After losing two straight home games, the Kansas City Chiefs will have to get it together quickly on a short week as they visit the Denver Broncos on Thursday night.
The Chiefs are struggling on both sides of the ball. Their defense can’t stop the run and isn’t great against the pass. They’ve failed to get much pressure on the quarterback lately.
Offensively, most of Kansas City’s issues can be attributed to injuries, but at this point in the season, every team is banged up. As for the Broncos, they have won two games in a row after an 0-4 start.
Let’s dive into this matchup and see what it will take for the Chiefs to get back on the winning track.
CHIEFS-BRONCOS HISTORY
The Chiefs lead the all-time series over the Broncos (including one postseason matchup) with a 63-55 record. Kansas City is riding a seven-game winning streak over Denver.
via the NFL’s official YouTube channel
The last time the Chiefs played in Denver, quarterback Patrick Mahomes led a come-from-behind victory while making some memorable throws. He went for over 300 passing yards and two touchdowns in that game. The Chiefs defense allowed just two out of 11 third-down conversions.
BRONCOS’ KEY ADDITIONS
QB Joe Flacco
OL Ja’Wuan James
CB Kareem Jackson
CB Bryce Callahan
BRONCOS’ KEY SUBTRACTIONS
OL Matt Paradis
OL Max Garcia
CB Tramaine Brock
OL Billy Turner
CB Bradley Roby
OL Jared Veldheer
LB Shaquil Barrett
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BRONCOS’ COACHING/SCHEMES
Vic Fangio is in his first season as the Broncos head coach. He was an assistant coach for seven NFL teams over the course of 32 seasons. Before Denver, he most recently served as defensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears, where he had the No. 1 overall defensive unit in the league.
Offensive scheme
Fangio hired another longtime assistant coach, Rich Scangarello, to be the team’s offensive coordinator. Scangarello spent the past two seasons as quarterbacks coach for the San Francisco 49ers. He is a disciple of Kyle Shanahan, whom he worked for in San Francisco and with the Atlanta Falcons.
Like Shanahan, Scangarello is one of the few coaches who use 21 personnel (two running backs and one tight end) as his base offense. This forces defenses to stay in their base formation more often.
Scangarello’s offense features a lot of inside and outside zone running behind the fullback. Off of that comes a lot of different play-action concepts, including the bootleg, which is a staple in Shanahan’s offense.
Scangarello also uses a lot of pre-snap motion, which is effective because any skill position player can start anywhere and move anywhere else. The passing game is fairly West Coast-oriented, with the QB getting the ball out of his hands quickly using short, horizontal passes.
Off of that, Scangarello will dial up some deep shots. Quarterback Joe Flacco has a big arm and he has some speedy receivers at his disposal. Scangarello has spent quite a bit of time in the college ranks and will sometimes mix in some spread formations and run-pass options.
The Broncos have a pretty average rushing offense, ranking 15th in the NFL at 4.3 yards per carry. Their passing game has struggled to jell so far, ranking 23rd. With all the defensive struggles the Chiefs have had this season, it will be interesting to see which unit has more success in this matchup.
Defensive scheme
Keeping with the veteran theme, Fangio hired longtime NFL assistant coach Ed Donatell as his defensive coordinator. Donatell was Fangio’s defensive backs coach in San Francisco and Chicago.
This is very much Fangio’s defense; he is its play-caller. He runs a base 3-4 scheme with heavy zone coverages in the secondary. Keep an eye out for whether he plays more man-to-man against the Chiefs this week, given their struggles against it.
Fangio is not a heavy blitzer, only bringing five or more rushers 19.7 percent of the time last season in Chicago. With players such as Von Miller, Derek Wolfe and Todd Davis in the front seven, there’s not much reason to blitz often.
Fangio’s defense had some growing pains early in the season but has come around as of late. It has surrendered just 13 points in the last two weeks and an average of 225 total yards per game. It also forced six turnovers over the last two games.
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BRONCOS’ KEY PLAYERS
QB Joe Flacco
The 12th-year veteran has had a very up-and-down career. He had one of the greatest postseason runs ever in 2012, but outside of that has he has either been an average or below-average quarterback. He’s won a Super Bowl MVP but has never even been named to a Pro Bowl. The Baltimore Ravens finally parted ways with him at the end of last season.
