KANSAS CITY Dennis Smith Jersey , Mo. (AP) — everything right in the 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, 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 Karl Mecklenburg Jersey , “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, 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, 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.” MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Vikings have finalized their trade with the Denver Broncos for quarterback Trevor Siemian to be the backup to free agent prize Kirk Cousins.More Vikings coveragePreview: Cook, Vikings look to keep rolling vs. PackersTop Tweets: Vikings prepare for Packers with TMNT hype videoBarr, seasoned Vikings defense off to strong startNew offense Jared Veldheer Jersey , same Rodgers: Vikings prep for LaFleur’s PackersVikings re-sign center Jones, waive rookie TE DillonThough Siemian started 24 games for the Broncos over the past two seasons, he didn’t balk at his unquestioned place as the second-stringer on the depth chart.“I’m here for Kirk. I’m here for these guys, and I want to win a bunch of games here,” Siemian said.The Vikings announced the deal, which was agreed to last week, on Monday. They sent a 2019 fifth-round draft pick to the Broncos for Siemian and a seventh-round choice this year, after signing Cousins to a three-year, $84 million fully guaranteed contract.Kyle Sloter, who was in training camp with Denver last summer, will be the third quarterback if all goes according to plan.The Vikings let Case Keenum, Sam Bradford and Teddy Bridgewater become free agents. Keenum, coincidentally, signed with the Broncos.Siemian went 13-11 as a starter, as the Broncos moved forward with a combination of him, Paxton Lynch and Brock Osweiler after the retirement of Peyton Manning. For his career, Siemian has 30 touchdowns and 24 interceptions with a 59.3 percent completion rate. Vikings general manager Rick Spielman lauded Siemian’s quick decision-making, but there’s plenty of improvement that can be made.“That’s the fun part of this game too, right?” Siemian said. “There’s so many dimensions you can grow as a player Shannon Sharpe Jersey , and that’s what keeps it exciting.”He struggled at times and hurt his shoulder, which he had surgery on almost three months ago. For a seventh-round selection out of Northwestern, though, Siemian has carved out a decent career. When he found out about the trade, he was vacationing in Mexico with his fiancee, and the news was warmly welcomed.“There’s a lot of places you could go. For me to be here with an organization that’s knocking on the door of some really, really great things,” Siemian said, “I think there’s a lot of people who would kill to be in this situation.”Siemian said he’s on track with his shoulder rehabilitation from the procedure, about 11 weeks into the process.“Everything’s gone smoothly thus far, so I’m staying on top of it and feeling really good right now,” he said on a conference call with Minnesota reporters.The Vikings made a big splash by signing Cousins and defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson last week, so the rest of their offseason moves will likely be minor in nature. They had to release valuable slot receiver Jarius Wright and cut running back Latavius Murray’s pay to maintain a flexible amount of space under the salary cap, with needs remaining on the offensive line and in the secondary. Of their own players who became free agents, kicker Kai Forbath, punt returner Marcus Sherels and cornerback Terence Newman are the top unsigned priorities.