The Denver Broncos Week 17 matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs doesn’t scream “primetime” but it’s certainly not as meaningless as a lot of people seem to be making it out to be. There’s still a lot on the line for both teams in this game and probably a lot more for the Denver Broncos, specifically, after the team’s decision to fire head coach Nathaniel Hackett, replacing him with interim head coach Jerry Rosburg.
The last time these two teams faced off, the Broncos almost completely overcame a 27-0 deficit to beat Kansas City, only to see their comeback hopes dwindle in the waning minutes of the game after Russell Wilson went out with a concussion, and Brett Rypien threw an interception on one of the Broncos’ final drives of the game.
After getting crushed on Christmas Day, the Broncos have been reeling a bit but a lot has changed in the last handful of days for this team. This game against Kansas City is absolutely massive for the future of the organization and we’re going to take a look at a few reasons why.
1. A Denver Broncos win would set the tone for the 2023 offseason
The Denver Broncos have not beaten the Kansas City Chiefs since early on in the 2015 season. They have been dominated by the likes of Patrick Mahomes and even Alex Smith for the last seven years. Aside from winning a Super Bowl and just getting back to the postseason, in general, one of the goals the Denver Broncos have certainly had near the top of their list is to beat the Kansas City Chiefs.
With the playoffs and obviously the Super Bowl out of the question, beating the Chiefs will be the next best thing. The Broncos’ record is going to be bad no matter what, but this team has been in a ton of one-score games all year. They are 3-8 in one-score games with three losses in overtime. Just imagine how different things could be if even five or six of those games had gone the other direction.
As Russell Wilson pointed out on Wednesday, the Vikings have won 11 one-score games this season.
Beating the Kansas City Chiefs — as a road team, especially — would almost completely alter the vibe for the Broncos throughout the 2023 offseason. It would be a sign that things actually can get better in Denver. This is a hurdle the Broncos have been unable to clear since Patrick Mahomes entered the league. Clearing it now — even as a 4-11 team — would be massive.
2. Beating Kansas City would give the Broncos an edge in HC search
As badly as the Broncos have struggled against the Kansas City Chiefs in recent years, the team’s struggles, on the whole, this season have been detrimental to the immediate future of the franchise. Things have been so bad in 2022 that nobody really knows what the future could hold for the Denver Broncos organization. That starts with not knowing who the head coach is going to be in 2023.
Or who is even going to want to be the head coach in 2023 and beyond?
The Broncos need to finish this season strong to show prospective head coach candidates that this is not a disgustingly bad team, even though most of the 2022 season would suggest otherwise, at least offensively. The Broncos have more players on IR than just about any other team in the league. They’ve cycled through one offensive line combination after another. They’ve had just about every wide receiver that was on the 90-man roster in the offseason playing in real games this season.
Can you imagine if, despite it all, the Broncos were able to go out against the Kansas City Chiefs and get a win? Russell Wilson seemingly saved his best of the 2022 season for the team’s previous matchup against the Chiefs, but he was unfortunately knocked out of the game with a concussion. We didn’t get to see how different that game might have ended had Russ not gotten hurt, but perhaps we’ll see something even better the second time around.
Going into this 2023 head coaching search, it’s going to be a much better pitch for the Denver Broncos if they can point to a win vs. Kansas City — with Russell Wilson playing well — as a selling point.
3. Russell Wilson needs to finish strong in the worst way
As previously stated, the Denver Broncos’ offense has been disturbing for most of the 2022 NFL season and there have been very few signs of real life from that unit. Although putting the weight of reviving the Denver Broncos on his shoulders was perhaps unfair in hindsight, Russell Wilson came to Denver with the franchise QB label and massive expectations.
The expectations from a guy that has been consistently one of the top QBs in the league? You expect that guy to elevate your program. You expect him to elevate the guys around him offensively.
Sure, it took five or six games in 2012 with Peyton Manning, but that team became one of the hottest in the league as well as one of the best offenses in the league in no time. Such has not been the case for Wilson and the Broncos. Wilson is having the worst season of his NFL career and he’s making mistakes on a weekly basis that seem so out of character for who he has been as a member of the Seattle Seahawks.
It wasn’t that long ago people were saying Russ should legitimately be in the MVP conversation. Those are the discussions we used to have about Wilson, believe it or not. Now, it’s everyone wondering whether or not he’s washed up. Whether or not he’ll ever get back to even a semblance of the player he was in Seattle.
I tend to think this year is a complete anomaly for Wilson, as others have stated. An outlier in a decade-long career of efficient play, accurate throwing, and outstanding playmaking in clutch moments.
Russell Wilson desperately needs a strong finish to the 2022 season, especially after the Christmas Day debacle in Los Angeles against the Rams when he threw three ill-advised interceptions. Although it certainly wouldn’t cure all the wounds of 2022, beating the Chiefs (especially on the road) would go such a long way toward rehabbing Wilson’s image in Denver.
4. Playing spoiler for teams atop the AFC West
It’s not like guys are just out there “playing for pride” at this point of the year. Future jobs are on the line. Guys are now auditioning for the next coaching staff, who is going to watch the film of this past season to make determinations about the roster going forward.
Aside from having a lot to play for professionally, these guys are competitors at the end of the day, right? They are competitors at the very highest level, and so many of these Broncos players have lost so many games in a row to the Chiefs. It’s not just about beating them at this point, it’s about what that would mean.
Obviously, it would end a terrible streak for the Broncos but it would also potentially derail the Chiefs’ hopes of being the no. 1 overall seed in the AFC this year. The Buffalo Bills are currently atop the AFC but are tied with the Chiefs in their overall record, and a home game against the Broncos this week should have the Chiefs safely in the driver’s seat to own the no. 1 seed after Sunday’s action.
The Bills play the Cincinnati Bengals, so they have a much tougher opponent standing in their way.
The Broncos should lose this game on paper. The Chiefs are better. As Jerry Rosburg stated, the gap between these two clubs is apparent. But this game could close that gap. It could give the Broncos the chance to make sure the Chiefs are traveling to Buffalo or Cincinnati sometime in the playoffs and make winning the Super Bowl a nearly impossible task for them.
Not to mention, if the Broncos could somehow beat both the Chiefs and Chargers next week, they would have beaten two playoff teams in consecutive weeks with another win this season against the 49ers. Having those three wins plus the team’s earlier win against the Jaguars (who might win the AFC South) would at least be something to hang their hats on going into the offseason.
Denver Broncos snag a sleeper running back off Ravens practice squad
The Denver Broncos snagged a sleeper running back off the Baltimore Ravens practice squad, adding rookie Tyler Badie out of Missouri.
Beating two division rivals in a row? That would help the Broncos make sure the Chiefs hit the road in the postseason and that the Chargers finish the year with two straight losses instead of just one.