McDaniels aware of Broncos' Arrowhead history

ENGLEWOOD – Winning at Arrowhead Stadium wasn’t just a Mike Shanahan problem, or a Denver Broncos problem. The entire NFL has had trouble playing at the Kansas City Chiefs’ home, especially late in the season.

The Broncos history in Kansas City has been particularly torturous. Shanahan won a lot of games in his 14 years as Denver’s coach but was only 3-11 at Arrowhead in the regular season. The Chiefs have a 17-1 all-time record at home against the Broncos in December.

Broncos coach Josh McDaniels’ first time leading Denver into Arrowhead will come this Sunday, but he is already well aware of the history.

“It's not an easy place to play,” McDaniels said. “It is extremely loud. As loud of a stadium outside as I've ever been at or played at.”

McDaniels pointed out that the Broncos weren’t alone in their struggles. Kansas City is 21-6 at home during December going back to 1995, including a 5-0 mark against Denver.

 “They've owned everybody in December in Kansas City,” McDaniels said. “I don't really think that that is just a Broncos thing. I think that's a leaguewide trend.”

Fortunately for the Broncos the weather shouldn’t be too bad Sunday. The Weather Channel predicts a high of 39 degrees and partly cloudy skies. Also, the Chiefs are down this year, with a 3-8 record.

McDaniels said his team will have to concentrate better, and avoid false-start penalties that have been a recent issue and are usually a big problem for visiting teams at Arrowhead because of the noise.

Fan noise is the biggest edge the Chiefs have for home games. Mike Nolan might have become the first defensive coordinator to praise an opponent’s in-game entertainment, saying the presentation from the pregame music on keeps the fans into the game.  

“They’ve got them roaring and cheering and they’ve got some four-wheeler that runs around with a crazy fool on it, and they just energize everybody,” Nolan said.

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