The Denver Broncos couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity to gain ground in the AFC West than the one that they were presented over the last two weeks — and they fumbled it away.
In week six, the Kansas City Chiefs, fell for the first time to the Pittsburgh Steelers, opening a window for the second-place Broncos to leap through when they hosted the injury-ravaged and win-less New York Giants. A Broncos win would put them only a half-game behind the Chiefs in the division.
Few things wound up going right for the Broncos on that night, and the Giants left Denver with their first win of the season — and the Broncos’ most embarrassing loss since at least Super Bowl 48. Then things got worse.
Fast forward to Week 7. The Chiefs travel to Oakland for a Thursday night matchup against the Raiders — and lose on the game’s final play; earning their second-straight loss.
The stage was once again set for the Broncos to gain some ground in the chase for the AFC West lead. They’d travel to Los Angeles to play a last-place Chargers that team they beat in the first week of the season for a chance to stay perfect in the division and set up a monumentally important showdown in Arrowhead Stadium one week later.
The Broncos erased the previous week’s debacle by creating a worse one; ending up on the wrong end of a 21-0 loss to the Chargers — the first time the Broncos have been shut out in 25 seasons.
The NFL is a league of opportunity, and the Broncos were unable to capitalize on two big ones over the course of the last two weeks. With an overall record of 3-3 and 2-1 in the AFC West, the Broncos are still in the thick of things, but have hit a major road bump that’s stopped them cold in the last two games. Their offense has come to a screeching halt, and Sunday didn’t provide them with anything to get excited about.
To make matters worse, the Broncos will play their next two games in Kansas City and Philadelphia.
There is some good news: the Broncos’ defense played well and has the ability to keep them in any game. The first step to doing so will be closing the door to the past and doing what they can to somehow get ready for Kansas City. Every game counts in the NFL, and the Broncos have 10 games to get them where they are trying to go.
The Broncos are out of mulligans; they need to make everyone one of those 10 games count — now.