Author: Charlie Grace

The win streak keeps rolling, the Denver Broncos are back at “.500” and in the thick of it in the AFC playoff picture for the first time in a long time. 

It wasn’t always pretty on Sunday night in primetime but despite all the Joshua Dobbs love from the broadcast team on NBC, Sean Payton and his team got it done late at home to move to 5-5, and here is what I took away from the game.

Four wins in a row 

Winning is infectious and it has spread amongst the Broncos’ ranks quickly since they beat the Green Bay Packers five weeks ago. 

After big-time victories over the cream of the crop in the AFC in the last couple of seasons, the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs, the Broncos came out on top against the red-hot Vikings to move to a four-game win streak (the longest active streak in the NFL). 

The positive signs began long before this run but finally, Payton and his coaching staff have managed to piece together a winning formula, the Broncos have got momentum and no one wants to play this team right now. 

Defence with more turnovers 

During the ongoing win streak, the defence has totalled 13 takeaways, and despite taking three in this game they will be annoyed with themselves that they hadn’t snagged more. 

The secondary was electric and besides their potential turnovers, they also hustled and battled on every down making it tough for Dobbs and his receiving corps. 

In particular, Justin Simmons shone and broke up two key passes on the Vikings’ final drive of the game to seal a win for the Broncos. 

It’s hard to believe that this is the same defence that took the field in weeks two and three giving up 35 points to the Washington Commanders and 70 to the Miami Dolphins respectively. 

Nonetheless, the change at cornerback with Ja’quan McMillian coming in for Essang Bassey has completely changed this defence’s outlook and as long as the undrafted rookie can maintain his form (a team-tied most takeaways) then the Broncos will always be in the mix, down the stretch.

Playmakers coming up big in key moments

When you look at the Broncos’ roster they don’t have many names that you would regard as league-wide stars, besides perhaps Russell Wilson and Patrick Surtain II. 

However, any fan of the Broncos will tell you there is still underappreciated talent on the roster, whether it’s one of the best (if not the best) safeties in the league, Justin Simmons, or one of the league’s most promising running backs, Javonte Williams, the Broncos have talent. 

The biggest breakout in this winning run however, has been Courtland Sutton, who made a name for himself in 2019 when he got selected for the Pro Bowl, before injuring his ACL in 2020. 

Sutton’s eight touchdown catches this season see him behind only MVP candidate, Tyreek Hill (nine TDs), in the league charts for caught touchdowns at wide receiver this season. 

Sutton has a receiving touchdown in the last five consecutive games and has become one of Russell Wilson’s favourite red zone targets, when the Broncos need him he comes up clutch in key moments, like catching the game-winner on Sunday night.

Run defence has to improve 

Despite the feel-good factor in Denver, it can’t all be rosy and there are still big hurdles that the Broncos need to overcome if they’re to be taken seriously in the AFC in the long term. 

That starts with defending the run, something the Broncos have struggled to do all season, and still plagues them despite the winning run. 

One of the key factors to the 70 points that the Broncos gave up earlier in the season against the Dolphins was their poor defence of the run, giving up 350 rushing yards, it’s still an issue, eight weeks on, and the Broncos still get beaten up in the run game.

On Sunday, Ty Chandler looked like a young Austin Ekeler and Alexander Mattison looked like prime Dalvin Cook. 

If the Broncos are going to compete with some of the better teams in the league consistently they have to get better at defending the run.

Need to be more ruthless offensively

I spoke about it last week, and it proved to be a noticeable problem on Sunday night as well, the Broncos are not ruthless enough off of turnovers. 

This week the Broncos scored nine points off of the Vikings’ turnovers but it could have and should have been more. 

Will Lutz scored 15 of the Broncos’ 21 points with his boot and the offence couldn’t capitalise off of the short field the defence had handed them. 

As with last week, this should have been a much more comprehensive victory and the offence needs to be ruthless if this team is to compete with the best of the best.

Week 12 preview 

The Broncos face another stern test at home on Sunday as they welcome the Cleveland Browns (7-3) to Empower Field at Mile High, looking to extend their winning streak.

The Browns have been one of the better teams in the AFC of late after an inconsistent start to the season but their star quarterback Deshaun Watson was ruled out for the season a week ago, meaning rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson will be under centre. 

The Browns’ strength lies on the defensive side of the ball however, and they will prove to be the hardest test the Broncos have faced all season. 

The Browns have a top-five defence in the league and they have playmakers at every level of the defence. 

Myles Garrett is a potential MVP candidate, Sione Takitaki and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah are excellent linebackers and Denzel Ward across from Greg Newsome II is one of the best cornerback duos in the league.

Russell Wilson and the offence will have to be efficient and clinical whenever they get on the field, but the game feels like it will be won or lost on the defensive side of the ball for the Broncos. 

The Browns will be relying on their running attack of Kareem Hunt and Jerome Ford (after Nick Chubb got injured early in the season), and we spoke earlier about the Broncos’ plight against the run. 

