Scouting the enemy: Denver Broncos await meeting with Chiefs in primetime
By Kody Latham
Scouting the Defense
Outside of the 2013 season, offense is not what Denver has been known for. For John Elway’s team, it has been all about their defense, and they reinforced this thinking when they decided to take Bradley Chubb at fifth overall in the last draft. The Chiefs have been familiar with Von Miller for a long time, but he has not been as effective since DeMarcus Ware decided to retire. The Broncos have attempted to remedy this with the addition of Chubb.
Denver and Kansas City have something in common from this past offseason. They both decided to trade high profile cornerbacks to the Los Angeles Rams. The Chiefs traded Voldemort (aka Marcus Peters) and the Broncos traded Aqib Talib.
Unlike the Chiefs, the Broncos had a much better succession plan in place. Denver moved former first-round pick Bradley Roby into Talib’s old spot, and then signed Adam Jones to fill in as their third corner. While Jones was recently injured, he and teammate Tramaine Brock are expected to be ready to go against the Chiefs this week.
The Broncos also added to the defense with third-round cornerback Isaac Yiadom and fourth-round linebacker Josey Jewell. The latter, a former Iowa Hawkeye and running mate of current Chiefs linebacker Ben Niemann, got his first start this past weekend while filling in for an injured Brandon Marshall. He played well accumulating six tackles and a pass break up on the day.
If Marshall is unable to go, the expectation is that Jewell will fill in again for Marshall. This would give Kansas City a nice advantage over the middle against the rookie. Yiadom, on the other hand, has not been able to get on the field other than filling in for injured players. He started the season as the Broncos fifth cornerback and has done little to improve his position so far this season, getting burned in last week’s contest against the Ravens.
The Chiefs have not lost to the Broncos since 2015, and that trend does not seem to be in danger of ending as it stands right now. Kansas City’s offense leads the league with 39 points a game and shows very little signs of slowing down. As it stands the Broncos just don’t have the offensive firepower to keep up with the Chiefs. The Broncos defense still has some very good players on it, but the old no-fly zone is nowhere in sight.
Division games always seem to find a way to stay close and competitive, though as long as the Chiefs don’t overlook the Broncos, they should be able to continue their winning ways.