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Steve Atwater is a second-time finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame http://www.denverbroncosteamonline.com/phillip-lindsay-jersey , and while many of the voting sports writers may see him as a long-shot because his career doesn’t have the same stats as other safeties - notably that of Ed Reed who is also among this year’s 15 finalists - Atwater’s career in the NFL should not be seen as a long-shot for the Hall of Fame.It should be seen as a model for it.As Alex Marvez, one of the voting PFHOF sportswriters and a former Broncos beat reporter for the Rocky Mountain News, Atwater was the key to Denver’s defense.Atwater was its enforcer.“With Steve, he was a sledgehammer on defense. He set the tempo for what Denver was doing even before I started covering the team,” Marvez told denverbroncos.com last week. “We’re still talking to this day about his hit on Christian Okoye as one of the most devastating plays in the history of the NFL. That speaks volume about Steve Atwater. You think about when he wiped out three guys in the final minute of Super Bowl XXXII to help preserve the victory for the Broncos. That was a play that we’re never going to forget.”As we have pointed out over and over and over in this series, Atwater never let up, and even if his hits weren’t always as devastating as the one to the “Nigerian Nightmare,” they always set a tone and a message to the other team - “Broncos are not backing down.”Atwater was also tough as nails - after all, he felt the impact of his own hits as much as the other guy.“He was a model of consistency, he played through injuries,” Marvez said. “It didn’t matter. He just set the tempo for a defense that was pretty darn good.”Marvez said he always referred to Atwater as “future Hall-of-Famer Steve Atwater” when writing about him, and he still stands by that.“I really believed that,” he said. “I was young. I didn’t feel though that I was being out of turn, because I just thought I was seeing real greatness for a guy who just brought so much to the game, so much to his team.”That’s why Atwater’s career - which he finished 20 years ago - should be the standard for the NFL Hall of Fame.Atwater not only had multiple Pro Bowl seasons, not only was named to the first-team All Decade Team for the 1990s, he was the lynchpin for his unit the years he played. Despite all of John Elway’s and Terrell Davis’ heroics in Super Bowl XXXII, the Broncos don’t win that Super Bowl without Steve Atwater. And the Broncos don’t have a dominant team those Super Bowl years without No. 27.He was a leader, he set the standard. Not just for the Broncos, but also for all NFL safeties.Steve Atwater doesn’t just deserve the Hall of Fame at some point. He deserves it this year. Kareem Hunt did everything but score on his best run against the Bengals, spinning away from a pair of would-be tacklers and hurdling another before getting dragged down short of the goal line.He made sure to cap another incredible run against Denver with a score.This time White Bradley Chubb Jersey , Hunt grabbed a shovel pass from Patrick Mahomes, darted through the arm-tackles of two Denver defenders and then leaped over cornerback Will Parks. Justin Simmons leaped onto his back, and Hunt proceeded to drag him the rest of the way for the Chiefs' clinching touchdown on Sunday.Kansas City went on to beat the Broncos 30-23 to complete the season sweep ."That might have been the best run of the season anywhere," said Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, who had a TD catch of his own. "It makes you want to block for him every time he takes the rock."The Chiefs (7-1) got production from just about everyone on Sunday, though.Mahomes threw for 303 yard and four touchdowns, Sammy Watkins had 107 yards and two scores, and Tyreek Hill had three catches for 70 yards before leaving late with a minor groin injury."I don't know how many plays they've got," Broncos linebacker Von Miller said. "Whatever plays they've got, they've got counters off that. So, they can show you the same play 10 times, run it 10 times, and then on the 11th time switch it up. They're extremely well coached."As for the Broncos, well, their coaching has been increasingly called into question.They committed 10 penalties for 83 yards, and that doesn't count several that were offsetting or declined. Many of them wiped out big gains by undrafted rookie Phillip Lindsay, who still managed to run for 95 yards and a touchdown in his first career start.The Broncos (3-5) also had two late turnovers that spoiled any chance of a comeback."Without those penalties, without being pushed back, we never get in those third-and-longs, and we control the game," Broncos coach Vance Joseph said. "They never stopped us until we got those penalties. Again Youth Brandon Marshall Jersey , we'll go back and look at the tape and see whether those penalties are good or bad, but again it's over. We can't go back and play the game over again."No, the Chiefs get to look ahead to a trip to Cleveland while the Broncos have to begin preparing for a home date with Houston. Here are five takeaways heading into the next week:INJURY UPDATEHill appeared to tweak his groin early in the game, but he continued to play until the fourth quarter. That's when the Chiefs' wide receiver joined Frank Zombo (hamstring) and fellow LB Anthony Hitchens (ribs) in the trainer's room.The Broncos lost LB Brandon Marshall (knee) and WR Isaiah McKenzie (hip) during the game.DIVISION DOMINANCEAlong with winning their seventh straight over the Broncos, the Chiefs won for the 19th time in their last 21 games against the AFC West. They are 3-0 in the division this year as they seek back-to-back-to-back titles for the first time in franchise history.BRONCOS BRIGHT SPOTDenver played without rookie running back Royce Freeman, who was out with an ankle injury. Lindsay answered with a big performance, though, and Devontae Booker had 78 yards rushing on just nine carries as the Broncos averaged 6.3 per attempt against the Chiefs defense."I knew Book was going to play well because he's just been waiting for his chance," Joseph said. "I knew Lindsey was going to play well. I knew we could block them up front."UNDER PRESSUREThe Chiefs produced five sacks and six tackles for loss, despite playing without $100 million pass rusher Justin Houston. Dee Ford had three of the sacks, including one that produced a fumble that Kansas City recovered. Breeland Speaks and Chris Jones had the others.O-LINE HOLDS UPThe Chiefs were missing C Mitch Morse (concussion) and two injured offensive guards, yet they managed to hold up fairly well. Austin Reiter made his second NFL start and first for the Chiefs at center while Andrew Wylie held down the right guard spot."Me and Wylie were talking about that, when we get in the huddle and see Tyreek and we see all those guys in there, Kareem, we're like, 'Wow, there's a lot of weapons on this offense," Reiter said. "It's really fun to play with those guys."