What I REID Into It

January 8, 2022

We have officially reached the end of the longest regular season in NFL history as week 18 games are played this weekend. The week 18 slate of games starts with the Kansas City Chiefs visit to Denver to play the Broncos. The Chiefs vs Broncos games this season has meant must see TV as the game in Kansas City was moved to a Sunday Night kickoff at 7 p.m. This week’s game in Denver moved ahead a day to a Saturday afternoon.

The Kansas City Chiefs have won 12 in a row in the long running series that began back in the AFL in 1960. Chiefs, come in at 11-5 and in first place in the AFC West. The Denver Broncos are 7-9 and in last place in the AFC West. While Denver is in the same position as last season at this time their current record is a two game improvement on the 2020 season when the Broncos finished 5-11.

Chiefs fans should remember well the last meeting between these two teams as the Chiefs beat the Broncos at home back on December 5th by a 22-9 final count. The 22 points serving as one of the lowest outputs by the Chiefs offense this season. The big play of the game came on defense thanks to Chiefs Safety Dan Sorenson’s interception return for a touchdown.

Anytime you reach the end of a long season injuries are a concern and that’s the case for both the Chiefs and Broncos this week. The Chiefs are expected to miss OL Lucas Niang out for rest of the season due to a patellar tendon injury suffered last week. RB Clyde Edwards-Hellaire has yet to return to team practices due to a shoulder injury and OT Orlando Brown is set to return from a calf injury suffered last week in the game against the Bengals. The Broncos are set to miss former K-State Lineman Dalton Risner and possibly starting QB Teddy Bridgewater due to ongoing concussion issues. Starting in place of Bridgewater the last two weeks has been Drew Lock, the former Mizzou and Lee’s Summit Tiger. Lock is not immune to the injury bug himself having suffered a shoulder injury last week. Lock missed a few plays in last week’s loss to the Chargers but did return to the game and has practiced this week.

The Broncos have lost four out of their last five games taking the air out of a season that saw Denver sit above .500 mark at 6-5 after the first 12 weeks of the season. The Chiefs eight game winning streak came to an end last week in Cincinnati as the team was seeking the top seed in the upcoming AFC playoffs. The top seed is still a possibility so expect the Chiefs to work hard to return to the victory column. Having momentum going into the playoffs is another reason why one can expect the defending AFC Champion Chiefs to be playing with plenty of fire to end the regular season on a winning note. With so much on the line and a lot to look forward to expect to see the Chiefs dominance over Denver to continue for at least one more game. That’s What I REID Into It for this week.