The Kansas City Chiefs and the Denver Broncos face off on Thursday night in a big-time AFC West showdown. The Broncos are looking for their third straight win and hoping to climb back into the playoff picture, while the Chiefs are looking to stop the bleeding after losing two straight games.

A couple of weeks ago the Broncos would be considered enormous underdogs, but they have some confidence and only sit as three-point underdogs. So what do the Broncos need to do to win the game? Let's breakdown two key x-factors that could lead the Broncos to victory.

2. Bending not breaking

Stopping Patrick Mahomes completely just isn't going to happen, he is too good of a quarterback but the Denver Broncos need to use the bend not break strategy. Mahomes is going to get his yards but once Mahomes gets close to the end zone the defense needs to step up and force field goals instead of giving up touchdowns.

That is a lot easier said than down, but the Broncos defense is playing at a high level right now and they have a lot of confidence. They have only given up 13 points total over the last two games and if they get a couple of stops early they should be flying all over the field.

The team also needs to try and intercept a pass or two. Over the last two games, the Broncos have four interceptions and Mahomes threw his first interception of the season last Sunday against the Houston Texans.

An interception or two would go a long way in the Broncos winning their third straight game.

1. Joe Flacco

Even if the Broncos use the bend not break type of defense, the Chiefs are still going to score points. They have scored under 24 points only once this season which means the Broncos are going to need to score to keep pace. Joe Flacco since coming over to the Broncos has been a major disappointment, but all that can change with a big game in this one.

He needs to make sure the Broncos are finishing drives with touchdowns and not field goals. He also needs to make sure he is throwing the ball away if a play isn't there.

Too many times this season he has taken a sack that has pushed the team out of field goal range or made for a very long third down instead of just throwing the ball away.

He has thrown for six touchdowns and five interceptions this season and to come away with a win he probably needs to add at least two more touchdowns to his stat sheet.