Chiefs vs. Broncos: What Are the Experts Saying About Denver's Chances?
The Denver Broncos kicked off the start of the 2014 season with a win over the Indianapolis Colts in Week 1. Peyton Manning was able to outduel Andrew Luck, and the Broncos came out on top, 31-24.
In Week 2, Manning is unlikely to get into a shootout. The Kansas City Chiefs come to the Mile High City for a division rivalry game.
The Chiefs were shocked last week at home against the upstart Tennessee Titans, and they are licking their significant wounds. The defense lost starters linerback Derrick Johnson and defensive end Mike DeVito for the season, and that won’t help them slow down the Broncos offense. The offense gets Dwayne Bowe back from his one-game suspension, but they still lack the firepower necessary to stay with Manning and the Broncos.
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The Broncos are not overlooking this game, even though they have a Super Bowl rematch on the road against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 3. I interviewed strong safety T.J. Ward on my ESPN Denver radio show on Thursday and asked him if the team was overlooking the Chiefs because of the big game next week.
“Oh, not at all. The Chiefs are the only thing on our minds right now.” Ward continued, “We’ve had a good week of practice, communication is getting better by the day and we’re definitely not overlooking anyone—especially a division opponent like the Chiefs. They had a bad week [in Week 1], but we’re expecting them to try and bounce back strong. We’re totally prepared for what they’ve got.”
During the regular season, various media sites have their analysts put out their picks for the week. The film study is done, the injury report is updated and now the predictions will be made.
It’s time to take a look at those picks for the Chiefs versus Broncos game from some of the top analysts on the Internet. Here’s what the experts are saying about the Broncos in their first division matchup.
| Expert | Affiliation | Pick |
| Pete Prisco | CBS Sports | Broncos |
| Jason La Canfora | CBS Sports | Broncos |
| Will Brinson | CBS Sports | Broncos |
| Gregg Rosenthal | NFL Network | Broncos |
| Marc Sessler | NFL Network | Broncos |
| Chris Wesseling | NFL Network | Broncos |
| Mike Garafolo | Fox Sports | Broncos |
| Alex Marvez | Fox Sports | Broncos |
| Brendon Ayanbadejo | Fox Sports | Broncos |
| Mark Schlereth | ESPN | Broncos |
| Adam Schefter | ESPN | Broncos |
| Chris Mortensen | ESPN | Broncos |
| Ron Jaworski | ESPN | Broncos |
| Vinnie Iyer | Sporting News | Broncos |
| Bleacher Report Experts | Bleacher Report | Broncos |
| Mike Florio | Pro Football Talk | Broncos |
It should come as zero surprise to even the most diehard Chiefs fan that zero experts chose Kansas City to win. The results were unanimous for a reason—Denver simply has too much (on both sides of the ball) for Kansas City to handle.
The Chiefs have a good pass rush, featuring guys like Tamba Hali or Justin Houston (maybe Dee Ford), but they could struggle to get to Manning because of his quick release. The Colts went after Manning early and often in Week 1, and they were only able to sack him one time.
Manning with time to throw equals lots of yards through the air. Emmanuel Sanders and Julius Thomas could have big games again because both are big pieces to the passing game.
Expect the Broncos to go out of their way to get Demaryius Thomas his stats. Last week, Manning targeted Thomas a team-high 11 times, but only four of those passes were caught. Four passes were dropped, and Thomas seemed frustrated. The Broncos should work hard to alleviate those problems.
The Denver ground game is led by Montee Ball. The second-year pro received 23 carries last week, but he averaged only 2.9 yards per carry. In looking at the film closely, I believe timing problems were the biggest issue for Ball in Week 1.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Broncos primary concern is slowing down running back Jamaal Charles. Curiously, Charles received only 11 touches last week in the loss to the Titans. We’re likely to see Charles get twice that many touches in Week 2. His speed makes him a threat to score every time he touches the ball, and if the Broncos bottle him up then the Chiefs really don’t stand a chance.
Alex Smith doesn’t scare a defense. Yes, he’ll be getting Bowe back this week but that will barely help. If (when) the Chiefs fall behind, the offense is not built to succeed playing catchup football.
It’s no wonder why every expert is picking Denver, and it’s not even close.
You can find all the picks from the table at the links below:
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