Miles
Well-known member
- Mar 18, 2019
- 2,455
- 0
The Broncos' regular-season opener isn't for another few months, but over the next few weeks, DenverBroncos.com will take an early look at each game on the Broncos' 2020 schedule. We don't know how injuries could impact each contest, but we'll present the pressing storylines, matchups, questions and more.
It's never too early to start talking football.
We continue with Denver's Week 7 game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Storylines to monitor:
The Broncos have meaningful games to begin to build their playoff resume in the first six weeks of the season, but the division race seems set to take off with this Week 7 contest. Five of Denver's six divisional games come in the final eight weeks of the season, but this matchup against Kansas City could signal whether the Broncos are truly ready to compete for their first AFC West title since 2015.
The Broncos did their best this offseason to position themselves for a run at the defending Super Bowl champs as they added veteran defensive pieces and speed on offense. For the first time, they'll get to measure up against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.
But here's the only storyline that matters: The Chiefs have won nine consecutive games over the Broncos — and the last two weren't close. Denver lost last year's slate by a combined score of 53-9. Broncos fans desperately want that streak to end, and the team will get its chance to prevent the slide from reaching double digits in this Week 7 matchup.
Player to watch:
DL Chris Jones
When you play the Chiefs, there's lots of players that could be featured in this section. On offense, it starts with Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill. Defensively, Chris Jones, Frank Clark and Tyrann Mathieu can wreck games. Mahomes is obviously the Chiefs' most valuable player, but let's focus here on Jones. In the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LIV, he was incredibly disruptive and gave the Chiefs a chance to mount their comeback. Jones made his first Pro Bowl in 2019 as he recorded nine sacks and 36 tackles in 13 games. A year earlier, he recorded 15.5 sacks and 19 tackles for loss.
The interior of the Broncos' offensive line will look quite different in 2020, as Lloyd Cushenberry III could start at center as a rookie and Graham Glasgow seems likely to slide in at right guard. Against Jones, they could face their toughest test of the season. If the Broncos can handle Jones at the point of attack, it will make things easier for Melvin Gordon III and Phillip Lindsay in the running game and prevent Drew Lock from facing interior pressure in the passing game. If Jones is overly disruptive, though, the Broncos may have trouble improving their scoring output.