No. 2 – Amari Cooper will nab a baker’s dozen, Broncos fall out as top pass defense
The Minnesota Vikings may have exposed a weakness in the Broncos pass defense. Crossing routes often befuddled Denver in the years prior to Wade Phillips’ arrival, and they played a big part in Teddy Bridgewater’s 269-yard day last Sunday.
Now, Denver was committing extra bodies to the box to stop Adrian Peterson, which they won’t have to do as much against Latavius Murray (who’s still the No. 8t running back in football), but Oakland’s line has been stellar so far this year, even against the Ravens. With more time in coverage and the due diligence they’ll have to pay to Murray and Michael Crabtree, the Broncos secondary will have to cede some catches to Cooper.
Expect him to have a big catch total, as high as 13, and put up some big yardage, north of 120, but only find the end zone once.
The Denver defense will bend but not break in this one and will get knocked off its very narrow perch as the best passing defense in the league. Tampa Bay is just 0.3 yards per game behind Denver and faces Jacksonville this weekend.
