ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — These aren’t the pass-happy Denver Broncos anymore.

Oh, sure, they’re still capable of a 400-yard passing game — as long as the winds are calm and all of their top receiving targets are available. But with winds gusting Sunday to 26 miles per hour at Arrowhead Stadium and Julius Thomas out with an ankle injury, the Broncos started a sixth offensive lineman, opened with four consecutive handoffs to C.J. Anderson and ground out a comfortable 29-14 win over the Kansas City Chiefs to maintain their grip on first place in the AFC West.

These Broncos can ground and pound. The offensive line is doing a better job drive-blocking off the snap. The commitment to the run was underscored by using tackle Paul Cornick as a sixth offensive lineman on 24 plays. Anderson has averaged 164.5 yards from scrimmage in the last four games, with a total of 454 rushing yards on 81 attempts and 204 yards on 18 receptions.

Anderson ran 32 times — more than all but one Broncos running back in the last 10 years. He has 59 carries in the last two games.

And he wants more.

“I just feel like (offensive coordinator Adam) Gase challenged me,” Anderson said. “He said ‘I’m going to call this run and if you can give me four (yards), I’m going to call it again.

“So I just feel like if I can give him four (yards) — if I can give him eight, then let’s keep calling them.”

And with the run defense holding the Chiefs to 41 rushing yards after stifling Miami in the second half of their comeback win a week earlier, the Broncos are capable of ramping up their own power game while shutting down the opponent’s. All of a sudden, this team looks capable of playing the type of football that can win on the road in January, as it might have to do.

“That’s what we have to do,” said linebacker Brandon Marshall. “Toward the end of the season, who runs the ball best is probably going to go the farthest in the playoffs, so we plan on running the ball and stopping the run.”

“It helps to be that way when the weather gets ugly during this time,” said safety T.J. Ward. “During the cold, you have to grit things out, and it definitely helps to be tougher and more physical, and that’s what we’re trying to do on both sides of the ball.”

Still, it might be tough for the Broncos to escape their recent reputation of putting up gaudy passing numbers without having a power game to complement the work of Peyton Manning and his receiving targets.

“I feel like on defense, we’ve always been smashmouth. When you have a quarterback who breaks every passing record, it labels you a finesse team,” said defensive tackle Terrance Knighton. “But C.J. had 160 yards rushing, they could barely move the ball on us and run the ball.

“I consider us a smashmouth team. It’s just that when the face of your organization is a quarterback, it’s kind of hard to have that, but you know, we’ll take it however we can. I think everybody calls us ‘finesse’ because we have a quarterback who can throw for 500 and throw five touchdowns. We’re just starting to run the ball, but we consider ourselves a hard-nosed group.”

REPORT CARD VS. CHIEFS

–PASSING OFFENSE: C — It was the rare pedestrian performance for Peyton Manning, whose 50 percent completion mark was his worst since Week 3 of the 2012 season against Houston. Although Manning misfired at times, he didn’t throw any interceptions, kept risks to a minimum and, in a reversal of form, provided just enough of a threat as a complement to the running game to keep the offense in balance.

–RUSHING OFFENSE: A-minus — C.J. Anderson’s 32 carries were the second-most for a Bronco in the last 10 years, only surpassed by Knowshon Moreno’s 37 at New England on a similarly frigid night in November 2013, and his 168 yards were a career high, giving him 335 yards over the last two games. His balance and vision have allowed him to make the starting job his own, and with Juwan Thompson’s burst of power in short yardage, the Broncos don’t miss Montee Ball or Ronnie Hillman.

–PASS DEFENSE: A-minus — The Chiefs surprised everyone by opening with three consecutive passes — everyone, that is, except the Broncos, who forced a quick three-and-out that set the tone for the night. Denver’s timely blitzes and pressure put Alex Smith under duress, and solid coverage on the outside strangled the screen-pass game that the Chiefs rely upon to dilute pressure. Denver hit Smith 12 times, six of which went for sacks, and limited the Chiefs to just 3.79 yards per pass play.

–RUSH DEFENSE: A — Not only did the Broncos clog lanes that Jamaal Charles normally sprints, through, but they contained Alex Smith, whose scrambles have caused fits for the Broncos the last two years, particularly on third down. Sunday night, Smith had just six yards on five runs, and the Chiefs had just 2.7 yards per carry and finished with 41 yards.

–SPECIAL TEAMS: B — Connor Barth delivered what the Broncos expected. His kickoffs were short; none came any closer than two yards from the goal line. But his placekicks were accurate: he made all five of his field-goal attempts and both of his extra points. But the key to the day was David Bruton’s alert audible into a fake punt early in the second quarter; that powered the Broncos to a field goal that built their lead to three scores and put Kansas City in permanent chase mode.

–COACHING: A-minus — The re-commitment to the ground game continued to pay dividends, and John Fox’s trust in his players paid off on Bruton’s fake punt. But it was on the defense where Fox and defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio put together one of their best game plans, attacking the Chiefs at their weak points: both tackle spots. Two early sacks came from safety blitzes that overwhelmed Kansas City’s tackles; they set the tone for the game that followed, in which the Broncos allowed just 151 yards.