Author: Charlie Grace

The 12th man used to be Russell Wilson’s fans in the stands at Lumen Field in Seattle helping his Seahawks get wins, last night a literal 12th man helped his Denver Broncos go into Buffalo and beat the Bills on primetime television. 

When the Broncos were 0-3 coming off a 70-point battering in week three no one would have seen this team turning their season around to win three straight games including wins against the Kansas City Chiefs and away at the Bills. 

But here we are, the momentum is with the Broncos, even out of their bye week and they go into a stretch now with four winnable games and every chance of breaking into the playoffs in a strange AFC picture.

Three-game win streak 

The Broncos went into their week seven game against the Green Bay Packers with a 1-5 record and everyone wanted them to ‘blow it up’ and trade away all their assets ready to rebuild for the future (again since their Super Bowl 50 win). 

Instead, four weeks later they’re a 4-5 football team with 10 turnovers in three games, five against Andy Reid’s Chiefs and four against the Josh Allen-lead Bills. 

The offence has ticked along well enough and the defence has played exceptionally well recently even in the week six loss away at the Chiefs before this run. 

It’s somewhat of a cliche in the modern NFL but it’s true nonetheless, it’s all about getting hot at the right time and the Broncos are very much heating up at the right time in this season.

Primetime W

The Broncos didn’t just win, they were the better team, on the road at one of the AFC’s preseason favourites, in a primetime window! 

The Broncos haven’t often had primetime games in recent years and it’s not a surprise when you look at their performances every season since they won the Super Bowl in 2016. 

When they have had the opportunity to play on national TV they have performed awfully in that time, but under Sean Payton, they’re currently 1-1 in primetime and head into their first home primetime game of his reign next Sunday night against the Minnesota Vikings who are on a hot streak themselves.

The performance deserved a win as well, despite the close scoreline, the Broncos recorded four takeaways and missed two extra-point tries, it was run closer than it should have been but the Broncos managed to get over the line nonetheless.

The more the Broncos can perform under the lights in primetime, the better, for their standing amongst those that drive the narratives in the NFL. 

Defence playing lights out 

In their first five weeks of the season, the Broncos defence gave up 181 points, at an average of 36 points per game (give or take). 

In the following four games, including a doubleheader against the Chiefs and a trip to Buffalo, the Broncos have given up just 67 points at an average of just under 17 points per game. 

The turnaround from Vance Joseph and his defensive unit has been almost unprecedented and they have been the lifeblood of the change in fortunes for this team, early in the season they were losing tight games because of defensive errors but now the defence is getting them over the line in tight games, like Monday Night Football.

Inconsistent special teams 

Despite the feel-good factor around this team, they’re still a long way off, from being a contender and there is still a lot of work to be done before this team can pose a genuine threat to any of the AFC’s elite teams on a consistent basis. 

On the one hand, the special teams are performing admirably, Marvin Mims had an excellent game with three really nice punt returns setting the offence up with great field position. 

But conversely, Will Lutz missed two kicks (one which was brought back), in admittedly tough weather conditions, and they had one fumbled snap on an extra point try which ended up as a dead play. 

Throughout the year Mims has been brilliant on kick and punt returns, averaging the highest yards per return in both categories with 20.7 yards per punt return (four yards more than the next best) and 33.6 yards per kick return. 

As for Will Lutz, he overcame his disappointing field goal miss in week one against the Raiders, which cost the Broncos that win, and has had a pretty decent year up until Monday night. 

Lutz has an 88.2 extra point percentage, the worst in the NFL by some margin out of 32 eligible kickers, while averaging a fairly middle-of-the-road, 89.5 field goal percentage.

If the Broncos can become more consistent in the kicking game then they might find themselves on the positive side of these tight games even more often down the stretch.

Need to be ruthless on offence 

If this team is to reach the playoffs and then eventually go on to win a playoff game then they have to start being more ruthless off of takeaways on offence. 

The Broncos didn’t score off of any of the four takeaways from the Bills last night and as a result, had to scrape past Buffalo in what should have been a routine and dominant performance like week eight against the Chiefs. 

If the Broncos had played a more polished kicking game and been ruthless on even 50% of their takeaways we could have been looking at another blowout of one of the AFC’s poster teams from the last few years. 

Week 11 preview

From being 1-5, down and out, ready to pull up mock draft simulators, all of a sudden, four weeks later, the Broncos are back in playoff conversations looking at a stretch of four winnable, but competitive games. 

