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Broncos-Chiefs Preview

Dec 2, 2009 - 10:13 PM By MATT BECKER STATS Senior Writer

With his team in the middle of the playoff race, quarterback Kyle Orton wants the Denver Broncos to be playing their best football from here on out.

The Broncos hope to fix some mental errors and get their offense in sync Sunday when they visit the Kansas City Chiefs in the first meeting of the season between these AFC West rivals.

Denver (7-4) appeared to be well on its way to the West title after opening with six consecutive wins, but four straight losses dropped the Broncos one game back of San Diego for the division lead.

Denver finally returned to the physical style of play it displayed earlier this season in a 26-6 win over the New York Giants on Thanksgiving. It was the Broncos' first victory since beating the Chargers 34-23 on Oct. 19 and came four days after a 32-3 home loss to San Diego.

The defense stepped up against the Giants, forcing three fumbles and holding them to 267 yards. The same unit allowed an average of 29.3 points and 350.8 yards with two total turnovers during the skid.

Denver, which forced an average of 2.0 turnovers during its winning streak, faces a Kansas City team that turned the ball over a season-worst four times in last Sunday's 43-14 loss to San Diego.

In addition to creating turnovers, the Broncos also took away the Giants' ground game, limiting them to 57 yards. The run defense has been instrumental to the team's success, allowing an average of 76.4 yards in its wins compared to 168.8 in the losses.

"We talked about the whole year about playing our best football from Thanksgiving on," Orton said. "We got to win a lot of games past Thanksgiving. This is our first step and we're 1-0. We hope to get to 2-0 next week."

Now that Denver's defense regained its swagger, the offense hopes it can also get back on track.

The Broncos outgained New York 213-38 in the first half but settled for field goals on three drives, including their first two trips inside the Giants' 10-yard line. At one point, Denver had three false starts and a dropped pass in a five-play sequence after reaching the 7-yard line.

"It was frustrating to get down for the second time and to have some mishaps," Orton said. "We had some pretty dumb penalties. That's been our Achilles' heel, penalties and the red zone offense. We still have a lot of work to do."

Denver is tied for 29th in the league with Cleveland in red zone touchdown efficiency at 40.0 percent. The Broncos have made 30 trips inside their opponents' 20-yard line and have come away with 12 touchdowns and 12 field goals.

They hope to get some of their offensive problems corrected against a Kansas City team that ranks 30th in total defense (392.9 yards per game) and 28th in scoring defense (25.6 points per game).

After a stunning 27-24 overtime victory over Pittsburgh on Nov. 22, the Chiefs (3-8) came out flat against the Chargers.

Kansas City allowed 426 yards - the eighth time this season it yielded at least 400 - and the offense's four turnovers led to 28 points.

Rookie coach Todd Haley said they were looking to take "another baby step."

"But if you turn the ball over it's going to get out of hand quick, which is exactly what happened," he said.

One bright spot for the Chiefs was another strong performance from Jamaal Charles, who ran for 93 yards. He has 254 rushing yards in the last three games.

The Chiefs, 9-34 since 2007, have lost three of their last four against the Broncos. These teams conclude the regular season in Denver on Jan. 3.