Broncos-Chiefs is Getting Hyped as a Marquee Matchup in Week 10

The NFL will be closely watching Denver Broncos-Kansas City Chiefs in Week 10.

Oct 12, 2023; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) is tackled by Denver Broncos cornerback Ja'Quan McMillian (29) and cornerback Fabian Moreau (23) during the first half at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. / Denny Medley-Imagn Images

The best game of the Week 10 slate likely already happened. After an absolutely outstanding matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday Night Football, the rest of the games this week appear to be somewhat drab.

The Pittsburgh Steelers-Washington Commanders matchup should generate some views, but outside of that, does anything this week scream must-watch football? 

With so many bad teams across the league (almost a third of the league only has two wins this year), the Denver Broncos' matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs could be one of the marquee games this weekend. At least that’s what NFL.com’s Mia Fowler believes.

"Despite the discrepancy in records, this looks to be a competitive game between a pair of division rivals. The Broncos have been a pleasant surprise, winning five of their last seven games, but they struggle to step up to the plate against elite teams. Last year, they had a similar tendency with an objectively worse team and held the Chiefs to no touchdowns in their upset win over them," Fowler wrote.

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The Broncos finally snapped their 16-game losing streak against the Chiefs last year at Mile High, winning 24-9 in a game in which Patrick Mahomes had the flu and threw two interceptions. Denver will be tasked with winning its first game at Arrowhead in 3,341 days. With The Broncos sitting as a +7.5-+8.5 underdog, they're far from favored to win, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have a shot.

Despite last week's thorough defeat, Denver still possesses one of the best defenses in the league. The Broncos will need to regain their form this week as Kansas City, while not explosive, is the NFL's most efficient offense, with the second-best success rate passing and the best success rate rushing.

The Broncos have done a pretty good job limiting tight ends this season despite the injuries at linebacker. What key metric this game will likely come down to is third downs.

The Broncos offense sits with the NFL's 22nd-best third and fourth-down success rate at 35.7%. Meanwhile, Kansas City stands as the eighth-best third and fourth-down defensive success rate at 35.4%. On the other side of the ball, while Denver ranks 10th in third and fourth-down defense at 35.0%, while the Chiefs have the best third-down offense at 55.2%.

Bottom Line

If Denver can do a good job stuffing the run, forcing incompletions, and notching sacks on first and second down to combat the Chiefs, who have the best third-down distance in the NFL at only 5.95 yards to go, then perhaps Vance Joseph's pass rush can get home to Mahomes.

Regardless, this will be a huge game for Denver. A win will go an extremely long way toward the Broncos securing a return to the playoffs.

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