The Denver Broncos are not letting the fact that they won’t face Patrick Mahomes or several other Kansas City Chiefs starters on Sunday make them feel more at ease with a playoff spot on the line.
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid announced on Wednesday that Mahomes would be resting, but he didn’t specify who else might join him on the sideline.
It’s possible that standout defensive tackle Chris Jones (calf strain) will also sit out, along with running back Isiah Pacheco (rib injury), right tackle Jawaan Taylor (knee soreness), and tight end Travis Kelce, who missed last year’s Week 18 game as well.
“We have to play the game to win, that’s all that matters,” said Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton. “We don’t care about none of the other stuff. Whoever has on shoulder pads and is wearing red, white, and yellow, we have to beat them boys.”
Sutton added, “We don’t care who shows up and plays. We don’t care who sits. We don’t care who doesn’t play, who does play. We don’t care about any of that. The Denver Broncos have to show up Sunday and win the game.”
If the Broncos (9-7) win, they will secure a playoff spot for the first time since their Super Bowl 50 victory in February 2016, which was Peyton Manning’s final game.
Since then, the franchise has gone through six head coaches and over a dozen starting quarterbacks. Meanwhile, the Chiefs (15-1) earned the top AFC playoff spot after a three-game win streak, capped by a 29-10 win over Pittsburgh on Christmas Day.
Reid is using this final game to rest key players who will have a lengthy break before returning for an AFC divisional playoff game on January 18 or 19.
Broncos coach Sean Payton acknowledged Reid’s strategy, saying, “When you go 15-1, then you’re afforded those decisions, and I’ve been in that position where your team might need a break here or there. They’ve earned that, and that’s part of the deal. For us, it’s about understanding what we’re seeing scheme-wise and being ready to play our best game.”
The Broncos missed opportunities to secure a playoff spot in the last two weeks with road losses to the Los Angeles Chargers and Cincinnati Bengals. However, they are focused on controlling their destiny with a win-and-in game at home on Sunday.
“You could say that it would have been nice to be able to go into this game and have your position locked in,” Sutton said. “But in terms of a storybook thing that you couldn’t really write up any better, I think this is the best opportunity that we could have to go in and solidify why we deserve to be in the dance.”
If the Broncos lose or tie against the Chiefs, they can still make the playoffs if the Cincinnati Bengals lose to the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Miami Dolphins lose to the New York Jets. However, the Broncos aren’t counting on other teams to help them.
“We gotta win the game, simple,” Sutton said. “There’s nothing that goes into it. We gotta win the game. People say it’s never black and white — it’s black and white. We gotta win the game. And that’s as simple as it gets.”
Last season, the Broncos broke a 16-game losing streak to the Chiefs with a 24-9 victory in Denver. This year, they came close to beating Kansas City in Week 10, but the Chiefs blocked a 33-yard field goal attempt at the end of the game to preserve a 16-14 win.
After that painful loss, the Broncos made changes to their field goal protection unit, shifting Alex Forsyth and Matt Peart to the left side. Since then, kicker Wil Lutz has been perfect, hitting all 12 of his field goal attempts and all 22 extra points.
