The Arrowhead Stadium crowd was silenced upon seeing the Chiefs’ five-game winning streak halted by the visiting Bucs on Sunday afternoon, 19-17.
Jameis Winston dismantled the Kansas City defense, throwing for 331 yards and a late-game touchdown, while also setting up four field goals by Robert Aguyao. But to be fair, the Chiefs were shorthanded on both sides of the field, missing top cornerback Marcus Peters (hip), defensive tackle Jaye Howard (hip) and wide receiver Jeremy Maclin (groin) due to respective injuries.
The offense has not been the same for the Chiefs, who have scored below 20 points in two of their last three contests. Nevertheless, QB Alex Smith, who passed for 261 yard with one score and interceptions against Tampa Bay, will look to lead his team past the Broncos this weekend—a matchup between AFC West powerhouses.
Smith’s bound to continue pushing the ball forward through Travis Kelce, the Chiefs’ leading pass-catcher. The 27-year-old tight end posted a season-high 108 yards on nine catches versus the Bucs. Kelce will try to build on that performance versus a Denver defense that’s allowing just 194.3 passing yards this season, the 2nd-fewest in the league.
Kansas City is 3-2 SU and ATS in its last five road games.
Denver headed into its bye week with a wild 25-23 road win over the Saints. The Broncos defense came out huge there, particularly in the final minutes when rookie Justin Simmons blocked an extra-point kick that turned into a game-sealing, defensive 2-point conversion by Will Parks.
That victory improved the Broncos’ record to 7-3, putting them in a second-place tie in the AFC West with the Chiefs—their next opponent this weekend. Kansas City is hurting right now with a number of key starters dealing with injuries, so Denver hopes to capitalize as much as possible.
Trevor Siemian’s thrown a pair of touchdowns in each of the last two games, but he’s also had four of his throws intercepted in the same stretch. That’s not a good sign against the Chiefs, who boast an NFL-high of 13 picks this season. Hence, you can probably expect Denver to focus more on the run through Devontae Booker.
The Broncos are 4-1 SU and ATS in their last five home games.
