The Denver Broncos face their greatest challenge of the season this Sunday when they play host to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 11.
Division matchups are always special, and this one will be no different. There are a lot of implications for this matchup between foes, as the Broncos lead the American Football Conference West division with an 8-2 record while the Chiefs sit in third place at 5-4 trying to catch Denver.
The Broncos need to have a good day on offense. The offense has been too inconsistent as a contender winning 80 percent of their games. Most of the blame falls on quarterback Bo Nix’s shoulders.
In the midst of a sophomore slump, his numbers don’t look terrible as he has been great in the fourth quarter, but he doesn’t play well for much of the games until he has to be the hero. His “happy feet” in the pocket has gotten him in trouble on numerous occasions and he needs to be better for this offense to have confidence moving forward.
The defense is what has propelled Denver to an 8-2 record and they are lighting up opposing offenses again this season. Even without star cornerback Pat Surtain II, this unit has stepped up and continues to dominate.
ESPN’s Jeff Legwold believes the key to victory Sunday is to pressure Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and get hits on the two-time Most Valuable Player.
“The Broncos have tried hard to frame this game into the one-week-at-a-time picture they've painted in their current seven-game win streak, but this is the first time since Peyton Manning that Denver enters this matchup with a prime chance to win the AFC West,” Legwold wrote Friday. “While the Broncos' offensive struggles bear watching, one of the other big-ticket items will be how often the league's best defense at sacking QBs (46 sacks, 14 more than the next team) gets to Patrick Mahomes. In the Chiefs' four losses, defenses have hit Mahomes an average of 9.3 times, including 15 hits by the Bills two weeks ago, compared with just 5.8 times in the Chiefs' five wins.”
As big of a test as it is just to face the Chiefs, they are coming off their bye week. No head coach thrives more after a bye week than Andy Reid, who is 22-4 lifetime coming off the bye. If the Broncos offense can keep up with the Chiefs offense, they stand a good chance at defeating Kansas City.