Ice and snow blanket the Kansas City streets today, but the Red and Gold Report refuses to rest. Many key starters for the Chiefs will rest today, though, because the #1 seed is already assured. Chris Jones, Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes are all sitting out today as healthy non-participants. Jawaan Taylor and Isiah Pacheco will sit due to short-term injury concerns. Even with all these key pieces of KC's starting roster taking today off, there is no guarantee for victory for the Chiefs' opposition.
The 9-7 Denver Broncos can clinch a playoff berth with a win today, but a loss ends their season. A team that relies on a defense ranking fifth in the NFL in total yards allowed per game will now need to trust a rookie quarterback in his first do-or-die scenario. The guy the Chiefs are playing at quarterback isn't so bad, by the way. Carson Wentz is a 32-year-old former Pro Bowler and a #2 overall draft pick. In his last full season as a starter, he played 17 games for the Indianapolis Colts and posted a 94.6 Passer Rating. That Rating was 17th in the league, while Mahomes' Rating from that year ranked 15th.
Denver's potential franchise QB Bo Nix has compiled a Passer Rating of 89.2 in his rookie campaign. He's thrown two fewer touchdown passes and five more interceptions than Wentz when Wentz played his last full season. I know Vegas has the Broncos favored at home by 10.5 points, but I'm not so sure that the Carson Wentz Chiefs are more than a touchdown and a field goal worse than the Broncos. Left tackle D.J Humphries and a big chunk of the Chiefs secondary will be going at full-speed to get playoff-ready today. That's enough to make me believe the Chiefs will cover the spread, but I can't go all the way and predict a KC victory. I'm predicting a 23-20 defeat for the resting, reigning champs.
