Fische » The Denver Broncos did everything right

KANSAS CITY http://www.tennesseetitansteamonline.com/a.j.-brown-jersey , Mo. (AP) — e first half against the Kansas City Chiefs a few weeks ago, holding Patrick Mahomes and their high-powered offense in check for 30 minutes.Everything unraveled after the break.The Chiefs found their rhythm behind their stable of offensive stars, their defense began to stop Broncos rookie running backs, and Kansas City mounted a second-half charge that resulted in yet another victory over its biggest rival in what has become a one-sided series.Now, the Chiefs (6-1) are ready to go for the season sweep Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium.“I think both sides will take what they did well a month ago,” Broncos coach Vance Joseph said, “but what we did last time won’t be good enough to win this time. What we did last time was play good enough football to lose the game. We can’t go in with the same plan and mindset.”The mindset for the Broncos (3-4) these days is to build some midseason momentum. They’re coming off a 45-10 shellacking of the Arizona Cardinals, and a victory over the front-running Chiefs would go a long way toward positioning them for a playoff run.No wonder Broncos cornerback Chris Harris Jr. called it a season-changing opportunity.“It is,” added Broncos wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders. “Think about it: Go to Arrowhead, beat these guys, a team that’s at the top of our division right now http://www.tennesseetitansteamonline.com/amani-hooker-jersey , coming off a big-time game in Arizona. This is a game where we sit back and say, ‘OK, was Arizona a fluke or are we really good?’ That’s what I’m looking forward to seeing.”There’s been nothing fluky about the Chiefs’ hot start.Their only loss came in a shootout in New England, and they bounced back in fine fashion by walloping the Cincinnati Bengals 45-10 last week. Mahomes continues to throw touchdown passes by the handful, and his array of weapons has made trying to stop the Chiefs a veritable nightmare.“You want to score every single time you’re out there. That’s what we believe in this offense we can do,” Mahomes said. “Hopefully we can keep that success going.”That goes for both sides of the ball. The Chiefs’ maligned defense played by far its best game of the season last week, holding Andy Dalton and the Bengals’ offense to 239 yards total.“If we can get teams one-dimensional and let the guys on the back end do what they do,” Chiefs linebacker Reggie Ragland said, “we’re going to have a good shot at winning a lot of games, especially with the offense we got.”As the Broncos head to Kansas City for an AFC West showdown, here are some key story lines:BARTERING BRONCOSFor the first time in a decade Taylor Rapp Jersey , the Broncos are seen as potential sellers instead of buyers ahead of next week’s trade deadline. Prominent names bandied about have included Harris, WR Demaryius Thomas, LB Brandon Marshall and CB Bradley Roby.Joseph says general manager John Elway hasn’t conveyed any trade talks to him, and “that makes it rumor. That makes it gossip. And that makes it right now something that we can’t worry about.”DENVER DISTRACTIONSBesides the trade talk, the Broncos dealt with the drama of backup quarterback Chad Kelly’s dismissal following his arrest on suspicion of criminal trespass.“We have a great locker room. We have a close-knit football team and their focus is the Chiefs,” Joseph said. “They all feel bad for Chad. They will support Chad as their former teammate. But we have one focus and that’s the Chiefs on Sunday morning.”CHUGGING CHUBBOne of the reasons Mahomes was able to escape the pocket and do damage on the run in the first matchup with Denver was that rookie linebacker Bradley Chubb had trouble setting the right edge on defense. But he’s hit his stride with five sacks in his last two games.“We’ve got to be able to finish strong,” Chubb said.O-LINE TURNOVERThe Chiefs are poised to have another starting offensive line combination after losing C Jordan Devey to a torn pectoral muscle. He was already playing in place of Mitch Morse, who remained out with a concussion. Right guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif is also out with a broken leg, all of which means recently signed offensive lineman Jeff Allen could start against Denver.“We’ll just see how that goes,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “We’ll see how it rolls.”MORE FROM MAHOMESThis will be the eighth NFL start for Mahomes and already his third against the Broncos. He made his NFL debut against them in Week 17 last season.“I mean, you get a little more familiar with a defense whenever you play them a lot Shareef Miller Jersey , especially playing them this last game. They threw a ton at me, a ton of different blitzes and looks,” he said. “It’s something that I’m going to be able to take into this next game.” The offense that Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez has been waiting for showed up just in time to prevent a sweep at the hands of a division rival Sunday night.

