Chiefs streaking: The boys are back in town
By Laddie Morse
Nov 15, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs nose tackle Jaye Howard (96) and defensive tackle Rakeem Nunez-Roches (99) celebrate the win over the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The Chiefs defeated the Broncos 29-13. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Step one: Kansas City must beat San Diego in San Diego, and they must beat the Bills at Arrowhead, and both games come in the next 8 days. If they can do that, they’ll have a winning record at 6-5 and they’ll also put themselves in the driver’s seat heading down the home stretch.
Step two: K.C. must win most all of their remaining games. Look at who they have the rest of the way following those two games:
@ Oakland
vs San Diego
@ Baltimore
vs Browns
vs Oakland
If K.C. wins out, it would be a 10 game winning streak and an 11-5 record. We’ve seen a 9 game winning streak with this coaching staff in 2013 with much lesser talent so… why not 10 straight? Once wins, the next two weeks, are under their belts, there’s no reason to think they can’t take it all the way.
If the Chiefs do that, there’s also no reason to think they may not be in the running for the division crown. The Broncos have difficult games:
@ Chicago
vs New England
@ Pittsburgh
vs Cincinnati
Denver’s games with the Pats, the Steelers and the Bengals are obviously potential losses so let’s take a closer look at their game with the Bears tomorrow in Chicago.
Denver at Chicago Pre-hash
With Chicago winning four of their last six games, when Denver visits the Bears this weekend it will be no cupcake. Do you think QB Jay Cutler still has something to prove to Broncos fans? Probably, so you can expect him to have some extra motivation to beat his old team. The Bears just whipped the Rams 37-13 and St. Louis has the sixth-ranked defense in the league.
In fact, over at Predominantly Orange — the Fansided Broncos blog — Sayre Bedinger wrote a piece this week called, “Brock Osweiler Starting Will Answer Big Questions for Broncos” in which he states,
"“I’m not going to sit here and say this is the exact same situation, but we saw the San Francisco 49ers pull an injured Alex Smith in favor of Colin Kaepernick back in 2012, and they rode the momentum that Kaepernick provided all the way to a Super Bowl appearance.”"
It’s a huge reach, in my book, to equate Osweiler with Kaepernick and project him in a similar scenario. However, it does show how much Denver, and it’s fans, are reeling right now. Just think, if Brock Osweiler plays halfway decent against the Bears (which is a possibility) he’ll probably get the nod next weekend when they face the New England Patriots and it’s hard to imagine that going well for him. But, if Osweiler falters this weekend and Manning starts next Sunday against the Pats… wow, the possibilities are yummy and the drama is palpable.
UPDATE: “It is starting to look like Peyton Manning may never step onto the field as a starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos again.” ~Tim Lynch
Next: Are There Other Factors Favoring Chicago vs Denver?