Kansas City @ Denver preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 31, 2017 ) Kansas City 27, Denver 24

Three games into his first full season as a starter and second-year quarterback Patrick Mahomes already has bumped Peyton Manning from the NFL record books. Mahomes looks to continue his blistering start to the campaign and keep his team perfect when the Kansas City Chiefs host the Denver Broncos on Monday night in a matchup of longtime AFC West rivals.

The Chiefs are the league's highest-scoring team behind Mahomes, who became the first quarterback in league history to throw 13 touchdown passes in the first three games of the season. "He's a great quarterback, he can make all the throws, quick, athletic, young," Broncos linebacker Von Miller told reporters. "He's got everything you want." Mahomes also has yet to throw an interception and already was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week on two occasions for Kansas City, which has won five consecutive matchups against Denver. The Broncos, who won their first two games by a total of four points, will try to bounce back from a 27-14 loss at Baltimore last week in which they surrendered 20 unanswered points.

TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN. LINE: Chiefs -4.5. O/U: 54.5

ABOUT THE CHIEFS (3-0): Mahomes threw for 314 yards and three touchdowns - all in the second quarter - in last week's 38-27 home win over San Francisco, the third time in as many weeks Kansas City has scored at least 38 points. Explosive wide receiver Tyreek Hill finally was held in check and kept out of the end zone, but tight end Travis Kelce picked up the slack with eight catches for 114 yards. Kareem Hunt, who led the league in rushing as a rookie in 2017, is averaging 3.2 yards per carry but did record a pair of 1-yard TD runs. The Chiefs have struggled on the other side of the ball, ranking last in yards allowed (474) and 30th in points surrendered (30.7).

ABOUT THE BRONCOS (2-1): Case Keenum signed a two-year deal with Denver after a breakout season in which he led Minnesota to the NFC Championship Game, but he already has been intercepted five times - just two fewer than his total for the entire 2017 campaign. Emmanuel Sanders is the team's leading receiver with 19 receptions and Demaryius Thomas has 16, but Denver's best hope may be leaning on the rookie tandem of running backs Phillip Lindsay and Royce Freeman, who have accumulated 350 yards for the league's fourth-ranked rushing attack. Denver will need to generate pressure against Mahomes with a group led by former Super Bowl MVP Miller, who is tied for the NFL lead with four sacks.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Miller has registered eight sacks and 11 tackles for loss in his last eight contests against the Chiefs.

2. Hill has scored four touchdowns (two rushing, one receiving and one kick return) in three games versus Denver.

3. The Broncos lost TE Jake Butt to a torn ACL suffered in Thursday's practice.

PREDICTION: Chiefs 30, Broncos 23