Five things to know about the Chiefs’ next opponent: Denver Broncos (round 2)
You can expect some Chiefs fans to be torn on Sunday.
The Denver Broncos are coming to town, which usually means it’s easy to root against the guys in orange and blue.
But Denver has a certain rookie quarterback that will have people rooting for him. And that quarterback helped Denver, 5-8, get a big 38-24 win over the Texans in Houston on Sunday.
Each week I take an early look at the Chiefs’ next opponent, and here are five things to know about the Broncos ahead of Sunday’s game, which kicks off at noon and will be broadcast on CBS (Ch. 5):
1. Drew Lock
You’ll undoubtedly hear a lot about the Denver’s rookie quarterback in the coming days. Drew Lock, the former Mizzou and Lee’s Summit star quarterback has been sensational in his first two NFL starts.
Lock, who missed the Broncos’ first 11 games after suffering a thumb injury in the preseason, has completed 72.7% of his passes for five touchdowns, two interceptions and a 111.4 quarterback rating.
Most importantly, the Broncos are 2-0 in his starts.
Here is one of his touchdown throws from Sunday:
Lock’s performance against the Texans was, well, unprecedented:
2. Spreading the love
Lock completed passes to nine players on Sunday and doesn’t appear to have a go-to receiver.
In the Broncos’ 23-20 win over the Chargers on Dec. 1, Courtland Sutton had four receptions for 74 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Tight end Jeff Heuerman had three catches in that contest.
On Sunday, tight end Noah Fant caught four passes for 115 yards and a touchdown, while receiver Tim Patrick caught two passes for 50 yards.
Here is the touchdown to Fant:
Sutton leads the Broncos with 54 catches this season and 904 receiving yards.
3. Creating turnovers
The Broncos had three takeaways Sunday and their defense has created eight turnovers in the last four games.
Denver is plus-four in turnover differential over their last four games, which is a big change from early in the season. Through the first four games of the season, Denver had no takeaways and five turnovers.
4. Sack issues
The Broncos have struggled to get to opposing quarterbacks this season, with just 31 sacks, which ranks 21st in the NFL. Derek Wolfe has a team-best save sacks and Von Miller has six.
Denver’s scoring defense is ranked 10th in the NFL (20.1 points per game). The Broncos are 11th in total defense, allowing opponents 331.2 yards per game. They have the NFL’s sixth-best pass defense (215.9 yards per game).
5. Special teams
Kicker Brandon McManus is perfect on field-goal attempts inside 40 yards on the season (12 of 12), is eight of 10 on tries between 40 and 49 yards. He is three of five from 50-plus yards. McManus has made 21 of 22 extra-point attempts.
Punter Colby Wadman is averaging 43.8 yards per kick, but his net average of 39.0 yards is tied for 27th in the NFL.
One bright spot: Denver is second in the NFL in kickoff returns, averaging 27.3 yards. The Chicago Bears are ranked first (27.8).
