Kansas City Chiefs: Can the Jaguars replicate the Broncos defense?

Sammy Watkins Injury and Taking Away Travis Kelce

Some of the issues had nothing to do with what the Broncos did. One that comes to mind is important drops by Chiefs receivers. Demarcus Robinson dropped a crucial pass in the red zone that had nothing to do with the coverage. Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce also had drops in this game which hit them right in the hands.

The other thing that hurt the offense was Sammy Watkins leaving the game early with an injury. It was clear that Watkins was a significant part of the gameplan as the offense struggled with him out of the game. While Kansas City has other big weapons, not having Watkins to draw some attention, it allowed Denver to focus solely on Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce.

The Broncos did an excellent job of bottling up Kelce in the first half. They disguised coverage not allowing Kelce to know who would be covering him or being at the line where Kelce could be physical. Denver used linebackers and safeties most of the game to give Kelce extra attention, and at times even had star cornerback Chris Harris Jr. taking on the Pro Bowl tight end.

Kelce came away with five targets in the first half while not catching a single one. Until the fourth quarter, Patrick Mahomes had just 153 passing yards on the night. Taking away Kelce with Sammy Watkins being unavailable was a significant part of the Broncos game plan. It was apparent that Denver was tired of hearing about the stats of Travis Kelce from previous matchups.