Next week the Broncos welcome the resurgent Minnesota Vikings, spearheaded by Comeback Player of the Year candidate, Joshua Dobbs who is having a stellar year. 

The Vikings may be without star receiver Justin Jefferson, but rookie Jordan Addison has filled in for the former LSU star and he will be a threat for this Broncos secondary to try and shut down. 

Defensively the Vikings have shutdown their opponents on the way to their five-game winning streak and they’re building up a head of steam in a bad NFC landscape, albeit against the Bears, Packers and Saints, as well as the Falcons and the talented 49ers (a feather in their cap).

On Sunday Night Football the nation, and the rest of the world, will be watching, as one of these teams’ playoff hopes takes a dent and someone’s streak ends, at Mile High.

The Broncos might end the season 3-13, but even if that possibility becomes a reality, Sean Payton has laid a foundation for any future Broncos team to build on, he beat the Chiefs. 

So let’s get into my takeaways from this huge win against Kansas City, and look beyond the bye week for what this win might mean for the last nine weeks of the season.

16 game losing streak snapped

This wasn’t just any Chiefs team, this was an unstoppable force against the AFC West, and specifically the AFC West on the road. 

Before Sunday, the Chiefs had won 16-straight against the Broncos dating back to 2015, 13-straight against the AFC West and 6-straight this season. 

Mahomes, on his own, had 29 straight games with a passing touchdown, 16 straight road wins against the AFC West and 12 straight wins against the Broncos. 

All of those streaks are finished and although the teams have still endured differing seasons up to this point the magnitude of this win cannot be understated for the Broncos moving forward. 

Defence came up huge

Focusing on the game specifically, the defence played their best game of the season on Sunday, recording four takeaways and not allowing a single touchdown. 

In my takeaways from the week six loss, two weeks ago, I highlighted the importance of only restricting this offence to one touchdown on the night. 

Fast forward two weeks, I couldn’t have ever envisioned holding this team to no touchdowns, single-digit points and a second-half shutout. 

This wasn’t just a win, this was a convincing, brutal, mauling and the defence led the way in how they played. 

Nik Bonitto, Jonathan Cooper, Zach Allen and Baron Browning were huge on the front seven which has been rightfully criticised this year. 

The secondary has been reworked since the 70-point game in Miami and on Sunday they made some major plays even in Kareem Jackson’s absence. 

To go from allowing 70 points in a game to holding a top-five offence in the league to only nine points and no touchdowns deserves endless plaudits and Vance Joseph has to be given his flowers.

Culture and system finally sinking in

Sean Payton’s arrival at the Broncos signalled a change of culture was coming at Mile High. 

For too long since Gary Kubiak’s departure, the Broncos have lacked a culture and Payton finally looks like he’s starting to deliver one. 

It also appears that the systematic changes which came with such a widespread change in the coaching staff this offseason are finally clicking with the players. 

Both offensively and defensively they look better at executing plays and more efficient with time calling, penalties are also down considerably.

Perhaps trusting the process will pay off in the medium to long term, who’d have thought?

Not sellers at the deadline

A huge talking point in the last few weeks leading up to yesterday’s trade deadline was whether the Broncos were going to be having a fire sale or not. 

The deadline has passed and no Broncos were moved so I guess we know the answer. 

It’s refreshing to see the Broncos stick at the deadline and not move any pieces, which they have done in recent years most notably with Bradley Chubb last year and Von Miller the season before.

With a culture building and a 3-2 record in their last five games, heading into a bye week, with winnable games down the stretch it feels sensible to keep this group and hope to lay the foundations of something heading into 2024.

Offence still inconsistent

Putting up 24 points against the Chiefs’ defence is no mean feat and this defence hadn’t given up more than 21 points in a game so far this season. 

Kudos to the offence for that and Russell Wilson looked good on a lot of drives on Sunday, however, inconsistencies are still rife in this offence. 

This game could (and should) have been put away much more convincingly than just a 24-9 margin. 

In certain spots, Wilson held onto the ball for too long and took a crucial sack because of it resulting in losing valuable yardage. 

Of course, there is an argument to be had that it was more so the Chiefs’ defence being good than the Broncos’ offence being poor, in games against lesser defences this season we have also seen similar issues arise. 

Run game was immense

On a final positive note on the offence, they were tremendous on Sunday in the run game. 

Javonte Williams scored his first touchdown of the year and totalled 98 yards in the game. 

If the Broncos can build a consistent run game that they can lean on it will be a massive pillar for this offence to possess. 

