Looking at the Chiefs

[Broncos6482]

Here are my thoughts on the game against the Chiefs, for what they're worth (I'm sure some of you are thinking "nothing," thanks for the confidence boost wise guys).

Here in Kansas City, the fans and media are killing the Chiefs for the way Charles was used in week 1. It's almost like they never watched Andy Reid while he was in Philly and throwing 75% of the time when he should have been handing off to Brian Westbrook. Anyway, Charles only carried the ball 7 times for 19 yards, and he caught 4 passes for 15 yards. Reid took the blame for not getting the ball more to Charles. Even though the Chiefs will be getting Dwayne Bowe back from suspension, I think the Broncos should expect a heavy dose of Charles, both in the running game and the passing game.

Offensively, the Chiefs are in a world of hurt. Their offensive line is really terrible. They can't open holes in the running game and they can't protect Alex Smith when he goes back to pass. Smith threw 3 interceptions against the Titans, was sacked 4 times and under constant pressure. If the Broncos d line is as good as we think, they should really have a field day. Aside from Charles and Bowe, the Chiefs do have a young tight end, Travis Kelce, he's got great speed and is capable of making a big play. They also have D'Anthony Thomas, who was hurt week one but could play against the Broncos. He's incredibly fast and dangerous on punt returns. Other than those guys, there really isn't anybody else on the offense that would scare you. None of those weapons should matter though if the Broncos stop the run and get pressure on Smith, which they really should be able to do without too much difficulty.

Defensively, the Chiefs prospects aren't much better. They can still get after the passer, as their 4 sacks and 8 qb hits attest, but if you can slow down the pass rush they're in serious trouble. I can't overstate how huge the loss of Derrick Johnson is. He is their leading tackler and leader of the defense. That's a huge, huge blow. They were also counting on Joe Mays (remember him?) to fill a hole in the linebacking corps, but he's hurt and won't play for several weeks. So they'll be counting on James Michael Johnson and Josh Mauga to man the middle for them. As for their secondary, it seriously might be the worst in the NFL. They've got a pretty good player in Eric Berry, and not much else. Their best corner is Marcus Cooper, an undrafted free agent in his second year who you probably remember getting destroyed by Manning and Decker last season. I really expect them to come hard after Manning, because if he gets any time at all to throw, he will rip this secondary to shreds. Like, what he did to the Raiders last season.

This Chiefs team is really not good. I predicted 7 wins for them, and I think that was overly optimistic. They got dominated in their home opener against an average at best Titans team. Frankly this is probably the easiest game on the schedule until we play the Raiders on November 9th. I think the fact that the Broncos were pretty unsatisfied with their performance Sunday night combined with the Chiefs not being very good and you've got a recipe for a game that should get ugly quick. The Broncos need to step on the Chiefs throats early, and they don't have the capability of mounting a comeback like the Colts. Anything less than a blowout and I will be very disappointed.

 

[TDs3nOut]

Here are my thoughts on the game against the Chiefs, for what they're worth (I'm sure some of you are thinking "nothing," thanks for the confidence boost wise guys).

Here in Kansas City, the fans and media are killing the Chiefs for the way Charles was used in week 1. It's almost like they never watched Andy Reid while he was in Philly and throwing 75% of the time when he should have been handing off to Brian Westbrook. Anyway, Charles only carried the ball 7 times for 19 yards, and he caught 4 passes for 15 yards. Reid took the blame for not getting the ball more to Charles. Even though the Chiefs will be getting Dwayne Bowe back from suspension, I think the Broncos should expect a heavy dose of Charles, both in the running game and the passing game.

Offensively, the Chiefs are in a world of hurt. Their offensive line is really terrible. They can't open holes in the running game and they can't protect Alex Smith when he goes back to pass. Smith threw 3 interceptions against the Titans, was sacked 4 times and under constant pressure. If the Broncos d line is as good as we think, they should really have a field day. Aside from Charles and Bowe, the Chiefs do have a young tight end, Travis Kelce, he's got great speed and is capable of making a big play. They also have D'Anthony Thomas, who was hurt week one but could play against the Broncos. He's incredibly fast and dangerous on punt returns. Other than those guys, there really isn't anybody else on the offense that would scare you. None of those weapons should matter though if the Broncos stop the run and get pressure on Smith, which they really should be able to do without too much difficulty.

Defensively, the Chiefs prospects aren't much better. They can still get after the passer, as their 4 sacks and 8 qb hits attest, but if you can slow down the pass rush they're in serious trouble. I can't overstate how huge the loss of Derrick Johnson is. He is their leading tackler and leader of the defense. That's a huge, huge blow. They were also counting on Joe Mays (remember him?) to fill a hole in the linebacking corps, but he's hurt and won't play for several weeks. So they'll be counting on James Michael Johnson and Josh Mauga to man the middle for them. As for their secondary, it seriously might be the worst in the NFL. They've got a pretty good player in Eric Berry, and not much else. Their best corner is Marcus Cooper, an undrafted free agent in his second year who you probably remember getting destroyed by Manning and Decker last season. I really expect them to come hard after Manning, because if he gets any time at all to throw, he will rip this secondary to shreds. Like, what he did to the Raiders last season.

This Chiefs team is really not good. I predicted 7 wins for them, and I think that was overly optimistic. They got dominated in their home opener against an average at best Titans team. Frankly this is probably the easiest game on the schedule until we play the Raiders on November 9th. I think the fact that the Broncos were pretty unsatisfied with their performance Sunday night combined with the Chiefs not being very good and you've got a recipe for a game that should get ugly quick. The Broncos need to step on the Chiefs throats early, and they don't have the capability of mounting a comeback like the Colts. Anything less than a blowout and I will be very disappointed.