Daniel Murphy’s single drove in the tying and go-ahead runs in the eighth inning and the Nationals rallied past the Philadelphia Phillies 8-6 to salvage the finale of the three-game series.

Anthony Rendon homered and doubled, Bryce Harper tied a career high with three doubles and Michael A. Taylor and Murphy each had three singles as Washington pounded out 17 hits in a game that was delayed 38 minutes by rain in the bottom of the fourth inning.

”We weren’t scoring very many runs,” Martinez said, ”and for us to come out and compete like we did today and put up eight runs . and just really work very good at-bats, I felt really good for the boys and I know they’ll feed off it.”

Rhys Hoskins and Nick Williams homered for the Phillies, who had won three straight.

Pinch hitter Brian Goodwin led off the eighth with a walk. With one out, right-hander Seranthony Dominguez (1-2) came on to face Harper, who doubled to right, with Goodwin stopping at third.

After Rendon grounded out Germaine Pratt Jersey , Phillies manager Gabe Kapler elected to walk rookie Juan Soto and pitch to the veteran Murphy, who began the day hitting .135.

”You pick your poison right there,” Kapler said. ”You have two very good hitters. The first one in Soto has been elite. And Murphy has struggled a little bit. And we went after the guy that was struggling and coming off injury.”

After throwing three 98-mph plus fastballs to get ahead 1-2, Dominguez tried a slider that Murphy lined to shallow right. Taylor’s single made it 8-6.

”I was watching some film on him and he had kind of gone with the slider as a kill shot to a couple lefties, so once I got two strikes I was aware of it,” Murphy said. ”I hadn’t seen it yet, so that’s never any fun, but fortunately I was able to get it in the air enough and kind of scoop it over Cesar (Hernandez’s) head at second base.”

Ryan Madson (2-3) pitched the eighth inning, and Sean Doolittle finished for his 21st save.

The Phillies took a 6-2 lead in the fifth on a two-run triple by Odubel Herrera and a two-run homer by Williams, but the bullpen surrendered six runs.

Washington pulled within a run at 6-5 in the sixth with four two-out hits, including an RBI triple by Trea Turner and RBI doubles by Harper and Rendon.

RENDERFUL

Rendon has hit safely in nine of his last 10 games is batting .447 (17-for-38) in that span with three homers http://www.bengalsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-ryan-finley-jersey , seven RBIs and nine runs scored.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Phillies: C Andrew Knapp left in the seventh with a right knee contusion. … 3B Maikel Franco slipped on first base and fell hard in the eighth. He stayed in to run but left after the half-inning with lower back tightness. … INF Jesmuel Valent锟絥 was placed on the paternity leave list and OF Dylan Cozens (left quadriceps strain) was reinstated from the 10-day DL.

Nationals: RHP Jeremy Hellickson (right hamstring strain) allowed 11 runs in 4 2/3 innings of a rehab start at Class A Potomac on Sunday. ”I’m more concerned with the way he feels,” manager Dave Martinez said, downplaying the results. ”We’ll go from there.” … RH reliever Brandon Kintzler (right forearm flexor strain) threw a scoreless inning at Potomac. … RHP Stephen Strasburg (right shoulder inflammation) played catch on the field again. ”We’ll keep doing his throwing progression and figure out when he can actually throw from the mound,” Martinez said.

UP NEXT

Phillies: RHP Vince Velasquez (5-7, 4.82) starts the opener of a series against the Yankees on Monday. He is 0-0 with a 3.24 ERA in two games vs. New York.

Nationals: RHP Gio Gonzalez (6-4, 3.08) opens a series at Tampa Bay on Monday. He is 2-2 with a 5.54 ERA in six games against the Rays.

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