MVN - Most Valuable Network

Injuries, Thin Air Could Lead to Long Day for Chiefs vs. Broncos

The only appropriate way to start off this preview, I think, is to look at the Chiefs’ injury report:

• RB Larry Johnson (OUT)
• LT Damion McIntosh (OUT)
• LT Kyle Turley (OUT)
• RG Rudy Niswanger (IR)
• LB Donnie Edwards (Q)
• S Greg Wesley (Q)
• QB Brodie Croyle (P)
• LB Napoleon Harris (P)
• LB Derrick Johnson (P)

Ponder that for a moment. Potentially (though unlikely) all three starting linebackers may not play. Their top two starting left tackles, for an already shaky offensive line, are definitely out. Also, with 3rd-string QB Tyler Thigpen placed on IR earlier this week, the Chiefs go into the game with only 2 active QBs, and they both are banged up.

And now they have to go into Denver, where they have never enjoyed much success.  And Denver goes into the game relatively healthy- the primary concerns are at WR, where both Javon Walker and Brandon Stokley are questionable with knee injuries (both practiced on Friday).

The Chiefs are now in rebuilding mode, but it is difficult to rebuild when the building blocks already in place are defective. We may not get to see what Croyle can do because he might be on his back the whole game. We might not get to see if the defense can rebound from some bad outings because half of the starters may not play, or could see only limited action.So is there any reason to get excited about this game? Well, it is Denver, after all, so any game against them should get Chiefs’ fans fired up. Denver, for its part, has had a nasty habit this year of losing games they had no business losing. I’ll add one more to the mix- Will Svitek’s future is on the line, because they need to see whether he learned anything from his debacle of a game last week.

You may also see the Chiefs gamble on first down more often. Herm Edwards made it clear that they cannot put Croyle in a position of 3rd and long very often because, with this beat-up offensive line, he will get killed in those situations. Could we see more trickery on first down, and might we get to see Croyle test out his strong arm on deep passes to Dwayne Bowe?

Other than that, I don’t have much else to get fans pumped up. The Broncos are technically still in the playoff race, but it looks highly unlikely. This is just a grudge match, plain and simple. The Broncos went into Kansas City and took a game most did not think they would win. Kansas City will be looking to return the favor, but without several of their primary players, Herm Edwards will really have to pull off a Mile High Miracle.

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 9th, 2007 at 7:53 am and is filed under Preview. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.