3 things to watch in Kansas City Chiefs vs. Denver Broncos

The Chiefs scored just three points against the Seattle Seahawks. Want to fix that? It starts with Kenneth Walker. Yeah, the Chiefs got away from what made their offense so successful last week, and they have a chance to take it back against a familiar opponent. Yeah, the Chiefs are heading to Denver on Sunday, and I'm Pete Sweeney with three things to watch. And the first point is just that, reestablish the run. Denver ranks 28th against the run, allowing 133 yards per game. And remember what Walker did to this defense in Week 1? He forced 14 missed tackles. Seattle found a way to slow him down, but against Denver, I'd get back to establishing the run early. Kenneth is a special player, and he makes a lot of big plays happen, and we're not going to stop trying to run the football, but if they're going to put so many resources into stopping him and playing a shell over the top, we have to be able to hit them in that intermediate area. And Walker leads us to point number two. Welcome back, Rasheed Rice. Rice had back-to-back 80-yard performances before his hamstring injury, and his time off has shown us that he's the most reliable receiver that Patrick Mahomes has. And if Walker can force Denver to respect the run, that should open up play action and quick opportunities for Rice. Having him back out there will be big for us because it'll help kind of take some pressure off the other guys to make plays and let them go out there and be themselves, and hopefully we can have some success. And point number three. Make Bo Nix beat you. Nix has the NFL's worst passer rating under pressure, so the Chiefs have to make him uncomfortable, but not let him escape and turn broken plays into big gains. So the plan will change a little bit. Hopefully we can, I thought we did a good job containing him in the first game. Hopefully we can do the same thing. So my prediction for this game, Chiefs 20, Broncos 16. Now Denver desperately needs this game, but I think if you reestablish the run, make Patrick Mahomes feel comfortable, and contain Bo Nix, the Chiefs will have their first win in Denver since the 2021 season. For the Kansas City Star, I'm Pete Sweeney.