The importance of a Week 2 game doesn’t seem super high on the surface.
But there’s more on the line than a lot of people seemingly realize tonight when the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs battle in Arrowhead Stadium for a very early AFC West lead.
First, it’s a division game on the road. Win those and you’re usually in pretty good shape. The Broncos are 9-0 against Oakland, Kansas City and San Diego the last three years in their buildings. That’s a huge reason this team has cruised to the AFC West title all three years of the PFM era.
Second, Manning has to silence the critics. He has to. This season will quickly go off the rails if every week goes like this past one. Fans and media calling for Brock Osweiler will get old quickly (it already has); Manning needs to put that narrative to rest.
With those two keys in mind here are four bold predictions for the Broncos and Chiefs showdown at Arrowhead Stadium on Thursday Night Football:
No. 4 — The Broncos score another defensive touchdown
Aqib Talib earns AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors http://t.co/5Xmk0dFuV1
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) September 16, 2015
Talib scored the Broncos only touchdown last week and won a nice little award in the process. Maybe it’s him again on Thursday night, maybe it’s one of the beast pass rushers or maybe it’s someone unexpected. But mark it down, this defense is so good they’ll score another touchdown against the Chiefs.
No. 3 — Ronnie Hillman gets the majority of the carries
RANKINGS: Has Broncos RB Ronnie Hillman quietly stolen C.J. Anderson's starting job already? http://t.co/3aT7UdQvRB pic.twitter.com/ndngjPGPrv
— Mile High Sports (@MileHighSports) September 16, 2015
No matter how many times you try to tell people Ronnie Hillman is now more or less the Broncos starter, they don’t want to listen. Maybe it’s because people splurged for C.J. Anderson in their fantasy drafts, but combine his injury with Hillman being a better fit for the system and that change is happening. It starts tonight.
No. 2 — Von Miller, DeMarcus Ware and Shane Ray all get a sack
Most sacks in NFL since 2011:
J.J. Watt 59.0
Jared Allen 51.0
Justin Houston 49.5
Von Miller 49.0
DeMarcus Ware 48.0— Gil Brandt (@Gil_Brandt) September 14, 2015
J.J. Watt is a monster. We all know that. But he also had six tackles for loss against the Chiefs last week in Houston. Miller and Ware are in that same company as Watt (as the above list shows) and they’ll feast on a pretty bad Kansas City offensive line. Look for the hometown kid Shane Ray to join the fun as well.
No. 1 — Peyton Manning has an “eff you” game
COLUMN: It's time for Peyton Manning to rewrite the narrative | by @Dottewill. http://t.co/kGoez3yYr0 pic.twitter.com/0tGZbf7uCQ
— Mile High Sports (@MileHighSports) September 17, 2015
When you’re done reading this go ahead and read that column above. Yes, it’s one of ours, but I think it’s just excellent. Doug Ottewill perfectly captured the significance of this game and the last time Manning needed to bury a “narrative.” He’ll do it tonight, throwing for more than 250 yards and at least a couple of TD passes — maybe more.