Looking ahead to Sunday Night
 

What can the last game at KC tell us ... if anything? First glance, KC let off the throttle - enjoyed a 1H lead thanks to the KO return and Manning/Decker were insanely in synch, especially after halftime.

Should be a cold one, as the high looks like 37 with a low of 29 - so at kickoff it's likely freezing. We'll see, the high on Saturday is 57 and on Monday it's 46, but it doesn't look like it will be wet, so that's good.

The game @ KC a year ago had much warmer temp on 12/1 with 55 degrees at kickoff, so it will be about 20 degrees colder for SNF. Simply being cold and loud is ok, not ideal - but ok.

http://www.pro-football-reference.co...1312010kan.htm

Last year, the Chiefs were up 21-14 at the half and down 35-21 with 7 minutes left before they scored, making it a 35-28 victory.

KC scored a TD on a 108 yd KO return (Davis), had more rushing yards as a team, won the TO battle and ended with a slight advantage on TOP. And while intercepting Manning twice - they couldn't stop him, and with the KC offense not being set up to win a passing battle, it hurt KC. Although, Smith had nearly 300 yards and 2 TDs.

Eric Decker went nuts (4 TDs total) as he caught 3 in the 2nd half, with Manning throwing for 5 TDs and over 400 yds. Montee Ball actually had a good day. Decker and Ball our gone, replaced by Sanders and CJ Anderson this year.

Travis Kelce is a big add for KC in this one and we'll see what they can do with Avant. Denver's defense can't stop anyone on 3rd down and TEs kill them.

I don't see a combined point total over 60 points again - more like 20-17 (KC), but we'll see what happens.

Manning is only 2 TDs and 243 yards off his record pace in 2013 through 11 games, but the ground game is different now ... and while the defense should be better, they haven't played like it lately consistently enough.

Denver needs Julius back in the lineup.. interestingly enough, he didn't play last year in KC either. Julius returning to the lineup is key for me if Denver can win. If Julius isn't playing, Denver loses... I just think he means that much in a game like this on the road.

Say what you will about reverse mojo, but I'm not expecting a Denver win here... not after the way they've played over the last month.

Obviously, I'm fine being wrong here. Let's have some fun this week.

:fart:

rochambeau

I struggle to see how the Broncos move the ball on us. I think it's going to be something like 17-13.

The Chiefs will drop 7 or 8 guys into coverage. The Broncos won't hurt us on the ground too bad. The passrush should be on, so I expect Manning to have little time to release and no clear windows.

That said, I expect the Chiefs to play fine on offense. They can run on anyone, and they can nickel and dime themselves to 17-20 points against a really good Broncos defense.

I don't think Julius Thomas is the difference maker you think he is. The Chiefs are the #1 team in the NFL against tight ends. Period.

This is going to sound crazy, but the guy that'll make the difference, more than either Thomas, more than Manning... is C.J. Anderson. If he somehow churns out great runs all game, and the Broncos stick with it... then the Chiefs will be in trouble.

Another fantastic football take

Totally agree. If we aren't getting gashed by the run like Miami did yesterday then we can control the clock and hopefully pull off the win.

I find myself lost in the labyrinthine contours of your elaborate argument.

I'm tapping out. This is too much.

There's no doubt they need big production from the ground game. In week 2, Broncos TEs caught only 5 balls, but two were TDs. JT is a big target with good hands, he is critical right now.

Denver has to stop the 3rd down conversion more than anything in this game. Box up on the run and stick the best cover guy on Kelce. Force Smith to find a WR.

That when Avant gets ya!! No film on him with the Chiefs. Could be the X factor .

You struggle to see how the best offense in the league will move the ball on an overrated defense that gives up a lot of yards and can't stop the run? Denver is going to beat Kansas City by 2 scores.

I do.

They're the best offense because of the passing game, which we can stop.

The run game is trickier for us to stop, but it's not a forte of the Donks.

We're playing the Colts? Huh. Thought we were playing the Broncos

That's a big IF ! Haven't felt comfortable all year about our RUN D. CJ got a lot of confidence yesterday and the kid has talent and the more he plays the better he gets. I disagree with Direckshun IF Julius T comes back it only makes it that much more difficult to cover DT and Emmanuel or vice versa. The key here is getting a good pass rush from the get go and stuffing the run. Denver like the Chiefs you never know which O-line will show up;)

They look like they found their running game yesterday. I'm a bit nervous now.

Donkeys 27
Chiefs 21