Spooky season may be over, but new fears just arose for the Kansas City Chiefs. The Seattle Seahawks just handed the Chiefs their first L of the season, and they did it with a blowout. Kansas City's depleted offensive line left Patrick Mahomes with little time to operate the offense, resulting in the Chiefs putting only three points on the board last week. The seemingly unstoppable Kenneth Walker III faced his former team and finished the day with only 36 rushing yards. He averaged just 2.6 yards per carry.
Kansas City now faces the tough task of defeating a divisional rival on the road to keep a tight hold of the AFC West. The Chiefs will see another strong defense today, and while Kansas City's offensive line is average-at-best according to this year's data, Pro Football Focus ranks Denver's offensive line as the league's 10th-best. Despite this strong protection, Broncos QB Bo Nix is still a mile away from being elite. His 80.7 Passer Rating for the season indicates that Nix is playing a little better than guys like Malik Willis and a little worse than guys like Kyler Murray and Jacoby Brissett. In Week 1, the Broncos limited Mahomes to a Passer Rating of 86, which was the lowest of his year until the Chiefs faced Seattle last week. Nix has surpassed that Rating only twice this season.
It seems like Mahomes can only be as bad as Bo Nix when Mahomes is at his worst. That's comforting for Chiefs Kingdom, but the Denver defense excels in attacking the opponent's QB in much the same way Seattle does, if not better. The Broncos have one fewer sack than the league-leading Green Bay Packers, who have played an extra game thanks to Thursday Night Football. This could limit the Chiefs offense once again, but with the return of Rashee Rice and another week strategizing around this currently constructed offensive line, Kansas City's offense should look more functional today. I'm picking the Chiefs to win this pivotal clash, 20-17.