If they can force Thompson-Robinson to try and beat them then the Broncos may just have a chance of getting a tiebreaker in the playoff race and toppling another AFC pillar in 2023.

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.

No news is good news through the post-trade deadline bye week and the Broncos are still boasting that two-game win streak heading into week 10. 

Sean Payton’s team have the added benefit of playing their week 10 matchup against the  Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football, giving them one of the longest possible in-season breaks. 

Payton said after the 24-9 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs that he had taken a leaf from Chiefs head coach Andy Reid’s book and the players would be in for film study on Monday morning but then have the rest of the week off before getting prepared for the Bills matchup this week. 

So where do the Broncos go after their bye and do they have a shot at the playoffs? 

The first four games 

The Broncos opened up the Sean Payton era in a calamitous fashion, losing their first three games and seemingly eliminating themselves from any playoff discussions before their campaign had kicked off. 

In the opening two weeks, the Broncos lost by a point to the Las Vegas Raiders (their seventh in a row vs the Raiders) and lost on a failed two-point conversion after a miraculous hail mary attempt in week two at home to the Washington Commanders. 

In week three, things got even worse, when the Broncos’ defence made history for all the wrong reasons. They gave up 70 points to the Miami Dolphins and allowed the most total yards of any team in the history of the NFL. 

Things continued to look bleak through the first three-quarters of week four in Chicago as well until the defence finally checked in for the season and produced two massive fourth-quarter turnovers to help the Broncos chalk up their first win of the season.

The losses to the Commanders and the Raiders (both at home) could come back to kick the Broncos as they now look to mount an unlikely, uphill charge for the playoffs. If those two games had gone in the favour of Denver – which they should have done on the balance of play – the Broncos would be 5-3 right now. 

Rebuilding next four-game 

Moving away from the hypothetical, and back to reality, the Broncos faced the near-impossible task of overturning their poor start around to give them some hope of resurrecting their season.

Up first was the Nathaniel Hackett New York Jets at Mile High stadium and a game that could have been a momentum shifter turned into a banana skin. The Broncos dropped to 1-4 after losing 31-21 thanks to a late defensive touchdown from the Jets made the game look worse than it was on the box score. 

Next up on a short week was a trip to Arrowhead Stadium, and despite the defence putting in an incredible performance, the offence went hiding and the Broncos’ streak against the Chiefs fell to 16 straight losses. 

Despite the two losses being disappointing from an offensive standpoint the defence threw up positive signs and, finally, the two sides of the ball came together to generate the Broncos’ first home win of the year against a lacklustre Green Bay Packers outfit. 

The win against the Packers still felt like a consolation victory for the rest of the season, however, and the Broncos welcomed the Chiefs in week eight, with all the expectation being, another blowout to the rampant Cheifs. 

The reality for Broncos Country was so much sweeter than anyone could imagine, they blew the Super Bowl champions away and romped to a comprehensive 24-9 demolition of their AFC West rivals. 

Heading into the bye week the fanbase and media reaction to the Broncos changed completely and there was a breath of optimism that swept its way back into Denver.

Resurgent out of the bye 

Now sitting at 3-5 coming out of their midseason bye the Broncos have a clear road and clear goal ahead of them for the next nine weeks. 

It’s not going to be easy and there are plenty of challenging games ahead, none more so than this Monday at Buffalo.

With back-to-back primetime games, the Broncos could move back to .500 and with full momentum on their side against some more favourable opponents. The trade deadline has been and gone so every franchise knows “who they are” and the Broncos are a team on the incline. 

After Buffalo, Payton’s team will welcome the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday Night Football, before welcoming the Cleveland Browns and then making a trip to the Houston Texans. 

In an ideal world, four wins from four would be tremendous in that stretch, but even three from four getting victories over AFC playoff rivals the Browns as well as beating the Texans and the Vikings could see the Broncos at 6-6 going into five interesting games at the end of the year. 

Finishing strong

The final five games of the season throw up plenty of narratives no matter where the Broncos stand out of their four key games coming off the bye week. 

Firstly, a trip to Los Angeles to face their AFC West rivals, the Chargers, in a game that could have big playoff implications. Both teams could feasibly be heading into that game 6-6, both gunning for the seventh seed in the AFC. 

Next up is a difficult trip to one of the NFC’s best teams, the Detroit Lions who have only lost two games this season and beat the Chiefs in Arrowhead on the opening night. 

Week 16, could potentially be a game with draft position implications if the Broncos can’t find any wins in the second half of the season. The New England Patriots will come to Mile High in what was once a fierce AFC Championship battle. The Patriots are in full rebuild mode and currently sit at 2-7, a record that could be even worse when this one rolls around. 

The penultimate week of the season is a rematch of week 14 with the reverse of the Chargers matchup this time in Denver. If the Broncos have any record in the region of 8-7 or better then Mile High could be bouncing for this one with giant playoff implications.

Games against the Raiders will bookend the Broncos’ season and the Broncos will have to go to Sin City to close out their year, they could finish their season with a flourish both making the playoffs for the first time since 2016 as well as snapping their losing streak against the Raiders as well. 

