Denver (12-3) at Kansas City (6-9)
Thursday, 8:15 p.m. EST, Amazon Prime Video.
Against the spread: Broncos 6-8-1; Chiefs 5-9-1.
Series record: Chiefs lead 73-58.
Last meeting: Broncos beat Chiefs 22-19 on Nov. 16 in Denver.
Last week: Broncos lost to Jaguars 34-20 in Denver; Chiefs lost to Titans 26-9 in Tennessee.
Broncos offense: overall (9), rush (18), pass (8), scoring (13).
Broncos defense: overall (4), rush (2), pass (10), scoring (5).
Chiefs offense: overall (13), rush (22), pass (9), scoring (20).
Chiefs defense: overall (10), rush (8), pass (12), scoring (4).
Turnover differential: Broncos minus-4; Chiefs minus-2.
WR Courtland Sutton needs 28 yards receiving to become the first Broncos player with back-to-back 1,000 yards seasons since Emmanuel Sanders (2014-16) and Demaryius Thomas (2012-16).
QB Chris Oladokun finished out last week's game against the Titans once Gardner Minshew joined Patrick Mahomes in tearing his ACL in consecutive weeks. Now, the former South Florida, Samford and South Dakota State quarterback — a seventh-round pick in 2022 — could make his first NFL start.
The Chiefs quarterback against the Broncos pass rush, which is the best in the league. They have 63 sacks, or 13 more than the second-place Falcons, and more than double what Kansas City (31) has had this season.
Chiefs: CBs Trent McDuffie (knee) and Jaylen Watson (groin) and WRs Nikko Remigio (knee), Rashee Rice (concussion) and Tyquan Thornton (concussion) missed practice this week. QB Gardner Minshew (torn ACL) went on injured reserve.
Broncos: LB Dre Greenlaw has been dealing with a hamstring injury. WR Pat Bryant (concussion), C Luke Wattenberg (shoulder), TE Nate Adkins (knee) have also been out. LBs Justin Strnad (foot) and Karene Reid (hamstring) were full participants this week.
The Chiefs won 16 consecutive games in the series beginning in November 2015 and ending in October 2023. But since then, the Broncos have won three of the past four, including their matchup earlier this season in Denver. Each of those three wins have come at home for the Broncos; they still have not won in Kansas City since Sept. 17, 2015.
Broncos QB Bo Nix is tied for the second-most victories over the first two seasons at his position with 22. ... Nix needs one TD pass to become the fourth QB in NFL history with at least 25 in each of his first two seasons. ... Two of Nix’s protectors earned their first Pro Bowl starting bids in G Quinn Meinerz and ninth-year veteran T Garett Bolles, who leads the league in pass-blocking efficiency and has yet to allow a sack this season. ... WR Courtland Sutton has moved into fifth in Broncos history with 6,226 yards receiving. ... Broncos LB Nik Bonitto needs one sack to joins Simon Fletcher as the only players in team history with at least 13 1/2 in back-to-back seasons. ... Chiefs TE Travis Kelce needs 46 yards to become the fastest at his position to reach 13,000 in NFL history. Kelce has caught a pass in 189 straight games, the longest streak in Chiefs history and longest active streak in the NFL. ... Chiefs K Harrison Butker has missed at least one PAT or FG attempt in eight of their 15 games. Kansas City was 1 for 9 on third down and finished with 133 total yards last week against the Titans. Nearly half of those yards were offset by 10 penalties for 59 yards.
Broncos RB R.J Harvey could have a huge day against a beaten-up Kansas City defense, one week after the Titans' Tony Pollard eclipsed 100 yards against it. The Chiefs offense has been decimated by injuries, which means they could be punting a lot, giving the Broncos the ball for long stretches. And if the game gets out of hand early — a distinct possibility — then it could be Harvey getting fed simply to run out the clock.
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