Five Key Matchups: Broncos at Chiefs

With Von Miller bringing the pressure off one edge, Bradley Chubb is playing his best football right now off the other. He leads all rookies with 6.5 sacks, five of which have come in the past two weeks. When he faces Patrick Mahomes, though, he'll be facing one of the league's most difficult quarterbacks. Athletic enough to get outside the pocket, Mahomes has a cannon for an arm and is a great thrower while on the run. He leads the league in passing touchdowns and completions of at least 40 yards, and he's second in total passing yards. Chubb must also make sure he's able to help set the edge and keep Mahomes between the tackles.

"He makes plays with his feet," Chubb said Wednesday. "When he makes plays, he doesn't scramble to get yards, he scrambles to get all those weapons he has open. I feel like he uses that to his advantage. You can tell he was a pitcher. He can throw side-arm — just everything he does is pretty good. We've just got to do our job containing him."

After a passing touchdown last week, Emmanuel Sanders is the only wide receiver in Broncos team history to record a receiving, rushing and passing touchdown in the same season. On top of that, Sanders also had 102 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown on six catches against the Cardinals. The Broncos have lined him up all over the field, and he leads the team in both catches and receiving yards. In Week 4 against the Chiefs, Sanders caught five passes for 45 yards and added an 18-yard rush. He may face off against Chiefs cornerback Kendall Fuller often on Sunday, especially in the slot. In his first year with the Chiefs after two years with the Redskins, Fuller has racked up 38 tackles and four passes defended while starting all seven games.

Two players at the top of their game will go head to head when Von Miller meets Mitchell Schwartz on Sunday. Miller, a six-time Pro Bowler, has a four-game sack drought against the Chiefs, but if the way he's played over the past few weeks is any indication, he'll be ending that streak on Sunday. Miller has 3.5 sacks over his past two games, including two forced fumbles and one recovered fumble. Schwartz has done a great job protecting Patrick Mahomes this year, but he'll have his hands full Sunday.

"They have a great offensive line," Miller said Thursday. "I think it starts with [T] Mitchell Schwartz, No. 71. [T] Eric Fisher is playing great as well, and the interior guys are just as tough as the guys on the outside. When you've got a great quarterback like that and you've got a great offensive line, it's tough for everybody."

In the Week 4 meeting between these two teams, the Broncos held Travis Kelce without a catch in the first half and took a 13-10 lead into the locker room. In the second half, Kelce came to life with seven catches for 78 yards and a score as the Chiefs left Denver with a 27-23 come-from-behind victory. Kelce is a difficult matchup for opposing defenses. He has the size and the strength to win 50-50 balls, but he also has the speed and athleticism to get open deep, and the Chiefs use him in several different fashions. Simmons, whose 44 combined tackles ranks second on the Broncos, is the type of athlete that can cause Kelce problems, though. He uses his length and speed to blanket other teams' top targets, and he can come up and play near the line of scrimmage,as well. There's a good chance his versatile skill set will need to be on full display on Sunday to slow down one of the NFL's best tight ends.

With Royce Freeman out due to an ankle injury, Lindsay could be in for a heavy workload against the Chiefs. Lindsay's 436 rushing yards and 119 receiving yards both rank third among rookie running backs. Lindsay has shown speed, quickness and impressive power as a runner, and he recorded 69 rushing yards and a touchdown last time out against Kansas City. But he'll meet a tough test in Anthony Hitchens, whose 63 tackles are by far the most on the team. Still, the Broncos will be looking for their undrafted rookie to make some more big plays at Arrowhead Stadium.

"He's definitely a good receiver out of the backfield…" Offensive Coordinator Bill Musgrave said Thursday. "We need to throw more to him. But he's doing a nice job. He's always been real tough, real stingy back there."