Some good observations. Absolutely agree with your points about Reid's propensity to go too pass heavy, as evidenced by him systematically not taking advantage of Brian Westbrook while in Philly, and just what a huge loss DJ is to the KC defense. Also bolded your last sentence, since I absolutely agree. Would love to take a little (or a lot) of swagger into what figures to be a very tough game at Seattle in Week 3.

 

[WalkerBoh]

So how much intel do the Chiefs gain from Vickerson?

 

[TDs3nOut]

So how much intel do the Chiefs gain from Vickerson?

LOL Never really associated Big Vick with "intel". Dude is, however, a beast!

 

[Broncos6482]

So how much intel do the Chiefs gain from Vickerson?

Actually I think Vickerson was a great pick up for them. He can play either defensive tackle in a 4-3 or defensive end in a 3-4, and they definitely have a need there now that they lost Mike DeVito for the season. As to how much intel he can give them, probably some, but it really shouldn't matter.

 

[cdumler7]

I can agree with everything you said except the last part about being disappointed if it isn't a blow out. The reason I say that is divisional games always seem closer than they should be even if one team looks very much superior to the other. If this game is close I won't be too surprised. Now if it is a blow out though I won't be surprised either as this Chiefs team is quickly looking like a 5 win team. Throw in this being a home game for the Broncos and it really could get ugly quickly.


I do hope this Colts game lights a bit of a fire in the offense that things don't come as easily as they thought. The OL just stunk it up against the Colts in my opinion so I'm hoping that means week 2 they have gotten a bit of a butt chewing and kick it up a notch. Manning seemed out of character as well so I expect him to come back playing with a purpose.


Things I will be looking for in this game


1) The Broncos should be able to run it up the middle with a little more success with DeVito, Mays, and Johnson out of this game. I look for them to establish the run game up the middle making KC have to respect the run game.


2) Our WR's have to hold onto the ball. DT and Caldwell just looked like they had a lack of focus that 2nd half. Those drops are big time drive killers that allowed the Colts back into the game.


3) Special Teams playing a clean game. If D'Anthony Thomas does play we are going to have to have our Punt coverage playing at their best. Colquitt needs to stop going for the long bomb and realize you cannot out punt your coverage unit. It just makes life hell on them and we got a bit lucky that a knee barely touched the ground. Throw in then Burse returning punts. Take the fair catch rookie! I know you want to make a big play but realize trying to do too much can be just as big of a play for the other team with a fumble.


4) Make Alex Smith beat us with his arm. I want (even though he is on my fantasy team) to see Charles have another bad day at the office. We cannot let them get the running game going early. Honestly I would have 7 in the box at all times or more. We have the coverage unit to be aggressive in that way.

 

[TDs3nOut]

Division rivalries tend to be overstated, in my opinion. There are certainly exceptions to that, but only when there are at least two teams who figure to contend for a SB in the same division. Not trying to put too much pressure on our guys, but I really think that Denver is far superior to KC, particularly in the absence of Derrick Johnson. I think we need to show that we are far superior to KC, since I feel we position ourselves much better going into Seattle if we play a solid 60 minutes this week than if we don't do that. (Just saying LOL)

 

[Malibu]

If the Broncos are what we think they should be on defense and offense this game should be over before the 4th quarter starts. Rivalries in the NFL are basically dead. Just saying.

 

[HOF-ELWAY-7]

I have read posters that think this will be a Denver white wash against the Chef's Sunday. It may well be but I think we are going to see a motivated Chef's team Sunday. KC will be very aware that if (when) they lose Sunday they will essentially be three games out already. I do expect the Broncos to take care of business and pull away late.

As far as Vickerson, good signing by the Chef's. He will be able to give them a little insight but not too much that the Chef's can't get off the tape. I never thought getting a player from a rival helps you all that much schematically.

Now to the X's & O's. I don't see any player groupings except for RB that the Chef's have an advantage. The Broncos run D looked great only giving up 54 yards. The Chef's will certainly try to get Charles involved but I see him being a bigger factor coming out of the backfield catching the ball. If there is a team we should be able to rack up the sacks it's KC, their O-Line looks pretty bad.

As far as our O VS the Chef's D we should be able to move the ball. Their front 7 took a big hit when DJ went down. The Chef's DB's are a mess.

I also think it's going to take a little longer for the new Broncos to assimilate and get running like a well oiled machine.

All of that said I think the Chef's are going to show up for a couple of quarters and make it a game for a while. I certainly understand why some think it won't be much of a game though.

 

[Duffman]

Maybe now that Vickerson is with KC he can screw them with dumb unsportsmanlike like penalties just as he did us last year. I counted 3 games where his dumb decisions kept drives going for our opponent that ended up hurting us instead of ending the drive.

But I look for the defense to be better at being on the same page now that they've played a full game and more consistant play from Miller, Harris, and Wolfe now that they've had another week to prepare for playing a full game.

 

[cdumler7]

I think Harris said it best when he admitted that he won't be 100% till about half way through the season. Seeing him and Miller on the field this last week was great to see but realizing they only played about half the snaps of the game reminds me that we could see a few struggles here early on in the season with needing to use so much more personnel. There are going to be some communication errors. We saw it on a few plays in the Indy game where guys were just wide open. I don't think those were coverage errors just somebody not doing their job.


It is the same for the running game in having 3 guys that did not play these positions last year playing together. As much as I want to see the run game just dominate I do think it is just going to take a bit of time. The goal is not to be at peak ability week 1. The goal is for the playoffs to be a well oiled machine.

 

[randymon]

I second that post. That`s why I gave Denver a 16 this wk