Key takeaways from first half of Chiefs vs. Broncos Week 18

This game started off on the wrong foot, much in the same way that last week’s game did. A pregame injury to a key player saw some things disrupted in the early goings of the game. The Denver Broncos lead things 14-10 going into halftime, but the Kansas City Chiefs will get the ball to start the second half.

Here are our biggest takeaways from the first half of the Chiefs’ Week 18 game against the Broncos:

Chiefs need to take a look at their pregame warmup regimen

AP Photo/Jack Dempsey

For the second consecutive week, the Chiefs have suffered an injury ahead of the start of the game during pregame warmups. Last week, Orlando Brown Jr. didn’t play as a result of a pregame calf injury. This week, Tyreek Hill is battling through a heel injury suffered during pregame warmups.

I’m not sure what the players are doing in pregame warmups which is causing them to be injured, but it seems exceedingly uncommon to have this happen in consecutive weeks. Kansas City is known for having one of the best training staff’s in the league under Rick Burkholder, but perhaps they’re doing things a little too loosely. Hill was pictured by the broadcast crew going for a jump ball against teammate Mecole Hardman and he came down pretty hard on the play. I just wonder if things like that are conducive to keeping guys on the field when it matters most.

Zayne Anderson has officially become a problem

AP Photo/Rick Scuteri

For the second consecutive week, Chiefs rookie DB Zayne Anderson has made a game-altering play and not in a good way. Last week, Anderson had a penalty that erased an 89-yard kick return for a touchdown. This week, Anderson had a roughing the punter penalty that gave the Broncos a fresh set of downs, leading to seven points and the opening score for Denver.

When you’re a player solely on the team to play special teams, having game-altering plays that negatively impact the team is a surefire way to be served your walking papers. When fans know your name solely based on negative plays, it’s probably not a good situation to be in. He’ll need to make some positive gains soon otherwise his roster spot could be in jeopardy.

Defense picking up where they left off last week

AP Photo/David Zalubowski

The Chiefs’ defense has looked a little shell-shocked after their Week 17 performance against the Cincinnati Bengals. The field conditions aren’t doing them any favors, but they’ve also been very tentative when it comes to open-field tackling.

After Ja’Marr Chase burned the team for over 200 yards the week prior, the coverage on the back end has looked alright. There was one wide-open deep shot to Jerry Jeudy on the opening drive with Charvarius Ward in single coverage that was very reminiscent of the problems from a week ago.

I think the biggest problem so far is that the defense has been giving up a ton of yards on the ground. They’ve allowed 111 rushing yards compared to just 43 yards passing. They’ll need to stop the running game if they’re to turn things around in this one.

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