Last week, the Arrowhead Pride staff went a perfect 12 out of 12 contributors picking the Chiefs over the 49ers. After Week 4, we will start to show the standings.
Below are the FanPulse predictions for this week:
FanPulse is a survey of fans across the NFL powered by SurveyMonkey. Each week, we send 32 polls to 100-plus plugged-in fans from each team.
Arrowhead Pride FanPulse predicts the Chiefs to win by 12
Mile High Report FanPulse predicts the Broncos to win by 2
The Broncos fans amuse me with their never-ending optimism...
You can sign up for AP FanPulse here to take the weekly survey. Now let’s move on to the staff predictions:
Shawn Barber, Chiefs 27-24
Keys to the game:
1. Chiefs fans, be released from scars of your past! The 2018 Chiefs team should not be compared to the 2003 Chiefs team or any previous team in NFL history.
2. Watch the growth of this team and this quarterback with expectations of greatness and hopes of victory each and every week of the season.
3. Buy into the Andy Reid-Brett Veach formula for success.
4. Allow the players in all three phases of the team to play without worries of failure. But knowing their fans will be there to pick them up (if they fall). Not kick them when they are down.
5. Control a former defensive player of the year (Von Miller) with chips and double teams from tight end/running back. Run the ball directly at Von Miller early, often and late in the game to slow down his upfield charge.
6. Defensively, capitalizing on opportunities to create turnovers off strip-sacks and torque tackling to give the offense additional possessions.
7. We need to be solid in the kicking game. Alert for trick plays and fakes on all situations.
8. Similar to the first three games, be patient and take what the defense gives you. Be prepared to take 5 to 8-yard runs and short passes and control the clock.
Aaron Borgmann, Chiefs 28-24
Spent many evenings enjoying 16th street in downtown and Chiefs fans partying all night and day leading to the game. Sadly for Denver, the party will continue for Chiefs fans post game as the streak will continue. While this may be the best defense the Chiefs have faced so far, it won’t matter much. The result is the same — Chiefs W.
John Dixon, Chiefs 42-14
Going into the season, it would have been pretty easy to mark this game as a loss. A division game on the road against a pretty good defense, with a quarterback who had shown promise against this very team, but whose ability as a regular-season starter was yet unknown? Well... all that stuff can go out the window. We complain about the Chiefs pass defense, but Denver’s isn’t much better. The Broncos have Von Miller, of course, but the Chiefs offensive line has been solid so far. Denver’s is average at best. I have more respect for Case Keenum than a lot of folks, but unless this is the game where Patrick Mahomes regresses to the mean, this is a no-brainer. Chiefs win 42-14, and get a firm grip on the AFC West steering wheel.
Matt Lane, Chiefs 38-20
A different kind of test for the Chiefs offense this week with the man-to-man heavy Broncos defense, but at the end of the day, their defense is just okay. The concept of man coverage being the choice against the Chiefs sounds odd given how many different players can win one-on-one matchups especially against an “OK” defense. The Chiefs should really get minimal pushback from the Broncos defense, as long as there isn’t a complete meltdown up front. Sammy Watkins vs. Bradly Roby and Travis Kelce vs. anyone on their defense should be huge mismatches favoring the Chiefs all game long.
When the Broncos have the ball they haven’t really shown any ability to be consistent passing the ball around the field. Case Keenum is willing to sling the ball into tight windows and make some fantastic throws but that also comes with the risk of turning the ball over. He’s also easily frazzled and doesn’t like to take hits if he can realistically get the ball away. Their run game has been very good so far, using athletic OL in space and decisive, one-cut RBs. The Chiefs spent all season bolstering their run defense, so this is a good test for this revamped defense that spent a lot of effort in the lesser important part of defense so it better shine this week. The biggest question-mark on defense will be Dee Ford’s availability and how we’ll replace his impact with KPass and Speaks.
The game shouldn’t be particularly close unless things go poorly for the Chiefs in the trenches on both sides of the ball. Divisional games can always be tricky and a little wonky, especially on a Monday night, but the Broncos simply are a mediocre football team.
Gary McKenzie, Chiefs 49-21
The Broncos are the worst team the Chiefs have faced thus far on the young season. I don’t think the Broncos defense is the least bit frightening and the only way their defense will alter the outcome of the game is if they deliver a dirty hit that injures a Chiefs player.
