The Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs are again battling for playoff position late in the season. Both teams are 7-3 and looking to keep pace with the surprising (and lucky as hell) Oakland Raiders who are 8-2.
The Mile High Report staffs consensus final score is Broncos 23, Chiefs 17. A win is a win, so any score is a good score when the Broncos are the ones coming out on top.
Here is how we broke it down individually.
Broncos 28, Chiefs 20
After the bye week, the Broncos get to come back to play in prime time at home against a deep-rooted rival, KC. To Cheifs' fans dismay (and those of us to who have to listen to it) Von Miller loves to abuse Alex Smith, and he will be out to take back the lead in sacks on Sunday. The question is whether the offense can stay on the field long enough for Von and the rest of the defense to catch their breath. Hopefully Siemian and the offensive line got some stuff figured out over their break and the offense is able to get Booker his huge break out game. - Kelly Fleming
Broncos 25, Chiefs 17
Tampa Bay exposed all of KC's warts. Unfortunately for us, we don't have Doug Martin or Jameis Winston to abuse them with. Fortunately, we will have Andy Janovich back without a club (woohoo!) and AJ Derby has hinted at what could be an orangey future. Those two could give our offense a needed boost.
This game will come down to our secondary being the #NoFlyZone and our offense being average. If Siemian can just play at a 15th rank QB level, not the 26th he is, we will win. That means no turn overs. Give Reid more than one and his odds of winning go through the roof.
One thing we need to work on is wrapping KC up at the 25 or less. While our offense is ranked 9th best at starting position on drives (at the 29), ST is giving up that much to opposing offenses. Alex Smith can run and he can throw deep. Reid loves being conservative, but give Smith good starting spots and he could hurt us where we're most vulnerable- dink and dunk.
Limit TO to one, start KC at their 25 and do something at stopping the run and we win 25-17. - Julie Dixon
Broncos 21, Chiefs 16
I think that for the last 46 years Chiefs fans have been talking about that one time that they won the Super Bowl and that for the next 46 years they'll be talking about that one time they won the Super Bowl, 92 years ago. - Ian Henson
Broncos 20, Chiefs 16
The Broncos seemed to get to their bye week at just the right time. Injuries on the defensive side of the ball were starting to mount up. The offense has been limping along all season. The extra week of preparation can only help the offense figure out a solid game plan. The issue will be the relative health of Kansas City. Justin Houston will be more than happy to feast off Ty Sambrailo and Donald Stephenson. Whoever the Broncos turn to at right tackle, they will be in for a long day. That being said, this game will probably be a defensive slugfest. What do we know about Denver's D? They generally carry the team to victory in those games. This is more than a must win for the Broncos, and I think they rise to the occasion. The defense will get a touchdown, and win the turnover battle. Denver holds on for a tight win. - Adam Malnati
Broncos 31, Chiefs 14
Last time Denver came off the bye they had their best performance of the year on a Sunday night against a top team. I expect the same tonight as we get our defense full strength and rested, and the offense has had extra reps to build some continuity and hopefully figure some things out. No Dee Ford certainly helps too. - Jeff Essary
Broncos 23, Chiefs 17
My only prediction is to quote sterno74's prediction from the Ultimate Fan Guide: "The Broncos are going to crush the Chiefs souls and restore order to the universe." - Laurie Lattimore-Volkmann
Broncos 24, Chiefs 17
Who throws more interceptions? That's the story of this game. Will Siemian progress, not step into sacks and not throw 4-5 dropped interceptions? Or will he keep at his current league leading "dropped INT" pace? Will the welcome back party for Talib be fruitful with a key pick six? Or will captain checkdown continue to do just enough to win? As we saw last week, the Chiefs need to protect the ball at all cost to win, but so too does the Broncos. Where's this game played again? Oh yeah, Denver, where Talib gets his pick six and Von freshens up his cologne right in time for Alex Smith to smell it all day. Give me Denver in a mini-upset at home, where Aqib's score turns out to be the game winner. - Pete Baron
Broncos 17, Chiefs 13
I have no faith in this offense or “meh" quarterback, but this defense seems to find a way to deliver in the big moments and bail them out. It doesn’t get any bigger than this. And now that defense is getting two huge pieces back in Aqib Talib and Derek Wolfe. Denver’s defense must stop the Chiefs’ running game. That is the key to making KC's offense ineffective and throwing that walrus of a head coach for a loop. If the Broncos can add some semblance of a running game to that equation and the quarterback doesn’t screw it up, they should escape with a huge win. There is a big “if” there, so I’m not really confident. - Ian St. Clair
Broncos 17, Chiefs 16
What we have seen from the Broncos offense is what we’re going to get. I’m done making wild predictions that Trevor Siemian will suddenly ‘get it’ and I’m done making wild predictions that this offensive line just ‘needs time’. They are who they are in 2016.
Which means this team will continue to win games on the back of its defense, with the offense getting their shit together for a drive or three each game to make for another nail biting, heart stopping finish for these Broncos. Fortunately for them this week, the Chiefs are not even close to full strength and they are. I’m sticking with my prediction in an earlier post and calling it a one-point win for Denver. - Tim Lynch