Chiefs Broncos Line

Written by Steve Janus

The Denver Broncos will try and bring home the AFC West title when they host the Kansas City Chiefs in week 17. The Broncos are currently tied with the Raiders for the division lead at 8-7, but hold the tie breaker over Oakland. The Chiefs come in off a disappointing 13-16 overtime loss to the Raiders at home. Had Kansas City been able to win that game, they could have won the division with a win in Denver this Sunday. The Broncos beat the Chiefs 17-10 in Kansas City back in week 10, but haven’t swept the season series since 2007.

Taking a look at the week 17 NFL lines, oddsmakers currently have the Broncos favored by 3-points over the Chiefs with the total set at 37.5 points.

Kansas City Chiefs:

The big question coming into this game is whether or not the Chiefs will show up after such a heartbreaking loss last week. Kansas City had a chance to win the game in regulation, but Ryan Succop’s 49-yard attempt was blocked as time ran out. Knowing that the Chiefs could have won the division with a win this week, will only add to the pain of losing that game.

There is some motivation out there for the Chiefs players. Interim head coach Romeo Crennel is auditioning for the head coaching job, and a win this week would greatly improve his chances. Aside from getting revenge for an earlier loss to the Broncos, I have a pretty good feeling the players will jump at the bit to try and spoil the Broncos chances of winning the division.

One player that will definitely be focused and ready to play this week is starting quarterback Kyle Orton, who was claimed off waivers after being released by the Broncos. Orton has put some life into the Chiefs offense in his two starts. In those two games, Orton has thrown for 599 yards and a touchdown.

One thing Orton hasn’t been able to figure out, is how to get the Chiefs to take advantage of trips inside the redzone. Kansas City has scored just two touchdowns in their last nine trips inside the redzone.

The Chiefs will look to take advantage of a struggling Denver defense. The Broncos have allowed 81 points in their last two games, and are giving up 154.8 rushing yards a game over their last five outings.

Denver Broncos:

Who would have thought the Broncos would be heading into the final week of the regular season with a chance to win the division. It looked as though the Broncos were headed for another dismal season after starting the year 1-4, but the emergence of Tim Tebow has brought life to an organization that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2005.

Tebow took over for Orton in week 7 against the Dolphins. Tebow would rally the Broncos to a 18-15 overtime win and would go on to win seven of his first eight starts. However, things have not been going so well for Tebow and the Broncos the last couple weeks, especially last week at Buffalo. A lot of people expected the Broncos to go into Buffalo and easily beat a Bills team that had lost seven straight. They ended up losing the game 14-40.

Tebow had his worst start as a professional, and it gave the Broncos a good idea of what can happen if this team falls behind early. With Denver trailing and struggling to stop the Bills on defense, Tebow was forced to throw 29 times. He completed just 13 passes for 185 yards. Tebow turned the ball over four times (3 INTs/1 fumble), two of which were returned for touchdowns on back-t0-back plays.

The last time the Broncos faced the Chiefs, Tebow attempts just eight passes the entire game. He completed just two passes, but one was a 56-yard touchdown to Eric Decker that proved to be the game winner. Denver did rush for 244 yards in the win, and I expect them to take a similar approach to this week’s game against Kansas City.

Betting Trends:

Kansas City is 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games as an underdog of 0.5-3.0.

Denver is 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games after scoring less than 15 points in their previous game.

Be sure to stop back and check out who Steve Janus has picked to win this week in the NFL.

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