I have nothing good to say about this Broncos team, so I’m just going to stop here.
Matt Stagner, Chiefs 52-38
No reason to expect anything other than what we’ve experienced thus far in the new era. The era of Mahomes. Division games are always a battle, but this Chiefs offense isn’t going to be stopped, and the defense isn’t going to all of a sudden stop people. This is a critically important game, but it might not be as close as this score indicates.
Craig Stout, Chiefs 48-17
The Chiefs have had it tough in the early part of the 2018 schedule. The Chargers, Steelers and 49ers were no slouches, offering tough tests on both sides of the ball. That changes this week. The Denver defense is a shell of its former glory, with Von Miller and Chris Harris Jr. being the only two scary pieces of the puzzle. Wade Phillips isn’t walking back through that door, so the Chiefs offense should be able to hang points on a team that is bottom half in the league in points allowed, despite playing only one team in the top half of points scored. The Chiefs defense FINALLY isn’t matched up against an explosive or innovative offense this week, as the Broncos are 20th in points per game and 13th in yards per play. Denver head coach Vance Joseph said that he wants to slow the game down and take the ball out of Patrick Mahomes’ hands, but the Chiefs defense has played better this year when not facing the hurry up. I expect this week to start like the previous three weeks, with the Chiefs jumping out to a big lead in the first quarter. The only difference will be that Denver’s offense doesn’t have the horses to keep up. The Chiefs defense holds on national television, and Patrick Mahomes completes his coming out party on Monday Night Football.
Kent Swanson, Chiefs 31-17
This is game number five of Patrick Mahomes career, and somehow this is a familiar opponent. The young signal-caller went in with Anthony Sherman as a lead rusher and beat the Broncos in Mile High Stadium. Some of the defenders the Chiefs will play have had a look at the kid. It will be a unique test for the Chiefs offense. That being said, Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, Sammy Watkins and Kareem Hunt are playing when they weren’t last year.
Case Keenum is ungood at football. This is hands down the easiest test for the Chiefs’ defense. Nothing about the unit scares me. The optics of the defense has been worse than the reality. I expect a bounce back for the unit that has faced powerful offenses in the first three weeks of the season.
Pete Sweeney, Chiefs 45-21
Chiefs fans have been waiting a very long time for what is about to take place on Monday night, if my prediction is correct. It isn’t AFC West success—the Chiefs have that, winning 17 of their last 18. It isn’t success against the Denver Broncos—the Chiefs have that, winning their last five matchups in a row after losing their previous seven. What I am talking about is going into Denver and blowing the Broncos out of the water. The last time the Chiefs won by more than two scores in Denver was January 3, 2010—Derrick Johnson had two pick-sixes and Jamaal Charles set the Chiefs’ single-game rushing record with 259 yards in a 44-24 rout. The win knocked the Broncos out of the playoffs. The Chiefs can’t knock the Broncos out of the playoffs this Monday night, it being this early in the season, but with some Broncos already saying they will treat it like a championship game, the game has heavy implications. If Kansas City wins, it will lock in a two-game lead on the rest of the division through one-fourth of the season. I think they accomplish that, and they make it look easy. The Chiefs offense is too hot, the Broncos defense seems too questionable and I think the Chiefs defense does just enough.
Aly Trost, Chiefs 46-21
The Denver defense will put up a tough test, but Chiefs luck won’t evaporate into thin air (ha) so long as they can continue to come out and score on their first drive like they’ve done so far this season. As long as they’re able to capitalize early and quickly, they’ll be just fine on the offensive front — despite playing against one of the more challenging defenses they’ve seen so far. Chiefs defense will hold up and do just enough like they’ve done so far and Chiefs will fly home happy with their fourth straight win.
Dane Van Why, Chiefs 27-17
Mahomes and the Chiefs head to the Mile High City this week clicking on all cylinders offensively. But, I feel like this may be the week that they slow down a touch. They’re familiar with Denver, which is why I think they go up big early and take the foot off the gas in the second half, just like they have done in the past couple games this season. The defense will have a decent day against Denver’s offense and the Chiefs continue their dominance with a victory over the Broncos.
All 12 of the AP staff members picked the Chiefs over the Broncos in Denver. What’s your prediction?