Denver Broncos Small Favorites Over Kansas City Chiefs

NFL News - November 30th, 2009 - Written by John

Ever since losing miserably to the San Diego Chargers to cough up ownership of the AFC West lead, the Denver Broncos have known they must keep pace to retain a playoff spot. Sunday will be a good measuring stick as the Broncos travel to Kansas City to face a Chiefs team that was handled by San Diego last week. A huge win may not be necessary, but at least a double-digit win would go a long ways in keeping the media off their backs for another week.

2009 NFL Week 13 Betting Odds show Denver as a 4 1/2-point favorite, according to BetUS, with a total of 38.

The Broncos are 7-4 and it is clear that they are a better team with a healthy Kyle Orton under center. In their two most-recent losses, Orton was knocked out of the game against Washington, and then was substituted in below 100-percent against the Chargers. But against the New York Giants on Thanksgiving, Orton clearly looked healthy, throwing for 245 yards and a touchdown.

Knowshon Moreno had 88 yards and a score, and Brandon Marshall caught six passes for 86 yards.

The in-house bickering between players has seemed to die down, which usually happens with a win, and a 10-win season is not out of the question. After this week, Denver gets the Oakland Raiders at home in Week 15, then Kansas City at home in the season finale. Winning those, along with this week would probably be enough to squeak into the wild card round.

For Kansas City, it's been an enigmatic year.

After stunning the football landscape with an overtime win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Kansas City Chiefs took another major step backwards in a 43-14 blowout loss to the San Diego Chargers. Matt Cassel turned the ball over two times, including a fumble that was returned for a touchdown, and looked bad for the first time since throwing three picks in Week Seven.

Jamaal Charles and Chris Chambers each scored touchdowns, which is a good sign for a team looking to replace former starters Larry Johnson and Dwayne Bowe. But the defensive woes kept coming, allowing Antonio Gates and LaDainian Tomlinson to score two touchdowns each.

Denver boasts the sixth-ranked defense, while Kansas City has the 3rd worst offense and defense. However, neither team is particularly proficient in forcing turnovers, however. Kansas City has only six interceptions, and Denver has seven.

The Chiefs are 5-1 at home against Denver since 2003, including a 33-19 win at Arrowhead last year.