Broncos Pick 'Em: Beyond Teddy Bridgewater, who needs to have the biggest game if the Broncos are to upset the Chiefs?

First place in the AFC West is up for grabs on Sunday Night Football when the Broncos head into Arrowhead Stadium to take on the Chiefs.

After Denver’s dominant 28-13 victory over the Chargers in Week 12, the Broncos put themselves in a position to be on top of the division by beating the Chiefs this week.

Denver, however, is currently riding an 11-game losing streak to Kansas City and is a 9.5-point underdog.

How can the Broncos pull off the upset and land in first place in the AFC West?

The DNVR Crew breaks it down in the 13th edition of Broncos Pick ‘Em.

All odds below are courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.

Who needs to have the biggest game, outside of Teddy Bridgewater, for the Broncos to pull off the upset?

Zac: Javonte Williams — The Broncos’ winning formula is abundantly clear and it relies purely on Denver’s rushing attack.

In Denver’s six wins, they have run the ball an average of over 31 times per game for 133.5 yards. In their five losses, however, they’ve only ran the ball 18 times per game for only 92.5 yards per game.

Run the ball, and run it successfully, and the Broncos will at least be in the game, if not win. Don’t, and they won’t have a chance against the Chiefs.

The bad news is Melvin Gordon is listed as doubtful.

The good news is it should be easy to feed Javonte Williams. A successful ground game would not only help Denver’s offense keep up with the Chiefs’ explosive offense, but it would keep Patrick Mahomes on the sideline.

If Pat Shurmur sticks to the run, the Broncos have a shot.

Mase: Quinn Meinerz, Lloyd Cushenberry and Dalton Risner — You won’t have raw numbers to measure what the Broncos’ trio of interior offensive linemen do … at least, not in their own statistics. But you will know about their impact if they can keep Kansas City’s Chris Jones at bay.

Jones has long been a force, but since the arrival of edge rusher Melvin Ingram, he has been able to return to his more familiar inside position. It is not a coincidence that Jones has more quarterback pressures (13) and sacks (3.5) in the three games he has played with Ingram this season than he accumulated in six games without him, when he posted 11 hurries and 3 sacks.

Meinerz, Cushenberry and Risner are all first-contract players — Day 2 products of each of the last three draft classes. Stopping Jones will require all three of them at various points to step up. The Chiefs have won 13 consecutive games in which Jones has posted at least one sack, so containing him will be crucial if the Broncos’ offense is to function.

RK: Vic Fangio — As I’ve said all week, I truly believe Vic Fangio can all but lock up another year with the Broncos if he can pull off the win this weekend, but to do that, he’s going to have to have one of, if not the single best game he’s had as a coach and defensive play-caller.

The Chiefs are obviously one of the toughest teams in the league to match up with, but Fangio has historically put together some pretty good game plans for Mahomes and the boys, highlighted by their last trip to Kansas City when they held KC to just 22 points.

If Fangio can scheme up ways to get pressure without blitzing and force Mahomes into a turnover or two, Denver may just have an efficient enough offense this season to get the job done.

Picks Picks Picks

Pick one anytime touchdown scorer: Tyreek Hill (-125), Clyde Edwards-Helaire (-105), Travis Kelce (+100), Javonte Williams (+110), Jerry Jeudy (+250), Tim Patrick (+275), (Courtland Sutton +310)

Zac: Javonte Williams

Mase: Williams.

RK: Travis Kelce.

Teddy Bridgewater passing yards over/under 247.5

Zac: Over.

Mase: Under.

RK: Over.

Patrick Mahomes passing yards over/under 287.5

Zac: Under.

Mase: Under.

RK: Under.

Javonte Williams rushing yards over/under 72.5

Zac: Over.

Mase: Over.

RK: Over.

Clyde Edwards-Helaire rushing yards over/under 62.5

Zac: Over.

Mase: Under.

RK: Under.

Jerry Jeudy receiving yards over/under 51.5

Zac: Over.

Mase: Under.

RK: Over.

Courtland Sutton receiving yards over/under 44.5

Zac: Over.

Mase: Over.

RK: Under.

Noah Fant receiving yards over/under 37.5

Zac: Under.

Mase: Over.

RK: Under.

Tyreek Hill receiving yards over/under 79.5

Zac: Under.

Mase: Under.

RK: Under.

Travis Kelce receiving yards over/under 72.5

Zac: Over.

Mase: Over.

RK: Over.

Teddy Bridgewater + Patrick Mahomes total completion over/under 49.5

Zac: Under.

Mase: Over.

RK: Over.

Broncos total points over/under 18.5

Zac: Under.

Mase: Under.

RK: Over.

Chiefs total points over/under 28.5

Zac: Under.

Mase: Under.

RK: Under.

Broncos-Chiefs over/under 47.5

Zac: Under.

Mase: Under.

RK: Under.

Broncos @ Chiefs (-9.5)

Zac: Chiefs.

Mase: Broncos.

RK: Broncos.

Chargers @ Bengals (-3)

Zac: Bengals.

Mase: Bengals.

RK: Bengals.

Washington Football Team @ Raiders (-2.5)

Zac: Raiders.

Mase: Raiders.

RK: WFT.

Leaderboard

Last week

Mase: 10-5

Zac: 6-9

RK: 6-9

Overall

Zac: 78-97

RK: 78-97

Mase: 76-99