The 2015 season has been vintage Denver Broncos. Gone are the 40- and 50-point efforts from the NFL’s greatest offense ever. Here again are late-game heroics and improbable victories.
Wins against Baltimore, Kansas City and Minnesota felt more like Tim Tebow was at the helm than Peyton Manning. And Sunday’s wild, overtime victory against the previously unbeaten Patriots left Broncos Country having flashbacks of John Elway under center, but in the form of 6-foot-8 Brock Osweiler.
In the big upset against New England, Denver led for just 69 seconds of total game time before C.J. Anderson rumbled 48 yards for the game-winning touchdown in the extra frame. Denver was 132 total yards better than the Patriots on the day and controlled the ball for more than 10 minutes longer than New England, but the only thing that mattered was the final tally, in which Denver narrowly escaped on top.
Off the field, however, New England is dominating Denver of late. And Broncos fans can’t hope for late-game heroics from their team on this one. In this instance, it’s all on them.
There are less than two weeks remaining for fans to submit their votes for the 2016 Pro Bowl and, as of Thanksgiving, the New England Patriots are flat-out kicking the Denver Broncos’ butt when it comes to fan voting.
A whopping 17 Patriots were ranked within the top-10 at their respective positions; 10 of them are No. 1 or No. 2. Denver, meanwhile, has 10 players within the top-10; none are ranked higher than third at their positions and only two are ranked higher than a Patriot.
Patriots fans are unabashedly stuffing the ballot. Need proof? Center David Andrews was benched this year, but ranks second in Pro Bowl voting.
Sure it’s just the Pro Bowl, and Broncos fans would much rather have their team planning travel to Santa Clara in late January, but it’s also a chance for fans to show their support in actions, not just words.
It’s time Denver fans respond in the way their team has all year. It’s time to go for the win.
There’s probably little chance at this point that Peyton Manning (10th among quarterbacks) will chase down No. 1 overall nominee Tom Brady. The Deflator has more than four times the number of votes as The Sherriff, and Manning’s struggles (not to mention missed time) will likely have him outside the top-10 when the next round of voting results are released next Wednesday.
Demaryius Thomas, who also ranks 10th at his position, probably won’t gain any ground either after he struggled so mightily on Sunday Night Football. The same could hold true for T.J. Ward, who is also 10th, one spot behind Patrick Chung, and expected to miss this Sunday’s matchup with San Diego with an ankle injury.
Admittedly, Manning and Thomas haven’t put together Pro Bowl-caliber seasons (for the first time since 2012), and Ward, who is the most-penalized safety in the league, probably won’t be getting much help from voters outside of Broncos Country. All three would need to slide into the top-six in voting at their position to secure a fan invite to the Pro Bowl.
Chung has just two fewer penalties as Ward, though, and trails him in tackles and stops. More importantly, Ward has nine combined quarterback sacks, hits and hurries, compared to Chung’s two (all stats from Pro Football Focus). Yet Chung leads Ward by nearly 3,000 votes. There’s a logjam at the strong safety position, with No. 10 and No. 5 separated by approximately 11,000 votes, so there’s still a chance for Broncos fans to make a big push for the wrecking ball of the Denver secondary.
Also representing the secondary is Aqib Talib and Chris Harris, ranked third and seventh, respectively, at last report. That means Chris Harris could be at risk of not making the Pro Bowl, as only the top eight vote getters make the roster. Malcolm Butler is breathing down Harris’ neck for the seventh spot and Cincinnati’s Adam Jones is just a few thousand votes behind Butler. Broncos fans need to shut down Butler the same way Harris shut down the New England receivers on Nov. 29.
Talib and Harris aren’t the only duo in stiff competition for limited roster spots. DeMarcus Ware (No. 3) and Von Miller (No. 6) are in tight competition with Jamie Collins (No. 2) and Dont’a Hightower (No. 7), not to mention Justin Houston and Julius Peppers among others, for the six OLB slots. Right now, Miller is hanging on to that sixth and final spot despite nearly having as many sacks on his own (7.0) as Collins and Hightower have combined (8.0). You don’t need fancy glasses to see that Miller deserves, and needs, more votes; Broncos fans simply can’t allow their top defensive playmaker to be on the outside looking in when the fan vote ends.
Speaking of “on the outside looking in,” Brandon McManus needs to gain 14,000 votes on Justin Tucker of the Ravens to get in as the second of two kickers selected by fan vote. New England’s Stephen Gostkowski is running away with first place, much like Brady, nearly doubling Tucker’s total. (And for good reason; he’s missed only one field goal all year and is perfect on PATs.)
Tucker is kicking just 80 percent on the year, compared to McManus’ 91.3 percent (both are perfect on PATs). There is a slew of other kickers in the top-10 trying to chase down McManus, including several with better field goal percentages, but none with kicks as long as his 57-yarder. Voting for kickers typically is widely overlooked, so Broncos fans have a real chance to lock in one of their own here with a strong surge before the deadline.
Only linebacker Brandon Marshall is unrivaled by the Patriots at his position, but he still won’t earn a roster spot at present. He needs to jump from sixth to fourth place and gain approximately 18,000 votes on Indy’s D’Qwell Jackson to do so. There may be no Broncos player more deserving at this point, so fans need to step up for Marshall like he has for their favorite team.
The last player with hope of making the Pro Bowl based on the fan vote is special teams captain David Bruton. Only two special teamers make the cut and Bruton currently ranks eighth. (New England’s Matthew Slater holds the No. 2 spot, more than 30,000 votes ahead of Bruton.) Can Broncos fans get it done for the longest-tenured player on the roster? If there’s any season Bruton deserves it, it’s this one.
Surprisingly, Denver has no interior defensive linemen within the top-10, despite having the third-best run defense in the league. (The 11th ranked Patriots have two.) Emmanuel Sanders, a 2015 Pro Bowler and NFL Network top-100 player, isn’t in the top-10 among wide receivers. Is there enough time to change all that before the voting cutoff? Denver’s been known for improbable comebacks all year. This could be another.
Pro Bowl voting ends Tuesday, Dec. 15. The NFL will release one more round of voting stats next Wednesday before the final teams are named.
It’s time to step up, Broncos Country. Don’t let this one come down to the wire and hope for a heroic effort to deliver the win in the final seconds. Let’s put one (or six or seven, even) in the bag right now. Click here to cast your vote.