A hope for few fireworks from the Kansas City Chiefs

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With all the talk of Kansas City Chiefs Quarterback Patrick Mahomes breaking touchdown records in this young season , how nice would it be for him to come crashing back to earth this Monday night in Denver against the Denver Broncos?A win is a win is a win, in Week 2 of this season, the Titans and Jaguars turned in a performance I could swear I’d seen before. On Sept. 17, 2006, the Kansas City Chiefs came to Invesco Field at Mile High to square off against Mike Shanahan, Jake Plummer, Rod Smith, Jason Elam, Darrent Williams, Champ Bailey, and a cadre of “oh yeah, I remember them” Denver Broncos. Chad Mustard? David Kircus? Paul Ernster? This was a team still struggling to find its way following a crushing loss in the 2005 AFC Championship game to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Don’t forget, rookie quarterback Jay Cutler was on the bench waiting for his opportunity to insult the city of Denver before setting back the Bears franchise for half a decade. I’ll level with you. I’m focusing more on the personnel than the game itself, because like the Titans Jaguars game, the final score was 9-6, Broncos won. You don’t get a score like that without a bona fide snooze fest. At halftime, the Chiefs led 3-0, no doubt feeling good about their Lawrence Tynes field goal in the second quarter. In the third quarter, the Chiefs increased their lead to 6, but in the waning minute, Jason Elam booted a 23-yarder to finally get the Broncos on the board. With just under six minutes to go in regulation, Elam provided the points to send this terrible game into overtime. In overtime, the Chiefs never possessed the ball. In those days, first points won the game and Jason Elam put everyone out of their misery and gave the Broncos the win with a 39-yard field goal with just 10 minutes to go in the extra period. You look at the Broncos’ 9-6 victory that day and naturally assume its narrative was dominated by stout defense played by both teams. Not so! Jake Plummer was not sacked and only threw one interception. The Chiefs didn’t turn the ball over and suffered just one sack split between Patrick Chukwurah and Ebenezer Ekuban. The real story of this game was offensive ineptitude from both teams. Chiefs’ quarterback Damon Huard went 17 for 23 for 133-yards. Running back Larry Johnson turned in a great performance with 127-yards on the ground and 41-yards receiving, but in the end had nothing to show for any of it. Jake Plummer went 16 of 30 for 173 yards. The brothers Bell , Mike and Tatum (not actuallyrelated), combined for 113 yards rushing and under 20 receiving. 9-6, Broncos won. It was boring and ugly, but it was a win. While I would like the Chiefs’ offense to turn in a performance like that on Monday night, it doesn’t seem all that likely, considering how Patrick Mahomes has performed in 2018 thus far. Unfortunately, 9 points from the Broncos seems much more possible. Here’s hoping that Case Keenum finds his inner Viking and makes it a game. ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Case Keenum agrees he’s gone from being too careless with the football to being too cautious.Denver’s quarterback said Tuesday he concurs with head coach Vance Joseph that he needs to take more downfield chances if the Broncos (6-7) are to have any chance of reaching the playoffs.“Yeah, I mean we’re at the point of the season where we’ve got to make plays. We’ve got to score points,” Keenum said. “… I can’t get caught back there with the ball in my hands. And I’ve got to give guys chances down the field.”Keenum hasn’t thrown an interception in his last five starts after throwing 10 in his first eight games in Denver, but his passing numbers are pedestrian lately. He’s averaged just 178 yards passing in his last three games and he’s already been sacked a career-high 30 times.So, Keenum said he’ll balance ball security with the risk-reward of taking his chances down the seams beginning Saturday night against the Cleveland Browns (5-7-1).“In general, that’s a good mindset to have,” Keenum said. “And I think … continuing to be smart with the ball but giving guys chances when we feel like it’s a good matchup or good, advantageous time to take a shot or take a chance down the field.”Keenum was scolded early on for throwing too many interceptions, including three against Seattle in the opener. After going all of November and half of December without getting picked off, he’s now drawing criticism for being too conservative.It comes with the territory, Keenum said.“I mean, quarterback is a tough position to play, and that’s why I play it. I love the challenge of it,” Keenum said. “I love how much goes into it. And how my entire life I have absolutely loved having the ball in my hands, making decisions and really being a big part of why my team wins.“And that’s what I want to be. I want to win. I’m a winner. I’m competitive to a fault and I think that’s what partly drives me and makes me who I am. So, yeah, I take it on myself that I’ve got to do better. I’ve got to play better. I’ve got to give my guys chances down the field and that’s it.”Making his task harder is an injury epidemic that has nearly dismantled Denver’s offense.Keenum is playing behind a line that consists of converted guard Connor McGovern at center and four tackles, including Billy Turner at left guard and Elijah Wilkinson at right guard , following season-ending injuries to Matt Paradis, Ronald Leary and Max Garcia.Tight ends Troy Fumagalli, Jake Butt and Jeff Heuerman all are on IR and Keenum lost his two favorite receivers, Demaryius Thomas to a trade and Emmanuel Sanders to a ruptured Achilles.Now, his No. 1 receiver is rookie Courtland Sutton, but he missed Tuesday’s walkthrough practice with a thigh injury, making fellow rookie DaeSean Hamilton his flanker du jour.So, even if Keenum heeds his coach’s admonition to start taking more chances downfield, there’s no guarantee his raw receivers or young tight ends will make the emphasis a success.“I’ve said that early on, that it takes time to work with guys, but you know this is the NFL,” Keenum said. “It’s the nature of the business and how it goes and heck, I’ve had a lot of work with Courtland, with DaeSean and Timmy (Patrick). Those guys, we’ve been here since the spring and worked during the summer. So, we put a lot of investment into the bank and we want to keep making withdrawals.”Keenum said the other thing he needs to do is somehow break the Broncos’ habit of slow starts.They’ve only scored six first-quarter points in their last five games and have started with a three-and-out four times.“We need to make sure we get things going early, whether it’s with Phillip (Lindsay), Royce (Freeman), whether it’s throwing the ball down the field,” Keenum said. “A lot of different things. We need to get first downs. We need to score early and take some pressure off our defense and get other teams out of their game plans.“So, there’s a lot of things that we can fix.”ROBOT BARTENDER : The Broncos have unveiled the “Bud Light Bot ” that will be in use Saturday on the club level at Mile High stadium. Manufactured by Universal Robots and programmed by MSI TEC, the robot serves beer from a bottoms-up machine that uses a special cup and magnet to pour the beer.

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