Evaluating the KC Chiefs remaining regular season opponents

Denver Broncos

To close out the season we have the Denver Broncos, who believe it or not, could be a tough out. I get it, they’ve been really mediocre this season, but there’s one thing they do really well and have done really well facing the Chiefs and that’s play defense.

Vic Fangio’s unit has been one of the only ones to consistently give Patrick Mahomes trouble over the past couple of seasons and they did so just back in Week 12. Mahomes had just 15 completions on 29 attempts for 184 yards and an interception in that game. The offense was out of sync, they didn’t move the ball well, and were lucky the Broncos were just as dysfunctional as they were on offense because the Chiefs gave them every opportunity to get back into that game.

The Chiefs could walk into this game thinking they’ve got everything wrapped up and get caught off guard (or they might actually have everything wrapped up depending on what happens) but even if they play a C+ game they should probably still win just given the disparity at quarterback. With Patrick Mahomes not throwing a touchdown in the last meeting, the Chiefs still won by double digits anyway.

It also looks like Teddy Bridgewater’s season may be over after a scary injury in their last game against Cincinnati, so that would mean Drew Lock would start and he isn’t a quarterback that scares you any more than Bridgewater did and Lock has more career turnovers than starts.

I do think Denver is really talented on defense, but maybe I’m looking too hard for reasons to say Denver might be a trap game. Regardless, I don’t think the Chiefs actually lose this game unless Denver delivers yet another strong defensive performance and the offense somehow explodes unlike they have all year.