Not only does this game have playoff connotations but a great narrative that could see the former Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton return to his former home to wreck their post-season pretensions. The Broncos struggled to a 1-4 start with Orton under centre before Denver Head Coach John Fox decided that it was Tebow-time and replaced with Tim Tebow at quarterback. Since then the Broncos fortunes have been in the ascendancy as Tebow has engineered plenty of comebacks that has seen him win seven of his first eight starts.

That Tebow-led resurgence will see the Broncos win the AFC West with a win on Sunday against the defending divisional champions who are already done for the season after being crippled by injuries early in their campaign. Orton will be aiming to spoil that ambition although Denver still have a second bite of the cherry because even if they lose, the Raiders still have to beat the Chargers. Since Tebow became the Broncos 'starting quarterback, he has divided opinion and I guess that you can call him unorthodox, but he does make events happen and the game is never dull with him involved.

However, he comes into this game off of his worst performance of the year - he had three interceptions, after throwing only two in his previous nine starts, and a pair were returned for touchdowns in a 40-14 defeat at Buffalo last Saturday. Tebow completed only 13 of 30 passes as Denver suffered their second straight loss after six consecutive wins, which sees them come into this game slightly lacking in momentum and confidence. Kansas City finished 10-6 last year, but those early season injuries proved to be costly and led to the firing of Coach Todd Haley and the promotion of defensive co-ordinator Romeo Crennel to interim coach. Crennel's first act in charge was to end the Packers' hopes of an undefeated season, outsmarting Green Bay 19-14 before normal Chiefs service was resumed last week with a loss to the Raiders. Crennel is facing this game as the last act in his audition to become full-time Head Coach next season so that fact plus the chance of derailing their deadly rivals - the Broncos - from the payoffs, give this game added spice.

Recent history appears to be on the Broncos' side, having won nine of the last 10 home games against the Chiefs. The last time the teams met in Denver, the Broncos won 49-29, but I don't expect anything like that scoreline on this occasion. Against the Oakland Raiders in Week 16, Kansas City really struggled when it came to scoring points once they got inside the red zone. This week the Chiefs will face a much stouter Broncos' defence. This looks likely to be a low-scoring game, and the Chiefs can't squander scoring opportunities when they get inside the Raiders' 20-yard line. The Chiefs did a very effective job of snuffing out the high-octane Packers' offence and certainly know how to stifle the opposition, even one as unconventional as the Tebow-led Broncos one.

This is a fascinating contest which has a chess-like quality and some wonderful storylines and I slightly favour the Broncos to seal a playoff place without help. But I'd rather place my faith in looking at the points market and the inability of these sides to cash-in on scoring opportunities.