KC Chiefs now face short week with Broncos game flexed to Saturday

The National Football League has decided to make a programming change to put the Kansas City Chiefs‘ annual visit to Mile High Stadium to play the Denver Broncos on Saturday afternoon. That means both teams will be tasked with playing their final game of the regular season on a short week.

The loss of an extra day of rest or practice comes at a bad time in the NFL calendar given how long the regular season already is (and that we’re now into the extra week of games that began this year for the first time in a 17-game slate). Players are already pushing through so much and now they must suit up again for one more effort on an accelerated schedule.

The official switch now has the Chiefs playing the Broncos on Saturday, January 8, at 3:30 p.m. C.T. (that’s 2:30 p.m. at the home site).

The NFL has rescheduled the Chiefs-Broncos game for Saturday instead.

For the Chiefs, the game is a must-win if they want to secure any sort of home-field advantage (let alone to still have a prayer of an attempt at winning the top seed in the AFC). The Chiefs are depending on the Titans to lose to the Houston Texans (of all teams) in Week 18 with nothing to play for in order to bring that home. However, a loss to the Broncos could send them reeling from a No. 2 seed to No. 4, which takes away their advantage at Arrowhead.

For the Broncos, they are now out of contention, so it will be interesting to see just how much they come out swinging. They were mathematically eliminated from the postseason in Week 17 and they’re contending with serious concerns at quarterback given injuries to both Drew Lock and Teddy Bridgewater. At present, the Broncos are 7-9 and the Chiefs are 11-5 heading into their final game.