Beating up on the Pats in New England sure felt good, but now our Kansas City Chiefs return to Arrowhead to avoid the dreaded "trap game". The confidence for KC is riding high right now, and the 5-8 Denver Broncos are an objectively inferior squad this season, so does Chiefs Kingdom have any good reasons to fear this matchup?
Two key factors could make today's game closer than Chiefs fans would like. First off, the weather's going to be nasty. Local forecasts are now saying temperatures at the stadium will hover around freezing, and a blanket of snow already coats the field as of two hours before kickoff. KC's first-string running back Damien Williams is injured today, and the Chiefs struggle on the ground this year even when Damien's healthy, so perhaps this could cost them today. Patrick Mahomes' impressive-but-short resume would look great with a few more wins in inclement weather, but Denver would love to play spoiler in the snow today.
The other obvious difference between today's game and that 30-6 Chiefs win in mid-October is the Broncos' recent change at the sport's most important position. Drew Lock provides Denver with an inexperienced wild card at QB instead of a consistently sub-par option in Joey Flacco. Lock's effectiveness has led Denver to back-to-back wins over the Chargers and Texans in the Broncos' last two games. In these wins, Lock has a completion percentage over 72 with 441 passing yards and five touchdowns. Is it actually possible that Broncos GM John Elway finally found himself a QB that doesn't stink? Only time will tell.
Despite these two significant factors, KC should be victorious today, and I presume a large fraction of Chiefs Kingdom would be disappointed if Denver can even make it close. The Chiefs have found ways to win without a good run game all throughout this season, and as good as Lock may be, his best-case-scenario for today is still equivalent to an average game from Patrick Mahomes. KC may not sack Drew Lock 30 times like they did to Flacco, but they should pressure the rookie replacement enough to make him uncomfortable and force him to eat his first L ever as an NFL QB.
Doug LaCerte is now the proud father of a rescue puppy, so don't resent him for not updating his Twitter and Facebook.
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