Alex Smith's running ability will come into play for Chiefs vs. Broncos

Doug Pederson, the Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator, spent a few minutes with the media on Monday breaking down what to expect with the Denver Broncos on Thursday night.

Pederson basically said that the Broncos don't have to blitz a lot because they have Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware and that their cornerbacks, including Chris Harris, will sit in man coverage.

"[Broncos defensive coordinator] Wade [Phillips] has been blessed with having a lot of talent on defense and one thing that he does, is that he keeps it simple for them," Pederson said, via quotes from the Chiefs. "There's not a ton of pressure like we saw from Houston last week. He has his typical blitzes, he loves to play his man coverage and mix and sprinkle in the zone.

"We're not going to see a barrage of pressure, because number one, he doesn't have to because he's got two great pass rushers on the outside. We're going to see a five-man rush, we're going to see single-safety middle cover 1 and again, on that short week, they're in that same situation where they want to keep it small and they want to keep it simple and just let their guys go play."

This is a key point made by Pederson because it could mean a big day for Alex Smith -- on the ground. Smith is a mobile quarterback and can move pretty well. With their defensive backs in man coverage and possibly having their backs to the quarterback, Smith could take off and rush on a few plays. Wade Phillips is new this year but the Broncos have played more man coverage in recent years and Alex has had games of 52, 46 and 42 yards rushing. Even last week against a great pass rusher in JJ Watt, Alex had nine rushing attempts and not all of them were due to Watt flushing the pocket.

With the short week, the coaching staffs become even more important. Who can operate most efficiently in this short week? Andy Reid is one of the best coaches in the NFL so I like my chances with him.