Look ahead at the bye-week

Usually, in this spot we’d discuss the upcoming opponents, however, the Broncos have the virtue of now being on their bye in week nine. 

The bye has come at a good time after the trade deadline to settle everyone into the system heading into the final nine weeks of the season. 

Payton can continue to build his culture and everyone on the roster knows for certain they will be a Bronco for at least the next nine weeks of their careers. 

It may slightly stunt the momentum they’ve picked up from the two wins in previous weeks but on the contrary, they can consolidate the positives from those games and pay more attention to the flaws in their performances in recent weeks. 

Not to mention they don’t play until Monday Night Football in week 10 giving them even more time to prepare for going into Buffalo to face Josh Allen and the Bills in two weeks.

The Denver Broncos are in the win column once again ladies and gentlemen! 

This season has been full of narrow losses and teething problems, although it might be short-lived, having another win under the belt is a refreshing feeling for those who align themselves with the Broncos. 

Here are my takeaways from the Broncos’ second win of the year. 

Run game finding its groove

The Packers’ run defence isn’t the best by any stretch of the imagination but the Broncos ran the ball well throughout the game. 

The running backs were consistently churning yards on first and second down, setting the passing offence up with manageable third down yardage which is what we expected this Sean Payton offence would look like. 

The Broncos ran the ball 25 times in the game for 145 yards, and the Packers just couldn’t stop Javonte Willams or Samaje Perine in the running or passing game.

Defensive consistency

The defence has finally looked to have regained some of their form from last season stringing together three good games. 

They’re still a long way off their stellar performances from a year ago under Ejiro Evero but they’re showcasing the ability that everyone knew they had. 

There’s an argument to be made that the Broncos’ defence was unfortunate to give up the two touchdowns that they did. 

Romeo Doubs’ touchdown should have been awarded as an interception to Patrick Surtain II according to CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore and Jayden Reed was in the right place at the right time to catch a dropped ball in the endzone by Doubs to make it 17-16 late on.

The pass rush struggled and there is still a concern that the front seven lacks dynamism and depth but P.J. Locke stepped up when it mattered and grabbed the game-sealing interception late in the day getting Denver in the win column.

Offence moved the ball well

Akin to the first takeaway, the offence looked promising moving the ball through all four quarters. 

Russell Wilson looked good moving the ball through the air and as mentioned prior the running attack consistently gained yards on the ground. 

Wilson could have had two touchdowns in the game but one was chalked off early in the game due to a penalty.

It is concerning that the offence can’t convert their drives into touchdowns and often in the red zone there is a tendency to go ‘three-and-out’. 

Despite having a redzone percentage around the league average, the Broncos have only scored 14 touchdowns off of their 70 drives this season. 

Second half offence is still shaky

The offence in the second half has been extremely poor so far this season, failing to score in the third quarter of four out of seven games so far this season. 

Outside of their scripted drives, the offence often fails to find fluidity, especially in the second half. 

This week that issue was mitigated and the Broncos looked to move the ball well throughout the game, despite some shaky play in the second half and it is a concerning trend for the season.

Week eight preview 

Coming off a positive performance and a needed win, the Broncos face arguably the toughest test in the league when they welcome the Kansas City Chiefs to Mile High next Sunday. 

Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs will be looking to extend their dominant run over the Broncos, their win streak currently sits at 16 wins and they will be hoping to make it 17 on Sunday. 

The Broncos are out of playoff contention and will just be playing for pride in the final ten weeks of the season and many will be playing to try and earn roster spots for their next teams beyond the Broncos. 

One way for Payton to repair some of the damage his short tenure has done among Broncos country is snapping the streak and stopping the red-hot Chiefs from running away from the rest of the AFC once again.

The Broncos haven’t been gifted many primetime windows in the last eight seasons, and the way the Broncos have played in those eight years, can you blame the schedule makers for giving the primetime windows to other franchises? 

It was more of the same on Thursday night primetime this week as the Broncos extended their winless run against the Kansas City Chiefs to 16 games, and counting, whilst also, slipping to 1-5 on the year and well and truly putting to bed any lingering hopes of a playoff berth for Sean Payton in his first year in Denver. 

Over the first four weeks, there was a strong argument to be made that the Broncos could (and probably should) have been 4-1 over the opening quarter of the season. Losing in two one-score games at home in the opening two weeks and only losing by multiple scores last week against the Jets due to a turnover that became a score late in the game.

The same, unfortunately, cannot be said about this week’s loss in Arrowhead, so without further ado, here are my takeaways from the Broncos’ loss to the Chiefs. 

