The Kansas City Chiefs are still among the favorites to win Super Bowl 54 with odds of +375 to do it, but another loss this week could scare away prospective bettors. The Denver Broncos, meanwhile, are enjoying a nice two-game skid. Will the Broncos extend Kansas City’s woes? Or will the Chiefs get back on track with a win in Denver?
The Chiefs are skidding all of a sudden. If Kansas City fans thought that Week 5’s 19-13 home loss to the Indianapolis Colts was a mere hiccup, they just had another reason to be more concerned about their team following the Chiefs’ 31-24 loss again at home to the Houston Chiefs last Sunday. Defense has been an issue for the Chiefs of late, as magnified by their loss to Houston, which had 280 passing yards and 192 rushing yards. However, Kansas City will be dealing with an anemic Denver offense this coming Thursday, one that the Chiefs should be able to take care of. On offense, the Chiefs need more from their backfield that produced just 53 rushing yards on 11 carries against Houston. The return of Tyreek Hill, meanwhile, sparked the Chiefs, who got 80 receiving yards and two touchdowns from the wide receiver last week — his first game back after nursing a shoulder injury.
The Chiefs are 2-1 against the spread (ATS) in their last three road games.
Betting on the Denver Broncos (2-4)
The Broncos have come alive of late. Denver suffered four straight losses to start the season, but defeated the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 5 before dismantling the Tennessee Titans in Week 6, 16-0. The shutout win by the Broncos over Tennessee was proof that Vic Fangio’s system is coming along after a rocky start. So good was the Broncos’ defense last Sunday that Tennessee benched Marcus Mariota for Ryan Tannehill. Mahomes is a different breed of quarterback and several levels ahead of either Mariota or Tannehill, but Denver’s defense is capable of making life hard for the Chiefs’ quarterback in the pocket. The Broncos just had four sacks against Tennessee and have limited their last two opponents down to a combined total of 74 rushing yards.
The Broncos, who are seventh in the league with just 17.7 points allowed per game, have seen the total go under in nine of their last 10 outings.
