Gametime: Sunday, December 15, 2019, at 12 p.m.
Location: Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, MO
Network: CBS
Radio (Kansas City residence): Chiefs Fox Football Radio Network KCFX (101.1)
Following a statement victory over the New England Patriots, the Kansas City Chiefs (9-4) look to get closer towards earning a first-round bye in the postseason with a victory over the Denver Broncos (5-8) in the 120th all-time meeting between the two rivals
Kansas City has won 27 of the last 30 games against AFC West opponents under Head Coach Andy Reid and have beaten Denver in each of the last eight games against them and will be looking to make it nine straight on Sunday.
Last time these two teams met, quarterback Patrick Mahomes played less than a half of football and despite that, scored 30 points, the most Denver has allowed all season.
It was also when the defense showed their first signs of resurgence, sacking quarterback Joe Flacco nine times and holding running backs Phillip Lindsay and Royce Freeman to a combined 71 yards on 21 carries.
But things will be a little different this time around.
Denver comes into Arrowhead with a ton of confidence, having won two straight, and that’s because of rookie quarterback, Drew Lock, who’s finding some early success this season through two games.
Lock is coming off a stout performance following a 38-24 victory over the Houston Texans and became the first player in NFL history to throw for 300 yards and 3 touchdowns in his first road start.
Lock will look to continue his success by putting up the same kind of numbers against the defense that made a mockery of his team two months prior, at Mile High and has since improved.
In their last three games, Kansas City’s defense has allowed an average of 14 points per game. They’ve also allowed just 10 of 36 third-down conversion attempts to result in first downs and 3 of 10 red zone trips to result in touchdowns according to Official Chiefs Reporter B.J. Kissel.
Meanwhile, Lock has spent 78 percent of the time playing with a lead or while his team was tied during his first two games. This means he’s yet to play from behind or face some type of adversity and it’s anyone’s guess of how he’ll handle it but you can be sure that Kansas City will dial up some early blitz packages to find out.
Offensively, the Chiefs will look to continue what they did against Denver’s defense the last time they played them. The Broncos top-ranked pass defense struggled to cover all the speed that Kansas City has in their arsenal which allowed Matt Moore to find holes in their coverage schemes.
Now, they’ll be taking on a fully healthy Patrick Mahomes for a full four quarters as the Chiefs look to move past Denver to keep the pressure on New England for the second seed in the AFC playoff picture.