Rushing offence 

Starting with the positives, the run game started the game well, Javonte Williams had a couple of bruising runs in the opening quarter which looked more like the Williams we’re used to seeing in Broncos Country. 

The Broncos ran for 115 yards on the night and it was clear that Payton wanted to control the time of possession early in the game and keep Patrick Mahomes off the field. 

It seems Payton has been managing the snaps of Williams in the opening six weeks of the year, which is sensible considering the injury he had and the way he plays, one does have to wonder how long Payton can keep limiting the snaps of one of the Broncos’ only playmakers on offence though.

Defence looked good 

The defence held its own for the second week running and held this explosive offence to only one touchdown in the game which is incredible to say, especially when they’ve had 70 points scored against them in one game on the road already this year. 

For the opening four weeks, the conversations in Broncos country have revolved around the offence keeping up their level of play and the defence giving them a chance to win games by holding opponents to a somewhat modest total of points. 

In the subsequent two weeks, the conversation has flipped and now Broncos fans are looking for the offence to be competent at the very least and asking the defence to retain their level of performance.

Offence falters again 

Speaking of the offence, for the second week in a row they’ve failed to show up in games that have well and truly been there for the taking. 

Last week Russell Wilson had the ball in his hands with the chance to lead the offence down the field and take the lead late in the game, instead, Wilson fumbled the ball and the Jets ran it in to win the game. 

This week the Broncos weren’t even close to the Chiefs despite them only reaching the endzone once. 

They couldn’t move the ball and the wide receivers couldn’t get open at all for Wilson to find them and get the offence moving down the field. 

One of the only bright spots in the Broncos pass game this year, Marvin Mims Jr., wasn’t even on the field after his error against the Jets last Sunday appears to have rubbed Payton up the wrong way. 

Without Mims, the offence has no vertical explosiveness, and for a receiver room that is supposedly all on the trade block, they’ve done nothing but harm their trade stock in the last two weeks.

Roster moves are pending

As mentioned previously, it isn’t just the receivers who are up for sale, according to several reports, the entire roster besides superstar Patrick Surtain II is on the trade block for the Broncos. 

Whether Payton wants to blow things up quite to that extent or not is up for discussion and it doesn’t seem like the fire sale will be quite that wholesale. 

Nonetheless, besides a handful of promising young pieces on either side of the ball and a couple of highly paid new free-agent acquisitions it feels like the large majority of this roster would be eligible for trade if general manager George Paton picked up any calls in the coming weeks. 

Some of the more highly spoken about players in trade rumours have been: Jerry Jeudy, Courtland Sutton, Justin Simmons and Kareem Jackson, amongst others. 

Most believe those are the four players that would garner any relevant haul for Paton and as a result, they are the ones most likely to be traded, especially as the Broncos are desperate for picks as they attempt to rebuild their roster.

Week seven preview 

Looking ahead to next Sunday, the Broncos turn their attention to their game against the Green Bay Packers who are coming off of a bye in week six. 

The Packers have had a mixed season with highs and lows before heading into an early-season bye. No one has encapsulated that more perhaps, than quarterback Jordan Love who took the reigns from Aaron Rodgers in the offseason. 

Love’s play has been inconsistent and injuries on offence have led to some subpar play from the Packers which might bouy this resurgent Broncos defence across the last two weeks. 

The defence is stacked with talent but play-caller, Joe Barry, is public enemy number one amongst cheeseheads and his play-calling has resulted in numerous losses already this season in games the Packers should have been winning. 

Fortunately for the Broncos, they have had an extended week to prepare for this game and come back refreshed and, hopefully, rejuvenated ahead of Sunday.

They desperately need a win this week at home, before they lock horns once again with the Chiefs again in week eight, and then go on their bye in week nine. 

If the Broncos don’t win on Sunday they could realistically be 1-7 coming off their bye with a brutal stretch to end the season later in the year, including road trips to Buffalo, Detroit and the Chargers as well as a home game against the Browns.

It’s not a must-win game for any playoff implications but it’s certainly a must-win game if Payton and Wilson want any credibility coming out of this disastrous start to their campaign in Denver.

After three arduous weeks, and a nervous first half, the Sean Payton era has finally delivered its first win in Broncos country. It wasn’t pretty, it was the furthest thing from assured and by no mean perfect, but Payton and the Broncos won’t care, they’re now in the win column and anything can happen from here. 

So on the first victory week of the season, here are my takeaways from the Broncos’ road win against the Chicago Bears.

