Kansas
Broncos Took 3 Massive Strides in Brutal Chiefs Loss
Beating the league’s best team is no easy feat. However, the Denver Broncos‘ Week 10 performance against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs showcased how Bo Nix and the defense have shown the resolve to thrive under pressure and compete with the best.
The Broncos are proving they can go toe-to-toe with any opponent in the league. But how exactly have the Broncos taken strides to deliver what the fanbase yearned for?
Let’s examine.
The Broncos defense came into Arrowhead Stadium with one mission: disrupt Mahomes’ rhythm and bring Kansas City’s high-powered offense to a screeching halt — a mission it performed quite well. Denver tallied four sacks, nine quarterback hits, and held the Chiefs to a meager 300 total yards — their lowest yardage output of the season.
Defensive end Zach Allen and rush linebacker Nik Bonitto had the most significant impact in this contest. Allen used his ability to collapse the pocket, and Bonitto was a nightmare off the edge with his speed rush.
While Allen and Bonitto had stand-out games, it was a team effort, as Mahomes dealt with pressure from practically every player on Denver’s defensive front.
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While Denver is coming off a heartbreaking loss, the Broncos’ young gunslinger refuses to hang his head and is confident they can square off with the league’s best teams. When asked whether the Broncos could build any confidence in the wake of this disappointing loss, Nix said, “Oh, yeah. We’re very confident. We feel we can compete against a lot of teams in this league, all of them, really. We’ve faced a lot of good teams this year and have been in one-possession games, it feels like, in every single one of them.”
This game showed Nix’s ability to perform in the most crucial moments, especially that huge third-down conversion at the end of the game, connecting with Courtland Sutton to ensure Mahomes wouldn’t see the field again. Finishing with 215 yards passing and two touchdowns, Nix showed he could go up against the league’s top teams while remaining poised in critical in-game situations.
Denver’s running game has been inconsistent, to say the least. While Javonte Williams has had a couple of good games, the rest have been relatively lackluster.
Rookie fifth-rounder Audrice Estime was supposed to compete with Williams for carries this season. Unfortunately, injuries and ball-security issues temporarily delayed Estime’s involvement in the offense. Even so, Sean Payton refuses to give up on him.
“We keep wanting to get him involved,” Payton said. “He is a handful.”
While Estime didn’t pop off for a 100-yard game, he did have some impressive, hard-nosed carries that sadly reminded Broncos Country of Williams before his multi-ligament knee injury. If Estime can build on his last performance and, more importantly, hold on to the ball, he has a serious chance of locking up the starting job.
Denver’s recent performance against the Chiefs showcased a team on the rise. Despite the narrow loss, the Broncos demonstrated that with their elite defense and offensive potential, they can play with anyone in the league.
While still a work in progress, the Broncos are trending in the right direction, building a foundation that could make them a force for years to come.
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Kansas
No. 16 Colorado heads to Kansas searching for crucial win for Big 12 title game aspirations
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — No. 16 Colorado heads to Arrowhead Stadium to face Kansas on Saturday knowing full well where it stands in the Big 12 picture.
Beat the Jayhawks and conference bottom-dweller Oklahoma State and the Buffaloes will be playing for the title. Lose to Kansas and everything changes: They would need Arizona State and Iowa State to lose at least one more game, or BYU to lose its last two, and that would take their College Football Playoff aspirations out of their own hands.
Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders doesn’t sound as if there is any extra pressure on this weekend.
“Look at me, man. Do I look like I subscribe to pressure or do I look like I apply it?” Sanders asked. “We apply pressure.”
In the new-look and jumbled Big 12, the Buffaloes (8-2, 6-1) are tied in the standings with the Cougars, but they are just a game ahead of Arizona State and Iowa State — and curiously enough, did not play any of the three. And while the Jayhawks (4-6, 3-4) are well off the pace, by virtue of a dizzying stretch of last-second losses, they might be playing the best of anyone.
Kansas knocked off then-No. 17 Iowa State before dealing then-No. 6 BYU its first loss on the road last weekend. The back-to-back wins over ranked teams are a first in school history, and the Jayhawks would love to make it three straight on Saturday.
“They have not given up, regardless of what their record may state,” Sanders said. “The last two weeks, they’ve knocked some people off their feet. It’s going to be a tremendous task for us. (Lance Leipold) is going to have those guys ready to play. We’re going to be in an environment that’s not conducive to us being successful in Kansas City.”
Arrowhead Stadium
Kansas, which is playing its home finale Saturday, has been playing Big 12 games at Arrowhead Stadium while their on-campus stadium is renovated. Sanders played there once with the Falcons, returning kickoffs in a 14-3 loss on Sept. 1, 1991. He also played at neighboring Kauffman Stadium, home of the Royals, going 3 for 13 in three games with the Yankees in 1990.
