By Fred Liggett
FredL@lstribune.net

The saying “The New Normal” is used a lot these days, but for this week it’s a return to normalcy for the Kansas City Chiefs who in week seven of the 2020 season visit AFC West rival Denver Broncos. After playing on Mondays three out of the last four weeks the Chiefs road game at Denver will be played on a Sunday afternoon with a kickoff time at 3:25 p.m. something this long time rivalry has seen many times.

Following a key road win over Buffalo last week, the Chiefs stay on the road to play the seventh straight AFC opponent to start the season. The Chiefs first foray outside of the AFC will not come until week nine when they host NFC member Carolina Panthers. Playing all of these AFC games has given the Chiefs the chance to enjoy tie breakers come playoff time and at 5-1 enjoy first place in the AFC West Division.

The Chiefs land in Denver seeking to keep some pretty important streaks alive. The Chiefs are 3-0 on the road so far in 2020 and after Sunday’s game don’t hit the road again until Thanksgiving week. The Chiefs also enjoy an impressive streak of nine straight wins over the Broncos with their last loss coming on September 17, 2015 before the KC Royals won their last World Series. There have been some close battles since then and the last entry into this rivalry was pretty entertaining. On December 15th last year the Chiefs beat Denver 23-3 while snow fell all over Arrowhead Stadium.

While KC Chiefs fans cheered the team’s return to the victory column last week, Denver was cheering the return of their franchise QB Drew Lock. Lock’s first game back from injury took place in New England and the Broncos came away with an 18-12 win. The victory came at a good time for Denver who now stand at 2-3 and remain listed as a team with playoff possibilities. Lock, a former Mizzou QB and Lee’s Summit native, saw his first playing time against the Chiefs in the 23-3 loss Denver suffered last in KC last season. This week Lock has talked about evening his record against his hometown team. The weather forecast at press time calls for conditions very similar to that December afternoon the last time these teams played.

A lot of attention will be payed to the QB battle in this one but expect a lot of eyes looking at the Chiefs OL going up against the Denver Defense. The Chiefs shuffled their offensive line last week and the returns were outstanding as the Chiefs ran past the Buffalo Bills. Familiar faces like OT Mitchell Schwartz and WR Sammy Watkins are expected to miss Sunday’s game. New faces that will see some playing time is newly signed RB Le’Veon Bell.

The Chiefs boast a high powered offense that has improved with the signing of free agent RB Le’Veon Bell and outside of Watkins remain healthy to play in Denver. The Broncos like their receivers in Courtland Sutton and first round pic Jerry Jeudy as targets for QB Lock.

Despite the forecast of wintry weather expect another wonderfully entertaining entry into this rivalry that is now entering its 70th year. When this one is done the Chiefs will have enjoyed playing in another road game with a very familiar result. That’s What I REID Into It for this week.

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