and only 27th against the run. Why not try to get Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Le’Veon Bell involved more? This would especially be helpful considering how good Denver’s pass rush is.
The Chiefs won’t call a whole game around the run. They are No. 1 in passing and have the No. 2 and No. 3 receiving leaders in Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce respectively. But watch for Edwards-Helaire to still have more chances to run the ball against Denver. I know I’ll be starting the Chiefs’ star running back in my fantasy lineup.