On Monday Night Football, the Denver Broncos will travel to Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri to take on the AFC West leading Chiefs. This Monday Night Football matchup will kick off at 8:30 PM/ET.
Coming into week eight, the Broncos and the Chiefs are both in the midst of two-game losing streaks. Denver’s offense has dried up, while opponents have begun to decipher the Chiefs offense. Defensively, both these teams are struggling to slow down their opponent. The Broncos need to win this game to keep pace with the first place Chiefs. With a win, Kansas City can separate themselves from the rest of the AFC West.
The Broncos offense is free-falling.
According to NFL Stats, the Broncos have the 15th ranked offense in the NFL. The last few weeks, however, Denver has played far below average on offense. Last week against the Chargers, the Broncos were held to 251 total yards. Through eight weeks, Siemian has thrown eight touchdowns to seven interceptions, but since week three, Siemian has thrown two touchdowns to five interceptions. That’s a bad trend for a team that relies on their offense to protect the football.
Despite the poor play of the offense, the Broncos defense is giving up the fewest yards per game. According to NFL Stats, the Broncos are allowing a league-best 258 yards per game. If the Broncos are going to pull out the victory over the Chiefs, then they’ll need their defense to shut down the Chiefs offense and force a few turnovers. Denver hasn’t had a lot of success forcing turnovers, however, with their offense struggling to score, they’ll need their defense to provide Siemian with a shorter field.
The Chiefs offensive machine is no longer unstoppable.
The Chiefs, losers of their last two games, are no longer looking invincible. In the past two weeks, opponents have answered the question: how to stop this Chiefs offense?
It looks as though the Steelers have given the rest of the league a blueprint for slowing down Kansas City’s rushing attack. In week seven, the Chiefs were held to 28 yards rushing on 15 carries.
Kareem Hunt put up his worst performance of the season; his nine carries resulted in a meager 21 yards. Hunt bounced back in week seven, but it was still not enough to beat the Raiders on the road.
Coming into this week, expect Hunt to get a bigger role in the passing game, as well as a return to rushing the ball down their opponents’ throats. Expect 100 yards plus performance.
Last week in a loss to the Raiders, Alex Smith passed for 342 yards and three touchdowns. Smith continues his renaissance season. Smith’s stat line is incredible; he’s passed for 15 touchdowns to zero interceptions. Against a Broncos secondary that isn’t forcing many turnovers, expect Smith’s interception-less streak to continue.
Despite losing their past two games, the Chiefs are nicely positioned atop the AFC as one of the top three contenders. What’s holding them back, however, is the play of their defense. According to NFL Stats, the Chiefs have the 29th ranked pass defense. They’re giving up 396 yards per game. The Chief’s leaky defense is allowing their opponents to stay in games, negating their offenses’ tremendous production. If the Chiefs are truly going to contend this season, they’ll need their defense to win them a few games.
Chiefs vs Broncos Betting Lines
BetOnline.ag has the Chiefs favored to win the game by 7.5 points. The over/under on total points scored is 42. You can read our full BetOnline review here.
My Pick
Betting on the Broncos is a risky play because of their suspect offense. If the Broncos are to win consistently this season, they’ll need to return to running the ball and winning with their defense. Siemian is clearly not their franchise quarterback. They’re a team that needs to play from ahead with a lead, and facing a Chiefs offense that’s motivated will make that proposition a challenge. Expect the Chiefs to come out in this game and get a big lead quickly. Despite their strong defense, the Chiefs should do enough to win easily.
Play: Chiefs -7.5 @ BetOnline.ag
2017 Monday Night Football • Denver Broncos betting • Kansas City Chiefs • Monday Night Football Betting