Comeback W 

A win is always sweet, but a win from 28-7 down is a beautiful way to win a game. From a team standpoint in the long term, it also provides a reason to be positive for Broncos fans as well. 

The team showed great poise, grit and determination to rally around each other after halftime and provided that they can play complimentary football, they can be a watchable team.

It’s refreshing to see all three phases of play contributing to a win especially after they had their backs against the wall on the road in a crucial game for the season.

These are the types of performances that seasons can hinge upon and momentum may well be swinging in Denver’s favour now heading into week five.

Jaleel McLaughlin

It always seems to be the way, every year the Broncos manage to unearth one or two gem rookie players that make an impact in orange and blue. 

This Sunday it was the turn of undrafted running back, Jaleel McLaughlin, out of Youngstown State to make his impact known to the NFL world. 

The shifty and elusive runner saw more involvement in the offence after Javonte Williams left the game early with a hip injury and he made his opportunity count. 

McLaughlin put up 72 yards on the ground and 32 in the receiving game as well as scoring the Broncos’ first touchdown of the day. 

His change of direction and quick burst of acceleration was something the Bears defensive line couldn’t handle all day. 

Second half 

The performance in the second half was pleasing from the offence, defence and special teams, it felt like after halftime something finally clicked under this new leadership group. 

The offence was moving the ball well and looked like they could attack the Bears on the ground or through the air if they needed to and they just couldn’t be stopped.

The defence finally started to make some plays and recorded two turnovers in the fourth quarter which swung the game in the Broncos’ favour. 

This was the moment that Broncos fans had been waiting an eternity for, well-executed football in every area of the game and giving themselves every chance of winning the game. 

First half defence 

Despite the positives, there were obvious red flags throughout the game and those came mostly during the first half when the Broncos found themselves 21-7 down going into the half in a must-win game to keep their season alive. 

Credit to Justin Fields, the former Ohio State dual-threat quarterback had his best game as a pro on Sunday and he showed the potential that his talent can elevate him to. 

However, he was also helped by Vance Joseph’s incredibly soft defensive coverages and a plethora of blown zone assignments. 

Joseph played off-man coverage packages far too often, giving Fields easy quick passing options and with the current lack of pass rush Fields just picked the Broncos apart in the air.

On three crucial games in the half, middle linebacker Alex Singleton lost tight end, Cole Kmet, in zone coverage, once for a big third down catch and twice for a touchdown. 

In these ill-disciplined moments, games can be won and lost and although the Broncos fell on the right side of the win this week, they are 1-2 in one-score games through the first four weeks of the season and with better pass coverage they could well be 3-0.   

Discipline 

Speaking of discipline, the flags against the Broncos once again totted up this week. 

33 penalties have been called against the Broncos already this season and they committed seven this week. 

It’s not necessarily the frequency of the penalties they’re giving up, it’s when they occur and the nature of them. 

Four false start penalties were called on Sunday and too often the Broncos find themselves on the backfoot on offensive drives due to poor penalties surrendering momentum before they’ve even begun.

Week five preview 

It can be easy to get carried away, especially after a win which has been so long in the making, but the Broncos now need to carry their late-game momentum into another winnable game next week at home to the New York Jets.

The game comes packed with storylines, none fierier than the battle between sidelines, after Sean Payton’s comments about former Broncos head coach, Nathaniel Hackett’s work with the team last year. 

Hackett failed to make a full season as head coach of the Broncos despite so much preseason hype, and after Payton was hired this offseason he called it, “one of the worst coaching jobs in history.” 

Hackett is now the offensive coordinator of the Jets and he will be hoping to cause an upset back in Mile High, but he will be without future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers. 

Instead, third-year quarterback, Zach Wilson will be under centre for the Jets and after a promising Monday Night Football performance against the Kansas City Chiefs, the former BYU man will be hoping to come away with his first win of the season as a starter. 

Away from the headlines, the Broncos will hopefully be buoyed by the probable return of safety Justin Simmons, while Baron Browning has entered his window to be activated off of the PUP list. 

Safety, PJ Locke and cornerback, K’Waun Williams can both be activated off of the injury reserve list this week getting help to the secondary. 

Hopefully, Frank Clark and Josey Jewell can return to the defence, after an extra weekend of rest missing the Bears game on Sunday, and add some more power to the front seven. 

Whether the Broncos were 4-0 or 1-3 heading into this week Broncos Country and Mile High were always going to be fired up for this one, and it will be some atmosphere as this war of words finally takes to the field at 9:25 pm BST on Sunday.