Record prediction 

With all of this being said, I may have foreseen a miraculous turnaround that sees the Broncos win eight or nine of their last nine games to finish the year 12-5 or 11-6. In reality, that seems unlikely and the best possible record I could see this Broncos team getting is 10-7, but my prediction would be either 8-9 or 9-8. 

Week 10 Preview

The Bills have been shaky this season and look far from the clinical and convincing outfit that they have been in recent years. 

Their offence has been struggling despite Josh Allen’s MVP level of play, the defence has been star players, Tre’Davious White and Matt Milano go onto Injury Reserve and there are holes in that team that this Broncos group can take advantage of.

The Bills have the third-ranked total offence in the league in the first nine weeks of the season despite being 5-4. They’ve scored the third most passing TDs in the league this season (two more than the Broncos) and they rank seventh for rushing TDs. 

They haven’t looked convincing since their week four victory over the Miami Dolphins and their recent form has been inconsistent. 

However, with a talented quarterback and talent around him, the Bills are always a threat, especially at home.

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.

With so much riding on this game surrounding Sean Payton’s preseason comments and the comeback win last week, it felt like this was a game where the Broncos could really turn the tide of their season at home to a struggling Jets side. 

In reality, it was a watershed moment for all the wrong reasons and Broncos country is starting to feel that all-too-familiar disappointment once again before the leaves have even started to fall off the trees in autumn.

So here it is, four takeaways from the Broncos’ loss to the New York Jets.

Worst the offence has played this season 

In the opening four weeks a lot of blame was levelled at the defence, for good reason, however, this week, the offence took the reigns. 

The defence was getting stops in the first half and if it hadn’t been for a bad safety in the first quarter, the Broncos would have been in an even more dominant position heading into halftime.

In the second half the offence completely fell apart, with four three-and-outs and a fumble culminating in minus eight total yards of offensive production in the second half until a 60-yard touchdown drive to make the score 24-21.

The defence managed to come up clutch late in the fourth quarter with an interception but once again the offence failed to fire and Russell Wilson fumbled the ball to Bryce Hall who iced the game, returning it for a touchdown.

The offensive woes were highlighted when the Broncos gained good field position from a special teams play from their own punt and two snaps later, the Jets regained possession due to a poorly executed end-around double pitch. 

Hopefully, it’s a blip and the offence will return to their levels from the first four weeks, if they hope to even lay a glove on the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday Night Football, they’ll have to.

Defence inconsistent again 

The defence carried their late-game momentum from last week into the opening stages of this game against the Jets.

In the first half, the defence held Zach Wilson and the Jets to 20 total yards of offence in the first quarter. 

In the second quarter, the Jets started to move the ball better but once again the Broncos’ defence held them to only three points.

In the second half though, they couldn’t stop the Jets from moving the ball, particularly Breece Hall who notched 177 rushing yards and a touchdown.

The pass rush got home four times and Patrick Surtain II picked off Zach Wilson to give the Broncos the ball back with time running down to go ahead but the offence couldn’t capitalise. 

After the year the defence has had, Sunday was encouraging, however, the inconsistencies were still frustrating to see.

Payton ate his words 

Sean Payton’s comments about Nathaniel Hackett’s head coaching job in Denver last year are common knowledge now among anyone who follows the NFL.

On Sunday, Payton was made to eat those words, the loss doesn’t change the past but it certainly raises questions about how much of last season was on Hackett. 

The offence has undoubtedly looked better under Payton than it did under Hackett but in general they still appear to be a poorly coached team. 

Is that hangover from the last regime? It’s unlikely because there are plenty of new faces in the building.

One thing is for certain, after the comments he made Payton made himself a target especially heading into this game, and it spectacularly backfired on him.

The fire sale has begun 

On Monday, NFL insider James Palmer suggested that a fire sale of Broncos talent may commence soon in light of the team’s 1-4 record. 

It’s no surprise that the team are looking to start a rebuild again and with the current salary cap situation and the lack of draft capital, it seems trading assets away is the only option. 

It’s highly unlikely that the Broncos will be worse than the Chicago Bears and the Carolina Panthers this season, at the very least, so the number one overall pick and therefore Caleb Williams seems like a pipedream. 

Despite that, Russell Wilson’s play hasn’t been the reason the Broncos are 1-4 so would a quarterback really be the target? 

Albeit, the Broncos certainly have tradable pieces on offence and defence so if Payton and general manager George Paton believe that’s the way they want to go then they could definitely receive a lot of capital in return.

Week 6 TNF preview 

It doesn’t get any easier for the Broncos, next week, a trip to Arrowhead awaits to play the formidable Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday night. 

The Broncos have lost 15 straight against their AFC West rivals and the Chiefs have started the season hot, despite not being wholly convincing.

The Chiefs sit at 4-1 and are on a four-game win streak after their loss to the Detroit Lions on the opening night of the season. 

The Broncos slipped to 1-4 and are once again gearing themselves up for a winter bereft of playoff football and more top-ten draft selection talk in springtime.