Week 12 - Keep Away

When you play Peyton Manning, there seems to be only two ways to beat him: keep the ball away from him and win the time of possession battle or make him turn the ball over at least three times. Sometimes just doing one of those isn't enough and today was one of those days. The Chiefs did win the time of possession battle for the game, especially in the first three quarters. But in the fourth quarter the gap narrowed and the defense was only able to pick Manning off once.

Peyton is a first ballot Hall of Famer, maybe my favorite player in the league, the only 4-time MVP in the history of the NFL, maybe the best player to ever play the game, and one of the classiest guys you'll find. To see him play well after coming back from neck surgery is great, even if it is against our own team. He's turned the Broncos into a legitimate Super Bowl contender and I wouldn't be surprised if they never lost again this season.

The Chiefs played a lot better today than I was expecting and Romeo came in with a good game plan and had the defense fired up. We were able to keep the ball 31 minutes and 43 seconds but most of that was in the first three quarters. We were able to run the ball successfully as we have all season but today we showed commitment to the running game like we should have been in the past. With 31 carries we were able to accumulate 138 yards but came up short in the red zone every time only scoring on three field goals.

Since we kept the ball out of Peyton's hands he threw for 285 yards and two touchdowns (below average for him but great compared to any Chiefs' QB performance). Their defense looked great as always and tightened up in the red zone when they needed to. The game ended with yet another loss at 14-9 bringing us to 1-10 but this week looked encouraging finally.

Players of the Game
Chiefs
Offense: The entire offensive line - Von Miller and Elvis Dumervil are two of the best pass rushers in the AFC. With rookies starting at left tackle and left guard, I was expecting at least six sacks in this game. We were able to shut down Dumervil and only allowed Miller to get to Brady Quinn once on the day. They gave up two total sacks and dominated in the run game. I think this o-line has become a strength for the Chiefs and look forward to building around them.
Defense: Romeo Crennel - no one stood out in particular on the D this week but Derrick Johnson did lay a huge hit on Knowshon Moreno and Brandon Flowers picked off the future Pro Bowler on a terrible throw and misread. Romeo Crennel came into the game with the game plan to keep the ball out of Peyton's hands and he showed some gumption and stuck to it even through the red zone struggles. He gained some respect from me and hopefully other fans too.

Broncos: Peyton Manning - I think I've said enough. He'll win out the rest of the season and carry the Broncs into the AFC Championship against the Texans in a great game between two balanced teams. In my opinion he should win his fifth MVP award this year but it'll be a close vote between him and Matty Ice (Matt Ryan of the 10-1 Atlanta Falcons).