Kansas City Chiefs vs. Denver Broncos

Peyton Manning has thrown for 2,145 yards and nine touchdowns this year, but also has 13 interceptions.

Broncos defense is the 2nd most-penalized in the NFL.

The Chiefs catch the Broncos, owners of the No. 1 defense in the National Football League, without starting outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware (back) and starting cornerback Aqib Talib, who is serving a one-game suspension.

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The Denver Broncos need to re-establish their running game. The run game had gotten better until last week in Indianapolis when the Broncos ran for a total of 35 yards. But after losing Jamaal Charles for the season due to injury, they’ve adjusted nicely to win two-straight and put themselves in a long shot possibility to reach the NFL’s second season.

Against the Green Bay Packers, Anderson had 101 yards on just 14 carries, and he followed that up with a solid 4.9 YPC average on just seven carries.

Also, with the change in offensive scheme from John Fox to Gary Kubiak, the Denver Broncos utilize two tight end sets much more. While a good broadcaster never reveals which way he is leaning, the former Pro Bowler came off as believing in Kansas City to put up a good fight at the very least. “I felt fast”, the Broncos’ first-round draft pick said after practicing for the first time since injuring his right knee in Denver’s overtime win at Cleveland on October 18.

Kansas City is 3-5 on the season, 3-5 against the spread and 5-3 with the over. According to SeatSmart.com, Denver Broncos tickets for this Sunday ranks fifth out of their remaining eight games.

The Chiefs have a chance to erase the memories of their bitter Week 2 loss to Denver. The wide receiver suffered the injury in the game against the Colts, but was able to continue playing. Talib was called for a personal foul penalty during the game, but after further review, the National Football League made a decision to suspend him for one game. Bradley Roby moves from nickel back to starting left corner and Kayvon Webster moves into nickel role.

Horrigan was on hand at last week’s game, when Manning fell three yards short of the record.

The 39-year-old needs 3 yards Sunday against Kansas City to break Brett Favre’s career passing record. The Denver Broncos should take care of business this Sunday against the Chiefs, but the Chiefs are trending in the right direction.

Although the Broncos almost came back to defeat Indy, Andrew Luck pulled out a gusty win to give Denver their first loss of the year, and there’s an terrible lot of pressure on this team to avoid dropping two straight. Then again, without Charles, the Chiefs don’t fumble and the Broncos lose in Arrowhead. Hopefully, D-Tom finds the end zone for the first time in five weeks.

The bottom line is, the Chiefs will really need to lock down on defense in order to win.