Broncos' Defense Must Win 5 Crucial Matchups to Beat Chiefs

If the Denver Broncos' defense can win these matchups, count it as an eighth straight victory .

Nov 10, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) runs with the ball against Denver Broncos safety Brandon Jones (22) during the first half at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

The Denver Broncos' defense has been great, even without Patrick Surtain II, but the Kansas City Chiefs' offense remains challenging. While they started slowly, the Chiefs have begun to heat up offensively, and just in time for their matchup against the Broncos. 

Denver has gotten to 8-2 on the back of its defense, as the offense has struggled for most of the season. Even in this game, the Broncos may be relying on their defense to keep it low-scoring, and maybe even generate points themselves as the team looks to make a statement with a win over the nine-year kings of the AFC West. 

Even though the Broncos sit atop the division, many still see them as a fluky team that will soon collapse and hand the division back to the Chiefs. The Broncos want to make it clear they are legitimate, especially the defense, so there is a lot of pride in this game.

We've already covered Denver's key offensive matchups. When it comes to the Broncos' defense, these five matchups have to be won to take control of the game. 

DC Vance Joseph vs. QB Patrick Mahomes

One of the best ways to defeat the Chiefs is to rattle Mahomes by getting pressure, stacking on the hits, and doing that without blitzing too frequently. That puts a high priority on being able to generate consistent pressure with four players, which the Broncos have done over the course of the season. 

Even though the Broncos still have the NFL's third-highest blitz rate on the season, it has been dropping over the past four weeks. Where it was once around 40%, it's now sitting at 33.4%, with three of Denver's five games under 40% blitz rate coming in Weeks 8-10, and the other two being Weeks 4 and 5. 

That corresponds with the Broncos' ability to generate more pressure with only four rushers and to drop more into coverage, but Joseph is calculated with it. He has been calling plays to lull quarterbacks to sleep, then dialing up a blitz at the right time.

Against Mahomes, Joseph's personnel can’t let it be known early that the Broncos are blitzing, or else Mahomes has a habit of turning it into a big play for the Chiefs. 

Broncos' LBs & Safeties vs. TE Travis Kelce

While Kelce hasn’t been the threat he once was, he's still a risk to the Broncos. Over the years, facing the Broncos, Kelce has often had great games. Even if he isn’t the primary weapon, his reliability and chemistry with Mahomes keep him a threat as a safety outlet. 

The Broncos have done a great job at limiting tight ends over the past few weeks, and they will need to be on their toes once again with Kelce. Denver can’t let Kelce slip away and create an opening for the Chiefs to move the ball, which is where he has done so much damage to the Broncos over the years. 

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Broncos' CBs vs. WRs Rashee Rice & Marquise Brown

Nov 10, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins (8) is unable to make a catch against Denver Broncos cornerback Ja'Quan McMillian (29) during the first half at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

The Broncos will be without Surtain once again, and the Chiefs' receivers are getting healthy and off suspension lists, which is leading to their passing offense coming together. Rice is a quality receiver, and he can be a mismatch against every Broncos' corner. That threat is doubled with Brown being a mismatch against each of the Broncos' corners. 

Rice’s size and route running could be hard for Ja’Quan McMillian, Kris Abrams-Draine, and Riley Moss to cover. Rice's size against McMillian, his physicality and size against Abrams-Draine, and his route-running with Moss give the Chiefs an advantage here. 

With Brown, it comes down to his speed, and Denver should look at Abrams-Draine to mirror him throughout the game. That would limit exposure to Rice, while putting the speedy receiver against the corner who can best handle that. McMillian and Moss don’t have great long speed, but with Moss, there is also an issue of being aggressive on route fakes and getting burned. 

DEs Zach Allen & John Franklin-Myers vs. OGs Kingsley Suamataia & Trey Smith

Denver’s interior pass rush has been outstanding this season, and Allen, in particular, has been excellent. When he hasn’t been able to generate pressure, he gets his hands up and disrupts the throwing lanes. 

Franklin-Myers has also been playing quite well and is such a threat as a pass rusher. Smith, the Chiefs' right guard, has done well this season. So if Denver can get wins against him, that’d be a significant boost for the defense. 

Suamataia is the bigger opening for interior pressure, but the Chiefs tend to give him help from center Creed Humphrey. This puts the onus on the Broncos to generate confusion on the interior, and that starts with Coach Joseph and the simulated pressures he has been dialing up this season. 

Broncos' OLBs vs. Chiefs' OTs

The Broncos' pass rush goes beyond their edge rushers, and that is evident with some ‘quiet’ games from Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper over the past few weeks. Even then, they're creating a ton of disruption and opening the door for others to finish the play. 

If the Broncos can get that out of Bonitto and Cooper vs. the Chiefs, it would be a boost. They can force changes from the blocking, especially when Joseph dials up simulated pressures that leave them in one-on-ones, which can be devastating to opponents. 

That would be a help and a good thing for the Broncos' defense, but ideally, they can have a more direct impact with multiple pressures and even a sack or two from the two edge rushers. Bonitto and Cooper have to be aware of Mahomes, however, who is adept at finding lanes to escape through from aggressive pass rushers, which Bonitto and Cooper can be, and make a play with his legs.