Kansas City Chiefs vs Denver Broncos: Keys to victory
Key #1: Win The Turnover Battle
This first key to victory really has more to do with the Denver offense than it does with the Chiefs turning the ball over. The Chiefs haven’t turned the ball over at all in their current two game losing streak. Obviously, if they want to win this game they need to continue their trend of protecting the football. If Alex Smith continues to blend his ability to be safe with the football but still make big play throws when they are open I think this should be completely possible.
This is more about forcing the Broncos offense into turning the ball over, specifically quarterback Trevor Siemian. Let’s take a look at Siemian’s touchdowns and interceptions in Denver’s three wins vs their three losses.
In Denver’s three wins, Siemian has 7 touchdowns and only 2 interceptions.
In Denver’s three losses, Siemian has just 1 touchdown and 5 interceptions.
The Chiefs have to force Trevor Siemian into making mistakes. Period. I don’t care if they do that by pressuring him into doing it by getting to him with a good pass rush or if their defenders up their coverage game from last week and get their hands on a pass or two via tight man coverage. Either one will work and preferably it will be a combination of both of them. If the Chiefs have no real pass rush to speak of and receivers are running open left and right then even a mediocre quarterback like Siemian will be able to get the job done. The Chiefs have to create turnovers and they are facing a quarterback/offensive line combo that should make that possible.
If the Chiefs can decisively win the turnover battle that will go a long ways towards them winning this game. If the Chiefs uncharacteristically turn the ball over a few times and can’t create turnovers of their own it will be MUCH harder to come away with a win tonight. I know that’s true of just about every game in the history of the NFL, but this Broncos team has shown themselves to be especially ineffective at overcoming turnover problems on offense.
This next one is specifically for Chiefs head coach Andy Reid.