Denver Broncos need to contain Kansas City Chiefs' all-purpose threat Tyreek Hill

For all that went wrong for the Broncos in their 30-27 Week 12 loss to the Chiefs, nothing -- and no one -- caused more damage to their hopes than Tyreek Hill.

Hill scored all three of the Chiefs' touchdowns, becoming the first player since San Francisco's Freddie Solomon in 1976 to score on a punt or kickoff return, a run and a reception in the same game.

That tally represents half of Hill's six touchdowns in the last four games. And if the Broncos are to keep their fading playoff hopes alive with a win at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday night, they will have to prevent Hill from the backbreaking, explosive plays in which he's specialized.

"He's a beast right now," said Broncos coach Gary Kubiak. "Special teams-wise we know the problem that he is. He single-handedly gave us fits last time."

Hill's 86-yard free-kick return put the Broncos down two scores in the second quarter in Week 12. His 3-yard scoring run in the third quarter put the Chiefs back in front. His 2-yard touchdown reception with 12 seconds remaining in regulation helped force overtime.

And that work on offense is part of the problem Hill poses. It's not simply enough to kick away from him, as some teams will likely start doing now and for the foreseeable future.

Kubiak did not specifically say whether his team would avoid kicking to Hill whenever possible, but knows that such a tactic has holes.

"You're obviously trying to do everything you can to limit his ability to return balls," Kubiak said. "Now if a punter mis-hits a ball or something, there's nothing you can do about it, so you'd better practice covering and doing a good job about him. But he's very confident.

"He's going to field everything. He can reverse his field, those type of things."

And the Chiefs will find ways to get him the ball on offense -- as they did in Week 12, when Alex Smith threw 10 passes to him, completing nine.

"When he's in there, you just have to be on alert and know where he can hurt us," said safety Darian Stewart.

With their hopes on the ropes, they have to account for Hill, because he can deal the knockout punch that ends the Broncos' fading aspirations of a successful title defense.