The Kansas City Chiefs will host their last home game of the regular season in Week 17 against the Denver Broncos.
By winning this game the Chiefs will finish 7-1 at home on the season and sweep the Broncos for the seventh-consecutive year. Kansas City beat Denver just three weeks ago by a score of 34-28, surviving a furious comeback by the Broncos after jumping out to a 27-0 lead.
The Broncos are trying to get to the finish line of a dreadful season. They own the second-worst record in the AFC at 4-11 and just fired their head coach Nathaniel Hackett on Monday. They have promoted senior assistant coach Jerry Rosburg to interim head coach.
Check out our gameplan preview from when these two teams met back in Week 14. There you’ll find more specifics about the Broncos’ offensive and defensive schematics. Now, let’s dive into their Week 17 matchup.
Chiefs' defense vs. Broncos' offense
With just two games left to play the Broncos’ offense isn’t likely to change much, if at all, despite the firing of Hackett. Usually, when a coaching change takes place the interim coach likes to go back to basics and keep things simple.
Quarterback Russell Wilson threw three interceptions last week and is having a difficult season overall, so I would expect Denver to run the ball early and often in this game. The one thing the Broncos did a decent job of in their blowout loss to the Los Angeles Rams last week was running the football, racking up 104 yards with a 5.2-yard per carry average.
Wilson will surely take a couple of shots off play-action. He has been in a good groove with receiver Jerry Jeudy as of late, connecting with him 21 times over the past three weeks. Wilson and Jeudy both had their best performances of the season against K.C. in Week 14, hooking up for three touchdowns.
Chiefs’ cornerback L’Jarius Sneed shadowed Seahawks’ No. 1 receiver DK Metcalf last week, so it will be curious to see if Sneed does the same with Jeudy this week. Another focus for the Chiefs’ defense will be limiting Wilson’s running ability. In their last meeting, Wilson was able to keep drives going by rushing for a season-high 57 yards.
Chiefs' offense vs. Broncos' defense
Interceptions were the Achilles heel for quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense against the Broncos in Week 14. Mahomes’ three picks helped the Broncos mount a comeback in a game that K.C. should have won comfortably. Denver may be having a bad season but make no mistake that its passing defense is among the best in the league.
You can bet taking care of the ball will be at the forefront of Mahomes’ mind this time around. Despite the INTs, Mahomes made a lot of big plays in that game, finishing with 352 passing yards and three touchdowns. His favorite target lately has surprisingly been running back Jerick McKinnon, connecting with him 18 times for four touchdowns over the past three weeks.
McKinnon has been a thorn in the side for the Broncos, racking up 184 total yards and three touchdowns in his last two games against them. The Chiefs may as well continue to ride his hot hand, especially since the Broncos have a great secondary.
Two players the Chiefs’ offense didn’t have in the first matchup with Denver were receivers Kadarius Toney and Mecole Hardman. Toney will certainly play in this game as he returned two weeks ago, and Hardman is on track to make his return from injured reserve. Toney and Hardman are explosive playmakers and make the Chiefs’ red zone offense even more dangerous.