Flacco has been on a downward trend the last couple of seasons and has had a very pedestrian start to 2019, throwing for six touchdowns and five interceptions. Despite his big arm, Flacco doesn’t stretch the field much. He typically needs to feed off a successful running game to be effective.
RB Phillip Lindsay
Lindsay had quite the rookie season in 2018, especially considering he entered the league as an undrafted free agent and began the season as the No. 3 running back on the depth chart. He is a physical runner with underrated speed and is a good receiving back.
Lindsay finished 2018 with 1,278 total scrimmage yards (1,037 rushing yards, 241 receiving yards) and 10 touchdowns. He is on pace for another 1,000-yard season.
WR Emmanuel Sanders
Sanders is the go-to target in the Broncos offense. He has good hands, runs good routes and has top-end speed. He’s battled a number of injuries throughout his career, but when healthy he’s one of the most productive receivers in the league. When Denver needs a spark or a big play, watch out for Sanders.
OLB Von Miller
In his ninth season, Miller may already be a Hall of Famer. He has been one of the NFL’s premier pass rushers for years and is one of the best outside linebackers against the run in the NFL. He can single-handedly take over a game, and he opens things up for an already talented Denver secondary. Kansas City would be wise to run away from Miller and double-team him as much as possible.
CB Chris Harris Jr.
Harris has been widely regarded as the best slot cornerback in the NFL for the last several years. He is a shutdown corner who excels in man coverage. In his nine-year career, only 10 wide receivers have ever caught a touchdown pass against Harris. He has been named first-team All-Pro once and selected to the Pro Bowl four times.
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KEY MATCHUPS
Chris Harris Jr. vs. WR Tyreek Hill
Harris is by far the best cornerback for the Broncos and could shadow Hill for most of the game. The Broncos did a solid job against Hill last season, limiting him to 124 receiving yards on 12 receptions and no touchdowns in two games.
Hill returned from his collarbone injury last week and wasted no time making an impact, with an insane leaping catch for a 46-yard touchdown on the Chiefs’ opening drive.
He would finish the day with two touchdowns and most importantly didn’t suffer any setbacks with his injury. With the Chiefs’ recent offensive struggles, they badly need an elite performance from Hill in this game.
CB Charvarius Ward vs. Broncos WRs
After a rough couple of games to start the season, Ward has settled in nicely and has made some big plays for the Kansas City defense. He snagged a big red zone interception last week, which he caught with one hand. People tend to forget Ward is in just his second season and is still developing.
He’ll be matched up with talented Broncos wide receivers Emmanuel Sanders and Courtland Sutton. Sanders and Sutton complement each other well; Sanders is a burner, and Sutton is a big, physical target.
TE Travis Kelce vs. Broncos secondary
Kelce has owned the Broncos in his last five games against them, catching 39 passes for 551 yards and five touchdowns. He leads all tight ends in receiving yards this season and is sixth in receptions with 32. With Hill back, things should open up even more for Kelce.
DE Frank Clark vs. LT Garett Bolles
With defensive tackle Chris Jones out for this game, Clark has to find a way to produce sacks. He applied a bit of pressure against the Texans last week, but ultimately it led to nothing. What the Chiefs miss most from Jones is his game-changing ability.
He nearly single-handedly kept the Chiefs alive against the Detroit Lions in Week 4. That’s what they need out of Clark, whom K.C. put its faith in over Jones this offseason by giving him the fourth-highest contract among defensive players in the NFL.
He’ll be matched up against Bolles, who’s been inconsistent throughout his three-year career. Bolles was a first-round pick in 2017 and is one of the more athletic offensive linemen in the NFL. He has played well as of late and could be developed into a Pro Bowl player in Scangarello’s system.
OVERVIEW
If the Chiefs want to remain in contention for a first round-bye in the playoffs, this could be a must-win game. They are already two games behind the New England Patriots and have lost to the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts, two potential playoff teams.
The Broncos are in rebuild mode and have no business beating a team like the Chiefs. Their two wins came over teams that have a combined 4-8 record. Momentum and confidence are a big factor though, and right now Denver has it while Kansas City does not.
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