Chiefs go for 16th straight win over reeling Broncos
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[October 11, 2023]
The last time the Kansas City Chiefs lost to the Denver
Broncos, star quarterback Patrick Mahomes was a sophomore at Texas
Tech.
Kansas City began its dominance prior to Mahomes' arrival and now
looks to post its 16th straight victory over the visiting Broncos
when the teams meet on Thursday night.
Mahomes, a two-time MVP, is 11-0 as a starter against AFC West rival
Denver. However, he said the streak doesn't matter on game night.
"When you play a team like the Broncos, same with any division
opponent, there's just another level of intensity," Mahomes said
Tuesday. "I'm not worried about necessarily a streak or anything
like that. I'm worried about winning against a division opponent.
... It doesn't matter what the records are. It's gonna be a close
game."
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The Chiefs (4-1) enter Thursday with a four-game winning streak
while the Broncos (1-4) have been one of the worst teams in the NFL
in Sean Payton's first season as coach.
Still, Denver quarterback Russell Wilson points to last season's two
meetings as evidence of his team being able to stick with Kansas
City. The Chiefs won 34-28 at Denver and 27-24 at home in 2022.
"We had good battles against them last year, both of them came down
to the wire," Wilson said Tuesday. "It's a great football team on
their side and we have to play great football, we have to play
clean. We're going into a tough environment."
The Broncos have been abysmal on defense this season and rank last
in scoring defense (36.2 points per game), total defense (450.6
yards allowed per game) and rushing defense (187.6 yards allowed per
game). Denver is the lone team to allow over 2,000 yards so far this
season (2,253).
The Broncos have allowed a staggering 877 yards on the ground over
the past four games. The New York Jets rushed for 234 yards -- 177
by Breece Hall -- in a 31-21 road win over Denver on Sunday.
"It's going to be tough to win games if we can't stop the run
defensively, and we have to get it cleaned up," Payton said.
Perhaps Kansas City's hard-running Isiah Pacheco (325 rushing yards,
three touchdowns) is in line for a big game.
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Chiefs star tight end Travis Kelce is aiming to
play on Thursday. He sprained his right ankle on Sunday in Kansas
City's 27-20 victory over the Minnesota Vikings in Minneapolis. He
missed practice Monday and was limited Tuesday.
Kelce caught 10 passes against the Vikings -- five before he hurt
the ankle late in the first half and five during a single
third-quarter drive after returning to action. He caught a touchdown
pass to end that excursion.
Mahomes expects Kelce to answer the bell on Thursday night.
"That's a legendary type game," Mahomes said of Kelce's performance
at Minnesota. "I mean, to be able to battle through that. I didn't
see the injury live, so I didn't know how bad it was, but looking
back at it now and seeing how the ankle rolled and then being able
to come back out there and play at a high level and score a
touchdown that we needed to win the game -- it speaks to not only
the talent that he has, but the toughness that he has."
The Broncos began the 21-day window to activate tight end Greg
Dulcich from injured reserve on Tuesday. Payton said Dulcich, who
injured his hamstring in the season opener, is "close" to being
ready for activation. Dulcich was limited during Tuesday's practice.
Denver defensive tackle D.J. Jones (knee) and outside linebacker
Frank Clark (illness) missed practice on Tuesday. Among the five
Broncos who joined Dulcich as limited were safety Justin Simmons
(hip) and center Lloyd Cushenberry III (quadriceps).
Joining Kelce as limited during the Chiefs' Tuesday practice were
linebacker Nick Bolton (ankle) and defensive end George Karlaftis
(hamstring).
--Field Level Media
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