The Denver Broncos are off to a rough start. All of the hype surrounding Fangio and his new-look defense and the acquisition of Joe Flacco makes this even a tougher pill to swallow.
Granted, Week 3 was a difficult visit to a newly awakened sleeping giant in the Green Bay Packers. Sportsbooks had Aaron Rodgers and the Packers listed as 7-point favorites, and they indeed covered that number, beating our Broncos 16-27.
That said, the Broncos are playing better than an 0-3 team. In fact, they looked pretty good at Green Bay all the way up to two minutes before halftime. The score was tied 10 to 10 when things took a turn for the worse. Preston Smith knocked the ball out of Joe Flacco’s hands in the red zone and the Green Bay Packers recovered the fumble. A couple of plays later, the Packers punched the ball in on the ground to regain the lead. Points on turnovers is what ultimately cost the Denver Broncos the game.
Early in the 3rd, Flacco beaned a nice pass over to Noah Fant, the rookie tight end. But Jaire Alexander, Green Bay’s second-year corner, showed great physicality in stripping the ball from Fant and set the Packers up for another touchdown. Suddenly, it’s 24 to 10.
But prior to this, the Broncs looked pretty darn good. They were keeping stride with the Packers. Phillip Lindsay was finding big holes and getting chunks of yards. Joe Flacco was finding men downfield. Heck, even the special teams unit looked good; Spencer knocked off a huge return early in the game. They were hanging with the Packers at Lambeau despite exceptional plays by guys lie Devante Adams, and of course Aaron Rodgers.
It was one of those losses that actually give you hope. We can see the potential and know that winning – a lot – is not far off. The main thing that the Broncos need to work on is protecting January Joe. He was getting far too much pressure, sacked, and stripped. Had the Packers defense not been getting so much penetration, we very well may have seen a different outcome.
So where does this leave the Broncos? It leaves them with a solid learning experience and the knowledge and confidence that they can move the ball, even in a hostile environment.
Next up is the Jacksonville Jaguars, who after getting smoked by the Kansas City Chiefs, then a super close loss to the Houston Texans, they finally got a win at home over the visiting Tennesee Titans. Despite Marcus Mariota passing for 304 yards and zero interceptions, he couldn’t connect with the end zone. Gardner Minshew passed for 100 fewer yards but managed to find the endzone twice, making all the difference in the world.
The Jags are putting up 90.7 rushing yards per game (22nd). This goes against the Broncos 111.3 rushing yards per game which is good for 13th in the league. Passing, the Jags are dropping 243 yards per game through the air, good for 16th in the NFL. While the Broncos are 19th with 230.7. In total yards, the Broncs are 20th with 342 per game, while the Jags are 22nd with 333.7.
But the Jags are finishing in the red zone better, scoring 19.3 a game vs. the Broncos 15.3 ( 28th).
That said the Broncos will be at home once again and after this Packers game, they have a fantastic chance of getting their first win of the season. Minshaw only put up 204 passing yards against the Titans, and the Broncos running game is much better, along with total yards. So this is a winnable game. Especially if they can protect Flacco for more than a few seconds so that he has time to go through his reads and get the ball out.
The Jags will move to 3-1 in Denver next weekend.
