The Denver Broncos closed out last year’s regular season at Arrowhead Stadium against their longtime division rivals, the Kansas City Chiefs. The prior week, the Chiefs had locked up the top playoff seed in the American Football Conference, and the Broncos needed a win to assure a Wild Card berth.
The Chiefs didn’t need it, had already won 15 of 16 regular season games, and the game was big for the Broncos. With that as the lead-in the obvious happened, the books made the Broncos an 11-point road favorite and they blew away the home team, 38-0.
Now, one year later, the Broncos are again heading to Arrowhead and are this year looking for the top seed for the AFC playoffs and the Chiefs have nothing to play for. The difference this season is the Chiefs have nothing to play for because they have been eliminated from the playoffs.
So, will this result be different?
Will the Chiefs pride emerge from their disappointing season, and can they survive the Broncos visit while the home team is forced to be led on the field by a third-string quarterback?
The books don’t think so … the Broncos are 13-point road favorites.