KC Chiefs dominated Broncos more in 2019 than ever before

The Chiefs keep dominating the Broncos but 2019 took things to a whole new level.

Nine straight wins over the course of four-and-a-half years is called ownership in the NFL. The Kansas City Chiefs‘ dominance over the Denver Broncos should, indeed, be called ownership, but that’s true of the entire AFC West ever since Andy Reid settled into his role and churned out the first of what is now four straight AFC West titles.

Back to the Broncos. While the Los Angeles Chargers and even Oakland (now Las Vegas) Raiders have surprised the Chiefs with a random win to temporarily halt their overall losing efforts against the Chiefs in recent years, the Broncos can’t even pull off the surprise win. Since the first game of the 2015 season, the Broncos have had no answer for the Chiefs.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that one can trace the Broncos failures to beat the Chiefs in any contest back to their quarterback woes. Peyton Manning was the last Denver quarterback to defeat the Chiefs. Since then, the likes of Trevor Siemian, Paxton Lynch, Brock Osweiler, Case Keenum, Joe Flacco, and Drew Lock have all tried and failed.

What is most interesting to note, however, is that the Chiefs took their dominance to another level entirely in 2019. As if sweeping divisional contests year after year after year wasn’t enough, the Chiefs somehow pushed the gas pedal down even further in 2019. It was a display of supremacy that should have earned more notice at the time, because the numbers themselves are truly astounding.

Before we look at the 2019 numbers, let’s get some perspective on the average team stats of the Broncos from the three seasons prior to last year—all games in which Denver lost (an 0-for-6 stretch).

2016

• 37 points
• 46 first downs
• 710 total yards
• 4 touchdowns
• 3 field goals

2017

• 43 points
• 39 first downs
• 700 total yards
• 4 touchdowns
• 3 field goals

2018

• 46 points
• 42 first downs
• 796 total yards
• 5 touchdowns
• 3 field goals

If you take all of these together, this means that even in losing efforts with mediocre-or-worse quarterbacks in position, the Denver Broncos averaged the following against the Chiefs from 2016 to 2018—again in games they lost.

• 42 points
• 42 first downs
• 735 total yards of offense
• 4+ touchdowns
• 3 field goals

Thus, the average game against the Broncos would include:

1. 21 points
2. 21 first downs
3. 367 yards total offense
4. 2 touchdowns
5. 1-2 field goals

Then came last year. The Broncos had turned the page once again at quarterback and substituted Joe Flacco and Drew Lock for Case Keenum. Each quarterback captained one of the team’s losses to the Chiefs in 2019, but the results were nearly the same. Check these totals for both games in 2019.

• 9 points
• 30 first downs
• 456 total yards
• 1 touchdown
• 1 field goal

Here’s what this means. Despite owning the Broncos in every year before this last one, the Chiefs somehow doubled down on their dominance and forced the Broncos to average 4.5 points/game. They held them to a mere 15 first downs in 60 minutes in both games. The Broncos couldn’t even get anything more than a single rushing touchdown in 120 minutes of football (and even then they couldn’t convert for the 2-point attempt).

At least in years past, the Broncos would make a game of it, whether at home or on the road. Most teams are able to gear up for their rivals even in seasons that are already decided. And the Broncos had, on paper, plenty of talent with key defensive pieces still in place from Super Bowl days (last year they had Von Miller and Chris Harris) to go with enough current performers and some offensive hope in Drew Lock, Phillip Lindsay and Courtland Sutton. Still it didn’t matter.

The job done by Andy Reid, Eric Bieniemy and Steve Spagnuolo against the Denver Broncos last year in particular deserves a round of applause all its own. The season itself was magical due to the Super Bowl run, but the two games against such a bitter rival displayed a mastery of planning and execution—even in the face of inclement weather in the season’s second game.

It will be interesting to see how the Broncos attempt to rebound from such embarrassing performances against the Chiefs in 2019. Has Vic Fangio learned some things? Is he just completely inept when going up against the likes of Andy Reid? It will be fun to watch.