“I’m not as young as I once were,” Sanders said, “but I look forward to going there.”
Senior day
Kansas will be sending off 30 seniors in its home finale Saturday, many of whom were instrumental in taking the program from a winless laughingstock in 2020 to bowl games each of the past two seasons. Leipold is wary about focusing too much on the emotional sendoff when there is still a game to be played, and two wins needed to reach a third straight bowl game.
“It becomes an emotional drain, especially right before kickoff sometimes, so hopefully that’ll be a small positive of not being in Lawrence,” Leipold said. “I don’t want to take anything away from the guys, but if we can balance those things with what the day is, hopefully we can make a special day.”
Award watch
Sanders interrupted a question this week after being reminded of how he said earlier this season that his son and quarterback, Shedeur Sanders, and two-way Heisman hopeful Travis Hunter would be top picks in the upcoming NFL draft.
“A lot of people didn’t believe me, huh? Remember I said Travis and Shedeur have the opportunity (at) one and two?” he said. “Everybody just pulled out a double-barrel shotgun and shot at me when I said that, right? Now it’s all coming to light.”
Sanders has thrown 27 touchdown passes, one away from Sefo Liufau’s school record. Hunter is coming off a game in which the cornerback and wide receiver played 132 snaps — he has 74 catches for 911 yards and nine TDs, along with three picks.
Fast friends
Sanders and Leipold might at first seem like the most unlikely of buddies, given one was a Hall of Fame player and two-sport star while the other fought his way through the coaching ranks, beginning at Division III school Wisconsin-Whitewater. Yet when the Buffaloes joined the Big 12, Leipold reached out to Sanders and they became fast friends.
“I love him to life. He’s a friend,” Sanders said. “For these guys to, on their own account, reach out to me, to show me love and respect is tremendous.”
Kansas
New high-rise apartment building coming to north side of downtown Kansas City
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – Kansas City’s skyline is getting bigger. Starting next year, construction of a new high-rise apartment building will begin on the north side of downtown.
The 25-story, 385-foot-tall tower will be built at 800 Grand Avenue, where a parking garage currently sits. The developer, BR Companies, is excited to break ground in the KC market.
“You have to have the right environment for investment,” said Ryan Sullivan, BR Companies’ Chief Development Officer. “If you think about Kansas City and you’re playing bingo, you yell out ‘Bingo!’ pretty quickly.”
The tower is expected to have more than 300 units, as well as 24,000 square feet of retail space and parking. Construction is expected to begin in the second half of 2025.
“The city has a vision to make Grand ‘grand,’” Sullivan said. “It’s a civil project they’ve been envisioning for a while now.”
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BR Companies is based out of Los Angeles. They say friendly local government, a strong local sports scene, and CPKC Stadium made Kansas City a market they wanted to build in. City Manager Brian Platt helped BR Companies make the announcement at the annual “State of Downtown” address Wednesday, Nov. 20.
“We’re welcoming everybody here to Kansas City,” Platt said. “It’s the coolest city in the country by far. We’re on the map in a lot of ways for a lot of different reasons. That energy, that vibe, is bringing people here. They want to move here, they want to live here, they want to be part of the action.”
This week, Kansas City is in the national sports limelight with CPKC Stadium hosting the NWSL Championship.
“It’s a massive, massive help and asset,” said Sullivan. “From our perspective, more is more. The more people that are participating in the market cement the reasons why people want to live here, work here, and spend time here.”
“The stadium is a national example of how downtown urban sports arenas, and other types of arenas, can drive new development,” said Platt. “The success of the stadium is leading to I think $1 billion of new development that’s coming afterwards, which is unprecedented in Kansas City.”
BR Companies said it is still the “schematic design phase” of the new apartment building, but the company expects to break ground in the third quarter of 2025.
Copyright 2024 KCTV. All rights reserved.
Kansas
19 Kansas City-area Minit Marts sold; gas to be rebranded to Phillips 66
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Nineteen greater Kansas City-area Minit Marts have been sold to a new company, Block & Company, Inc. Realtors announced Wednesday.
The Minit Marts were acquired by Tarko, Missouri-based Tarkio Real Estate LLC.
As part of the sale, the properties will transition from Minit Marts into independent liquor and corner stores depending on the location.
All gas pumps will be rebranded to Phillips 66.
A map of the locations is below.
In June 2023, Casey’s General Store announced it had purchased 26 Minit Mart locations in the Kansas City area.
The moves come as the Buc-ee’s, a massive convenience store, is moving forward with plans for a facility at 110th Street and Interstate 70 in Kansas City, Kansas.
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