Hello Broncos Country. Four wins in a row. The Broncos are winning ugly. As I was golfing recently, I teed off on a par 4. Sliced my tee shot way into the rough. I skulled my second shot and it ran along the ground near the green. I chipped my ball close enough to putt in for par. It was an ugly par. As I looked at the score card there was still a “4” for that hole. That’s a win! No other notations. So long as there check in the win column for the Broncos, I’m happy. However, we’d all love to see some excitement and big plays from the offense and the defense shut down the run better.
I still have questions. How sustainable is this? How have they turned things around? Obviously, some major changes were made on both sides of the ball. Streamlined offense and better communications on defense. When asked about the approach moving forward, Justin Simmons had this to say in one of the weekly pressers at Dove Valley.
“You’ve got to be able to handle the lows and the highs almost the same. Starting the season the way that we did, you’ve got to be level headed. Don’t over react. Trust in the plan. Fix the things that you can control. And then when you’re winning, then you can’t over react, overhype, umm, control the things you can control and put your head down and keep working because, just because you won a couple games doesn’t mean anything.”
So, stay hungry but stay humble is what I read out of that. We’ll see if the Broncos can continue to build the on the foundation or if it’s fool’s gold. Getting past the Cleveland Browns #1 defense would be a great start.
The Browns come to Denver with some key players either out or on injured reserve. QB Deshaun Watson is being paid a king’s ransom to sit out for the year. Enter rookie QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson. He started his first game last week versus Pittsburg. A defensive affair that landed the Browns in the win column. DTR, as he’s called, throws the ball well and they run a QB sweep among other designed runs for him. RBs Jerome Ford and Kareem Hunt present a problem for a Broncos defense that has allowed 192 and 175 yards rushing to the Bills and Vikings respectively. The Browns will want to lean on the run game to protect the rookie QB. Quick slants to WR Amari Cooper and TE David Njoku in the flat will be things to watch for in the passing game. This Browns defense is sacking machine and DE Myles Garrett leads the league with 13. Even our old buddy Shelby Harris has 1.5 sacks and 4 tackles for loss. I would have loved to see another matchup between CB Denzel Ward and Courtland Sutton but Ward is sidelined with a shoulder injury.
Every NFL game is a challenge no matter who’s playing. New setbacks and successes present themselves every week. Solving the Browns stingy defense in any fashion would be a huge victory. Continuing to force turnovers and confuse the rookie QB is paramount. I have to reiterate the fact that the Broncos must perform much better against the run. Denver’s offensive line will be assaulted today and I expect Sean Payton to have plays ready to get Russell Wilson moving out of the pocket and/or get the ball out of his hands quickly to make plays. In my mind, a defensive battle will ensue. This could be a 12-9 affair. Too close to call for me. Raincloud out!
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