Just two weeks ago, the Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos met in what many hyped to be the biggest game of the 2013 NFL regular season. Of course, with the two co-AFC West leaders squaring off in an even more anticipated and meaningful match-up this weekend, it appears, at least for now, that round two of the rivalry has likely earned the distinction and the label of “biggest regular season battle of 2013.”
While both teams are most certainly playoff bound this season, the Chiefs (9-2) and Broncos (9-2) still have much more to play for, as the winner of Sunday’s contest will claim the inside track to coveted home field advantage in the AFC postseason with just four games to play. Meanwhile, the Chiefs would love nothing more than to snap their two-game losing skid and to exact sweet revenge against the Broncos, who left Denver with an impressive 27-17 win over the Chiefs in that week 11 showdown.
Interestingly, despite owning the best records in the AFC, both teams – who began the season with six-game winning streaks – are coming off of week 12 defeats. The Chiefs followed their loss to Denver by dropping a heart-breaker against the Chargers and the Broncos suffered a franchise record-setting 24-point collapse at the hands of the Patriots. Needless to say, both teams should be plenty hungry this weekend as they look to impose their will on one another and intimidate the rest of the conference in the process.
There’s no doubt that the Broncos have already intimidated just about everybody else in football with the way they’ve played offensively. Denver is averaging 39 points per contest coming into Sunday’s game and behind Peyton Manning’s 3,700-plus passing yards and 36 touchdowns, own the league’s most potent aerial attack, bar none.
Perhaps what’s even more frightening for upcoming Broncos opponents – including the Chiefs this week – is that Denver has recently discovered a powerful ground game to complement its highly-effective pass offense. After beginning the season with a three-headed running back committee, the Broncos have seemed to settle on a primary rusher in recent weeks with Knowshon Moreno, who certainly hasn’t disappointed since being saddled with the the bigger work load. After coming off a career-best 224 yards on a career-high 37 carries against the Pats last week, Moreno now ranks eighth in the NFL with 824 rushing yards on the season.
Of course, one of the seven players above Moreno on that elite list will be staring at him from across the other sideline on Sunday, with that player being Jamaal Charles. However unlike Moreno, Charles has been the focal point of the Chiefs offense since the team’s first regular season snap, spearheading a rushing attack that currently ranks 13th in the league with an average of 120.8 yards per game. Moreover, Charles is also heavily used as a check-down receiver for Alex Smith and comes into Sunday’s game with wide receiver-type numbers, including 53 receptions for 425 yards.
However, the real key to Kansas City’s success this season has arguably been its defense, which has held opponents to fewer than 20 points in nine games this season and has forced 24 turnovers. Unsurprisingly, the Chiefs lost both of the two games in which they allowed more than 20 and as previously noted, one of those was against the Broncos two weeks ago. However, that game was in Manning’s house and this time the Chiefs will have one of the league’s most raucous and supportive crowds at Arrowhead Stadium behind them as they look to shut down the AFC’s MVP frontrunner.
Unfortunately for Kansas City, such a difficult task will be made even more challenging with the absence of its top two defensive lineman, Tamba Hali and Justin Houston, who have accounted for more than half of the team’s sacks together this season. Considering the lack of pressure on Manning was a big reason why the Chiefs came up short against Denver the last time out, the injuries to Hali and Houston will likely be tough for Kansas City to overcome this weekend.
Meanwhile, instead of worrying about missing pieces, the Broncos will hope to plug two key players back into their lineup for Sunday’s game. After missing veteran cornerback Champ Bailey and standout tight end Julius Thomas in last week’s loss, the Broncos expect them to return for the rematch with Kansas City.
There’s no doubt the Chiefs will be pumped up for round two with the Broncos, but with Denver’s offense firing on all cylinders, expect another stellar performance from Manning in a Denver road victory.
Prediction: Broncos 31 – Chiefs 24
