Denver Broncos: Could They Be Poised for an Upset at the Kansas City Chiefs?

Given the week that was, it’s hard to fathom the Denver Broncos pulling off a big road win following another week of drama at Dove Valley.

Last Friday the Denver Broncos and head coach Josh McDaniels were fined for their part in what is now known as Spygate II.

It was a situation that saw the team terminate video director Steve Scarnecchia, who now faces a lifetime ban from the NFL.

Certainly early in the week following the home loss to the St. Louis Rams, the situation began to take its toll on the Josh McDaniels regime.

Without a doubt McDaniels' popularity in Denver is at an all-time low, so much so that by late Tuesday Broncos owner Pat Bowlen had statements that both endorsed Josh for another season and stated that he was still under review.

Don’t be fooled—while Spygate II did not have an immediate impact on the Broncos players for last week’s game, this week it certainly has. For any team to have their current coaches' job on the line, along with their own, that sort of pressure can be a tipping point.

Mr. Bowlen himself is spending his days at practice, something he has always done, but certainly it’s the thing he has done more of historically speaking when he felt his team needed a change. In McDaniels' case that may be reformulating the front office and coaching staff to better support the head coach, who clearly needs to relinquish some of the control over his team.

With such a foggy situation and winter essentially here and on the way, you’d think it would be dark and gloomy in the Mile High City this week, but it wasn’t. It was sunny and cool, just like the blaring music heard Thursday afternoon as much as a block away from the facility.

What that indicates is the team was working to shake off the early criticism of the week. The Denver Broncos are probably going to show up in Kansas City as a very loose bunch with an “us against the world” mentality.

Don’t be surprised if the Broncos are poised and ready. They do have the knowledge of their prior beatdown of the Chiefs in Denver, and what a motivator that will be for Kansas City.

If ever Josh McDaniels was going to salvage his time in Denver, it is now. It has to start now; he is up against it with a 3-2 count and two outs, down by a lot of runs, but it’s not insurmountable. McDaniels, however, has no choice but to deliver with some consecutive hits. His only out is in trusting his team.

The weather in Kansas City is forecasted to be a very cool 36 degrees and cloudy.

It’s a perfect way to face the cloudy issues head-on in what promises to be an interesting game.

The Kansas City Chiefs appear to be a team on the way up, and the Broncos have been tanking more than the Titanic, only the captain has refused to go down with the ship. Perhaps he’s in denial, but his competitive streak won’t allow him to surrender either. That is something that gives McDaniels and the Broncos more than a shooter's chance to win in old KC.

Currently the Broncos are a nine-point dog to the Chiefs, yet Kansas City has acted like they already own the division, even after losing so handily to Denver just three short weeks ago. Keep in mind Josh’s team is largely filled with Josh’s guys who won’t go down without a fight.

So if you think KC has this game hands down, you might be right, but don’t be surprised if Denver is poised for the upset.