The Denver Broncos advanced to 2-1 and tied for 1st in the AFC west after beating the 49ers on Sunday Night Football. While it did feel like nothing happened in this game until the final 5 minutes, there are still things to note about the Bronco’s performance.
AFC West or Big Ten West
As a fan of the Iowa Hawkeyes, I have become conditioned to this brand of football. However, it certainly felt weird to see a game showcased by punting in the NFL.
It was almost uncanny how much this game felt like Iowa vs Wisconsin at 11am on a Saturday in late October. All punts. Almost no offensive scoring. A safety by running out of the back of the endzone on accident. That’s Big Ten football.
News broke earlier this week that Nathaniel Hackett hired, Jerry Rosburg to help him with “game day decisions”.
Jerry Rosburg is clearly a secret code name for Kirk Ferentz. That is the only reason I can think of for how the Broncos win a game like this.
Broncos Offense
3 games into the season and The Broncos are 2-1. However, those two wins are some of the ugliest I’ve seen in a long time. Each game the offense has gotten worse; which is not what you want to see after your team spent over 200 million on getting a quarterback to fix the offense this offseason.
This is puzzling because it seems that all the tools are there for offensive success. Jeudy and Sutton are great wide receivers. Javonte Williams and Melvin Gordon work strongly together. Russell Wilson isn’t playing his best season, but it isn’t that bad. Something isn’t clicking in the offense and I’m not sure what it is. I do lean towards that it is likely coaching. Coaching mishaps have been the story of the season for the Broncos. It’s obvious the communication from the sideline to the field isn’t there currently. Play calling has not been generating success on the offensive side of the ball thus far. Something there needs to change.
After that, I think it comes down to Russell Wilson having to make plays. The Broncos went out to get that dynamic, play-making, quarterback the offense needed. Russell Wilson is capable of being that guy, but he just hasn’t shown it much this season. He isn’t turning the ball over like crazy, but he isn’t really doing anything with the ball either. The fans don’t want to see conservative play call Russ. Roll the dice a little bit.
It is so frustrating watching Russ refuse to run past the line of scrimmage when it is wide open. I understand that they don’t want Russell Wilson to get hurt, but avoiding wide-open lanes on short yardage just to force a pass to a double-covered receiver is not the answer.
I was sold that we were getting Mr. Unlimited not Mr. 184 yards and no touchdowns in primetime.
With patience, I think we will get back to this version of Russell Wilson on the field. With that will come a solid Denver Broncos Offense. Let’s hope that this is soon though because the current recipe for wins will not last in the NFL.
There is optimism in the Bronco’s future despite playing this way to open up the year. Despite playing bad football, they have managed to come out 2-1. Denver has managed to survive these bad games and while this model is most certainly not sustainable for success, at least they have escaped these bad performances early on. This Broncos team would be a comfortable 3-0 if they were able to execute and eliminate mistakes on both sides of the ball.
This team is close to being very strong. The future is bright, pending cleaning up the mishaps.
Broncos Country
In the first primetime game of the Russell Wilson era, the Broncos fans sure did bring the energy. Despite the lack of actual action during the game, the crowd was energetic throughout the game.
Bronco’s fans usually create a great atmosphere at home regardless of who is playing quarterback. To see the fans still show up can get excited, for this particular game speaks volumes still to the faith that the fans have in the team despite how much you might see them complain on Twitter. Broncos fans are and will always be amazing, stay patient.
Next Week
The Broncos will head to Las Vegas next week to face the Raiders in their first inter-division game of the season. This game will truly show whether or not the Broncos can clean things up. The Raiders, a team with no wins, are currently two-point favorites in this game. That should make Broncos fans very nervous, odds makers clearly have no faith in Denver to execute. With what the Broncos have shown so far, I’m not sure why you would have faith in them to win this game.
With this also comes the area for large improvement by the Broncos. If the Broncos can execute, they have the talent to roll the Raiders and leave them in the dust. If they play the way they have played the past three games they will most likely lose. It’s that simple.
I have all the faith in the world that the Broncos can still be a good team and win a lot of games.
Broncos Country let’s ride.
Scramble Sports 
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