Kyle Long among three biggest variables for KC Chiefs vs. Broncos
By Matt Conner
There’s a reason the Kansas City Chiefs are favored by so much—10 points—to win their Week 13 game over the visiting Denver Broncos. Not only are they playing at Arrowhead Stadium, but the Chiefs are also a team on fire at the right time. Despite the lone game between the teams in the standings, from a confidence standpoint, it’s not even close to those on the outside.
It also doesn’t help the Broncos that the Chiefs are coming out of the bye in Week 12, where head coach Andy Reid has developed quite the reputation for success. Reid is 26-6 overall as a head coach out of the bye, but he’s also only lost once with Patrick Mahomes after having a full week away. That’s a 7-1 record if you count the natural bye week in a regular season as well as the first-round bye earned by the Chiefs in the postseason.
If the Broncos want to keep pace with the rest of the AFC West, a win today would go a long way toward swinging that confidence pendulum. It would also knock the Chiefs back quite a bit and force a lot of questions to the surface in the Kingdom.
Just how big of a chance do the Broncos have? How real of a threat are they at 6-5 overall? These teams will meet twice in the next few weeks, so this matchup will also serve as a preview of what to expect and how to adjust for the next meeting.
For now, here are the bigger variables in play for Week 13 between the Chiefs and the Broncos.