Chiefs vs. Broncos Preview: Mahomes Faces Denver Test

We got plenty of news today about what some of the NFL games are going to look like on the weekend. And you mentioned there, Craig, that you think this is going to be the best version of the Chiefs that we're going to see. And listen, Worthy and Rashee Rice on the field. It's great. That's a lot more options for the passing game for Patrick Mahomes than opposed to just Worthy and a few tight ends there because it didn't work out well. If they can't run the ball, there's no second option here. Do you see a lot of difference between the Seattle defense and what Denver has become defensively, especially at home here? Because if they can't run, somebody's going to have to throw the ball, no? I think that's a great question, and I think that's the question to ask going into this game. I think that the Denver offense is more challenged than the Seattle offense, where I think Seattle always, to me, seemingly is going to find a way to put some points on the board. But again, you know, it's really not as much that, Joe, as it is buying low in a situation where... You sort of expect the Chiefs, if they started off 5-0, now they're 5-1. Hard to see them going another 5-0, which would make them 10-1. But I don't think that 5-1 was a mirage and every team's going to lose a game. I just think that, Joe, that was a bad spot. Kansas City was playing their best football. And then they had to go to Seattle to play a team that you just knew was going to be better over the course of the second half plus of the season than they are right now. So that's really all it was for me, Joe. It was the spot. Now, it is never easy to play in Denver. We're seeing that again this year. The Broncos, I don't think, have lost at home this season. And, you know, I don't have that factor like we do in September where it's, you know, very difficult to stay with the Broncos because of the, you know, just getting your wind. And the altitude, but overall, the Chiefs are a better team than the Broncos. The biggest concern that I have here, and you see that the Chiefs have addressed it, is we're at the point now in the NFL season where things get a little tighter sometimes. And the games get a little tighter sometimes. And if Kansas City's lining up for a field goal at the end of the game to win, I'm not so sure they do. When was the last time we'd say that? 15 years? I mean, Butker has just not been good. Butker could be at the end of the line of his career. You know, potential Hall of Famer. However, you know, some people like him, some people don't, off the field or whatever. But on the field, the guy has been as good as any kicker in the last 10, 15 years. So I suspect that that's my worry here, Joe. That is my worry, where... What if the score is 17-16 with a minute to go and KC has the ball? What if they miss a field goal? All of a sudden the game changes and certainly Denver's kicker is better than Kansas City's kicker. So I also think the Broncos will be better. I do. I don't think they were. Offense couldn't be any worse than what we've seen with the exception of last game, too. But I just got the Chiefs being better in this one. Another game that I looked at, but, you know, big dog of the week getting a point and a half is really. Is it really a big pick or anything like that? It's more of a pick-up. Yeah, a division rivalry. We know how much those two teams know each other anyway. But I was still amazed last week, the first time in Mahomes' career in which he never reached the red zone, which was just… Bonkers to me, and that's what Seattle's defense did to them there. And it may be a blueprint, maybe not, but I think having Rasheed Rice back changes the trajectory a little bit, at least of the passing game. But there's no doubt this isn't the Mahomes of two years ago, three years ago. That's not what we're looking at with this team anymore. So, and they still have, I think, the best running back in the National Football League here, which you have to account for.