Broncos aim to ‘shake up the division’ when they play Chiefs on Sunday
On Sept. 17, 2015, the Royals were roughly a week away from clinching the American League Central title, their first step toward their World Series championship run.
That day also was the last time the Broncos beat the Chiefs. Since then, the Chiefs have won eight straight games against their AFC West rival.
The Broncos talked about facing the Chiefs this Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium in videos shared on the Broncos’ website, and they see an opportunity to change the narrative in the series.
“I mean every division game is is important and we struggled against the Chiefs the past eight times,” Broncos receiver Courtland Sutton said. “So, if we can go in — not if — when we go in and take care of business in Kansas City, it’s going to definitely shake up the division a little bit, and people are going to start putting us in a conversation of a team that can win the division. The Chiefs have been running it (the division) for a while and it’s upon us to start the wave, so why not this next game?”
Denver (5-8) has won its last two games, including one against the Chargers. The Broncos have a slight chance of making the playoffs.
“We have Chiefs and Raiders to end the season, and those are two divisional games and it’s very important for us to take control of this division,” Sutton said. “We took care of the Chargers and now we get opportunities to go and get revenge on the Chiefs and the Raiders from taking losses in the beginning of the season to those two teams. So these next few games, whether playoffs, wild card, any of those things are in reach, it doesn’t matter ... these two last division games are very, very important for us moving forward into next season.”
The Broncos are coming off a 38-24 win at Houston, which is leading the AFC South. At one point, Denver led 38-3.
Sutton wants to see the Broncos play with the same energy at Arrowhead Stadium.
“It’s really good to see us go out and put together two good wins against the Chargers and Texans, especially that Texans game. That was huge going into their house and beating them after they just beat the Patriots,” he said. “So it was really key for us to go take care of that businesses as we did.
“It’s good to be able to have that positive energy going into this next week against Kansas City and moving into the rest of the season. Going to Kansas City, we’re going to use that same mind-set that we had going into Houston and taking that to Kansas City of emptying the tank and taking advantage of the opportunity that we get. They might have won the division, but they still have to play us so that’s gonna be a lot of fun for sure.”
Here is what others were saying:
Running back Phillip Lindsay
On the Chiefs setting the bar in the AFC West
“This organization for a long time has been on top, and we need to get back to that, and if you want to do that, you’ve got to beat the Chiefs. Right now the Chiefs have been on top of the division for a long time, so we need to find a way to win this game and start a streak for ourself. That’s not not the easiest thing but it’s doable. At the end of the day, this is NFL football and we’ve just got to go out there and play our game.”
On the Chiefs’ 30-6 win at Denver on Oct. 17
“Oh for sure, we got our butts whooped. Period. They came out there and they handled business and we didn’t. And the fact is that we weren’t prepared mentally, physically and we didn’t go out with the game plan like we were supposed to, and we didn’t execute. ... There was a run there I could have busted for 75 yards and I got stopped for 7. It’s things like that. But now you go back and you know what you gotta do. You gotta execute and we gotta be aggressive. We gotta be physical. It’s a hard-hitting game, and the Chiefs are going to come out and you know they’re going to be who they are. For us, we got to go out there and we have to play ball. You know they’re gonna punch we gotta punched back. It’s gonna be a dog fight.”
Broncos coach Vic Fangio
On if he expects Chiefs to change play-calling because of Mahomes’ hand injury
“Maybe a little bit but not a lot. When he had that hand injury that was stinging him in the second half in the Patriot game, Andy (Reid) said he changed his play-calling a little bit in that game but not a lot.”
Would Denver adjust its game plan if Mahomes is injured?
“Potentially if you’re seeing something significant, but I think that guy will play through whatever he has and figure out a way to make the throws they’re asking him to make.”
This story was originally published December 12, 2019 at 11:14 AM.
