Attitude and Altitude: Why Chiefs Are Ready for Sunday

DENVER, Colo. -- Sunday marks the biggest Broncos game in a decade, and arguably the biggest AFC West matchup for Kansas City since Patrick Mahomes made his NFL debut at Empower Field in 2017.

And for those wondering whether the Chiefs will be able to match the Broncos’ intensity, Dave Toub has a simple answer.

“It's easy. Yeah, it's easy,” the assistant head coach and special teams coordinator said Thursday. “Our guys are ready. They'll be ready for this game for sure. You can feel it already in practice, coming off a bye. They know the urgency. We've been there before. We have enough veterans. We know where we're at. We know where we stand. And, it's an important game on the road, so we'll be ready.”

Close but so much higher

Count on Toub to deliver the most candid answers. He’s also a reputable source on the effect of altitude on an NFL team. The Broncos’ home venue is 5,280 feet above sea level, highest in the NFL. Oxygen is tougher to respirate, and muscles don’t operate as well as they do closer to the ocean. And Denver’s only about 600 miles from Arrowhead Stadium, which sits at about 880 feet in elevation.

“Denver's not the easiest place to go in and play football,” Travis Kelce said on this week’s edition of New Heights. “That altitude gets me every single time, and it may not make me play terrible, but it definitely makes a difference when you're playing up there. I'm excited for the challenge.”

That challenge, Toub said, is expected to be somewhat mitigated by gorgeous fall weather in the Mile High City. Sunday’s forecast calls for 69 degrees at kickoff under sunny skies, with winds around 6 mph.

“Every time,” Toub said Thursday, “it seems like we have weather. It seems like we're going to be good this year; right now, it looks promising. So that's always a positive. Looked like last week, on Thursday, it was cold and windy, and both punters struggled, it looked like. But hopefully we get some good weather.

“The altitude is always the altitude. It affects the ball, flight, it hangs a little longer, pick up an extra few yards there. But as far as the conditioning goes, I think the guys feel it early in the game, and then it kind of goes away. They get used to it.”

harrison butke — Oct 17, 2019; Denver, CO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker (7) kicks a field goal as punter Dustin Colquitt (2) holds the ball in the second quarter against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

Behind-the-scenes contributions

Tight end Noah Gray agreed. He’ll make his fifth straight trip to Denver since the Chiefs drafted him in 2021. Behind the scenes, he said team dietician Nicolette Mense helps players adjust to the altitude.

“Well, we’re fortunate to have a great nutritionist here,” Gray said Friday. “Nici on staff, she sent out earlier this week a great thing of nutritional facts to help us prepare. So, I've just been leaning on that and that packet that she sent out. So, I think a lot of it is diet, just staying in condition.

“But you're really not gonna really feel that effect until you actually get up there in Denver, but it's gonna be fun. The altitude does wear on you a little bit more than it does down here at 1,000 feet, wherever we're at, elevation. But it's going to be fun. And I think just leaning on the nutritional part of it, sleep; sleep’s huge, hydration. So, just kind of things like that. And, yeah, we're really looking forward to it.”

noah gra — Oct 29, 2023; Denver, Colorado, USA; Kansas City Chiefs tight end Noah Gray (83) makes a catch ahead of Denver Broncos cornerback Ja'Quan McMillian (29) in the fourth quarter at Empower Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

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