A Big Chief tablet

Handwriting is on the notebook paper for Denver, K.C.: Win

Jeff Legwold, Rocky Mountain News

Thursday, November 23, 2006

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - This is what Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt wanted.

All those times at all those meetings, Hunt, one of the founding members of the American Football League, consistently bent the ear of former commissioner Paul Tagliabue to have visitors over to his football house on Thanksgiving.

"It's a tribute to Lamar Hunt, having this game here," Chiefs coach Herman Edwards said. "He's been kind of asking for this."

Hunt certainly was asking and asking and asking for a night such as this. One with a national cable television audience, captive in holiday prime time and the throaty red sea of Arrowhead Stadium waiting to wash over the Broncos in what is virtually a must win for both of the longtime AFC West opponents.

A game so big that Chiefs running back Larry Johnson said simply, "It's bigger for both teams."

Now, that's big.

At 7-3, the Broncos already are one game back of the Chargers in the division standings. They must now be careful not to lose too much footing in the AFC playoff race overall. Denver is in a fight with the Chiefs (6-4) and Jacksonville (6-4) for one of the conference's two wild- card spots.

But wild-card spots in the postseason mean road games. And road games - the Steelers' improbable historic run last year notwithstanding - usually make for short playoff trips.

So if the Broncos want a shot at the division title, they have to keep themselves within sight of the Chargers because those two teams are set to play again Dec. 10 in San Diego. For the Chiefs, who Edwards already has said are in a string of must-win situations in what is a "six-game season," a loss would put them on the uphill side of things.

And that is an unsettling possibility for a team that missed the playoffs last year, despite winning 10 games.

"Obviously, the winner of the game has some things that go with that, but our focus is just winning the game," Broncos fullback Kyle Johnson said. "That's it - winning the game."

That hasn't always been easy for the Broncos at Arrowhead, where the team is 11-24 since the AFL- NFL merger in 1970.

And not only is it one of the loudest places in the league - and set to be just a bit louder in a game with such high national interest - but the Broncos think there is a little something else at work as well.

In the Broncos' view, the Chiefs are simply better, stronger and faster at home. In the Broncos' view, a good team becomes that much better when it roars out onto that field.

"The difference is, I think, Kansas City just plays better there," Johnson said. "It's hard because it's loud, but also because they just play better there. . . . They do things better - run faster, score more. They are just a better team in that place, they seem to feed off of things."

"At their place, they play faster," quarterback Jake Plummer said. "We've got to be prepared for anything they can pull up there to try to get us in bad position. They're a tough defense to face, especially at their house because, like I said, they play fast and they've got the noise. But that's no excuse. We've gone in there and performed well before. We just haven't won in a while, and that's what our goal is."

Edwards, in his first year as Dick Vermeil's handpicked successor, has pulled the Chiefs' high-flying offense back to earth and added some grass stains to the playbook. And with quarterback Trent Green set to start only his second game since suffering a severe concussion in the regular-season opener, Edwards has made no secret that he's going to lean on Larry Johnson plenty down the stretch.

Johnson has rushed for at least 126 yards in three of the past four meetings with the Broncos, and he has rushed for at least 140 yards in the past two meetings in Kansas City.

Larry Johnson already has topped the 1,000-yard mark (1,045) and has rushed for at least 132 yards in four of the past five games and scored nine rushing touchdowns in those five games.

"It's going to be a hell of a challenge," Broncos linebacker Al Wilson said. "But we have to stop the run, first and foremost. We just can't let them run the ball, because that sets everything up for them. It's the key to everything."

"All we really have is today," Kyle Johnson said. "And that's what you work on, what you focus on . . . in situations like this. And when it's all over, it doesn't matter if the crowd was loud or wearing the same color or anything like that because, if you win the game, you win over that, and that's all that needs to be said. That's our mind-set."

Holiday headaches

The Broncos are 3-6 all time on Thanksgiving, but two of those wins have come during their past two appearances:

Year Opponent Result

1962 N.Y. Titans L, 46-45

1963 Oakland L, 26-10

1967 San Diego L, 24-20

1969 Kansas City L, 31-17

1974 Detroit W, 31-27

1978 Detroit L, 17-14

1990 Detroit L, 40-27

2001 Dallas W, 26-24

2005 Dallas W, 24-21**Overtime

Strive for five

Jeff Legwold's keys for the Broncos in their game tonight against Kansas City:

1 Buckle up. Hmmm, it's Thanksgiving night, a national prime-time television audience and a juiced-up Arrowhead Stadium. It would seem the Broncos better leave the sluggish start in the luggage. A slow start in this one means Football America watches the Broncos get flattened.

2 Squeeze. Chiefs running back Larry Johnson is coach Herman Edwards' dream back. He's big, powerful, breaks tackles, is fast in the open field and will carry the rock as many times as you give it to him. The Broncos have to gang tackle and limit the yards after contact.

3 Bring on the noise. The Broncos' defensive front has to crank it up. Denver needs pressure on Trent Green, who just returned Sunday after 10 weeks on the sideline because of a severe concussion. Green wasn't always sharp against the Raiders until it was time to win the game, which he did.

4 Call a Plummer. This just might be a signature moment in Jake Plummer's tenure in Denver. There is some feeling here that a loss, plus some sluggish play on offense, might bring Jay Cutler into the lineup down the season's stretch.

5 Do or don't. Falling to 7-4 in the current AFC climate doesn't do the Broncos' postseason chances much good. They have to stay within one game of the Chargers to stake a claim for the division title Dec. 10 in San Diego.

legwoldj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2359