The Denver Broncos have a massive game on Sunday Night Football against the Kansas City Chiefs. We make our five bold predictions.
Sunday Night Football was not on the docket for the Denver Broncos in the 2021 season…until they started winning some meaningful games.
In the last month, the Broncos have found a way to have convincing victories over the Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Chargers, helping earn them a spot against the Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes in prime time.
Since the middle of the 2015 season, Dontari Poe has more passing touchdowns than the Broncos do wins against the Chiefs. The Broncos are riding an impressive (for all the wrong reasons) 11-game losing streak against Kansas City. What goes up, however, must eventually come down.
Will this be the game the Denver Broncos get off the schnide against Kansas City? Will they get their first win against the Chiefs since Bradley Roby’s overtime fumble recovery for a touchdown?
Here are this week’s bold predictions…
Denver Broncos bold prediction vs. Chiefs #1: Teddy Bridgewater throws 3 TDs
It has been an up-and-down season for Teddy Bridgewater, whose approval rating after the Eagles game and through the bye week was as low as it has been since he came aboard the Denver Broncos.
After the game against the Chargers where he toughed it out through a nasty shin injury? The approval rating is back up. Way up.
Bridgewater has been anything but perfect this season for the Broncos, but when he plays efficient ball, the Broncos have been really tough to beat. When Teddy is efficient, the running game works, and the Broncos can play ball control.
In this game against Kansas City, you’ve got to go in anticipating you’ll need to score at least 27 points or more.
I foresee Bridgewater throwing a season-high three touchdown passes, this time in a win. He threw three touchdowns (along with three picks) in the ugly loss to the Raiders earlier this year.
Not only would this tie a season-high in TD passes for Bridgewater, but it would also push him well into his career-high for a season. His next touchdown pass will set that mark.
Denver Broncos bold prediction vs. Chiefs #2: Jonathon Cooper gets a strip-sack
Since Von Miller’s injury earlier this season and subsequent trade to the Los Angeles Rams, Jonathon Cooper has been nothing short of excellent as a seventh-round rookie out of Ohio State.
Cooper’s collegiate career took him down an unconventional path, even at one of the most prestigious programs in the country, and he was vastly under-drafted as a result.
He’s already got 10 pressures, five QB hits, three tackles for loss, and two sacks this season. He would have had a strip-sack against Dak Prescott were it not for Prescott’s seemingly other-worldly hand strength.
Against the Kansas City Chiefs, how about a strip-sack for Jonathon Cooper, the first of his NFL career?
He seems to have gotten close a variety of times to making a play like this happen, and the Broncos are going to need plays like this if they are going to go on the road to Kansas City coming off of a bye week and get a win.
Denver Broncos bold prediction vs. Chiefs #3: A return touchdown
The return game for the Denver Broncos this season has not been overly dynamic, although Diontae Spencer certainly came into this season with a reputation for being one of the best in the business.
He had a return touchdown around this time last season (Week 14 vs. the Carolina Panthers) and he’s due for another.
Right now, Spencer has the 5th-best yards per return average in the NFL among full-time punt returners at 9.71 yards per return.
He has a long return this year of 25 yards and it sort of feels lately like he may be just missing lanes as a returner or he’s not been able to make that second move to make defenders miss and really make that game-changing play.
For so many years now, Dave Toub’s special teams unit has pummeled Tom McMahon and the Denver Broncos, and it almost feels like you can pencil in the Chiefs for at least one return touchdown against Denver per season, whether we’re talking about kickoffs, punts, blocked punts, or whatever else.
This time around, Spencer makes his biggest play of the season, validating his spot on the roster with a return touchdown against the Chiefs.
Denver Broncos bold prediction vs. Chiefs #4: Nate Hairston gets a pick
Over the course of the 2021 season, the Denver Broncos’ secondary has had to endure a variety of injuries.
In the preseason, they lost Michael Ojemudia.
In the regular season, they lost Ronald Darby in week one for a brief stint on IR, and Bryce Callahan went on IR after suffering an injury against Washington.
Kareem Jackson just missed a game after suffering a shoulder injury against the Eagles.
The war on attrition has certainly hit the secondary but the Broncos are extremely deep in this area and players like Nate Hairston have gotten the chance to step up and shine.
Nate Hairston was a bright spot in the Broncos secondary against the Chargers ❌
— PFF DEN Broncos (@PFF_Broncos) November 30, 2021
🔸 78.0 PFF Grade (13th among CBs in Week 12)
🔸 78.7 Coverage Grade (t-12th) pic.twitter.com/isnJDbsWy6
Hairston made some really great plays against the Chargers, including a phenomenal play on special teams early in the game to down the ball at the Chargers’ one-yard line. Then, he made a break on the ball later in the game that almost resulted in an interception going the other way.
Hairston’s play has been strong dating back to training camp and preseason, and I think this week his hard work and persistence are going to pay off in the form of an interception.
Denver Broncos bold prediction vs. Chiefs #5: Broncos get the dub
This is the big one.
The big prediction for this week is that the Denver Broncos do what hasn’t been done since early in the 2015 season — beat the Chiefs.
Their best shots in recent years have fallen inches short. Remember the Paxton Lynch start in Patrick Mahomes’ first career start back at the end of the 2017 season?
Remember Case Keenum barely missing Demaryius Thomas for a game-winning touchdown?
Remember a pass that was just a hair too far out of KJ Hamler’s reach last season?
Remember Touchdown Trevor Siemian’s three-touchdown effort in a crushing 27-30 loss to the Chiefs back in 2016?
It’s not like the Broncos haven’t had opportunities to beat the Chiefs in recent years. Vic Fangio seems to be able to scheme a pretty good defense against Patrick Mahomes, who has been a bit more reckless with the ball this season than in years past.
His receivers have also been letting him down this year with drops.
The Broncos actually have a solid team this year and don’t necessarily just need luck to beat Kansas City, even on the road (though they will need some).
Denver Broncos studs and duds: Baron Browning shines in big win
The Denver Broncos got a huge victory at home coming out of the bye week over the Los Angeles Chargers. Who stood out in this game whether good or bad?
They need to play an outstanding game in all phases, and I think we’ll finally see it in this one.
I’m hoping we will.