A win is a win is a win.
And to be fair, the Broncos beat the Browns in a wild and wooly, fair and square, doozy of a Monday Night Football game. But clearly, Sean Payton didn’t spend the Broncos bye week celebrating.
More like stewing.
After all, his defense gave up 32 points, 28 first downs and 552 total yards of offense. Quarterback Jameis Winston and wideout Jerry Jeudy had record-setting nights; Winston went for 497 yards in the air and Jeudy stuck it to his old squad with 235 yards of his own. Noticeably, the Denver D sorely missed injured cornerback Riley Moss – who won’t be available against the Colts either.
As the season approaches January, and the race for playoff spots in the AFC gets tighter and tighter, there’s little room for error in Denver. A similar defensive effort against the Colts would be akin to playing with fire. How can the Broncos avoid getting burned? Here’s what our guys had to say.
Dan Mohrmann
It can’t really be much worse than what Levi Wallace brought to the table, so step No. 1 is keeping him off the field. Preferably, the Broncos shouldn’t activate him.
The big adjustment that helped against the Browns – although it was late in the game – was putting Kris Abrams-Draine on Jeudy and playing him more underneath while ensuring there was safety help over the top. At a bare minimum, that’s what the Broncos should start with when it comes to the side opposite of PS2. What should also help is that the Colts don’t have the receiving threat at tight end that the Browns did, so maybe it’s as simple as actually keeping PS2 on Indy’s best receiver regardless of where they move him to try and create a mismatch with a legitimate weapon.
I will say this. Sean Payton and his staff have done a great job at recognizing deficiencies on the field and cleaning them up this season. I’m going to take a long, deep breath and have faith that this week will be no different.
Mark Knudson
The dilemma is that Denver is facing a QB who likes to run the ball perhaps more than he likes to throw it. So, if you play man-to-man and turn your back to him, he will take off, and he’s a load when he gets going. Denver played zone against Baltimore and Cleveland and it didn’t work out great.
Do you play man-to-man with Moss’ back up (whomever Vance Joseph tabs for that assignment) and perhaps have a “spy” on Anthony Richardson? He’s not a particularly great midrange passer, so you could probably match up decently.
Can the pass rush contain Richardson in the pocket so scrambles don’t hurt you too much?
And don’t forget about Jonathan Taylor, one of the better running backs in the league. As always, you need to stop the run first.
The real solution? Bo Nix and the offense holds on to the ball, punts very rarely and scores several touchdowns. Can’t go wrong with that formula.
Cody Roark
I think understanding the strengths of your players will be important. If the Broncos plan to play a lot of man coverage, is their CB opposite of Patrick Surtain II somebody who can step up in those situations? Are the player matchups the right ones? I think Denver’s gameplan will be drastically better this week. Sean Payton sees the weakness that opposing teams would try to attack, and he’ll have a good plan to counter it.
Shawn Drotar
Start with rookie cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine. The 5th-round draft pick out of Missouri made his debut against the Browns when he relieved veteran Levi Wallace, who was torched repeatedly by Jerry Jeudy. Head coach Sean Payton praised Abrams-Draine after the game, calling him “smart,” and saying, “He has a savviness to him. I thought he handled his role [well] Monday night; going in there and playing.” Expect to see more of Abrams-Draine against an unheralded but productive set of Colts receivers.
While the Broncos will have to be wary of quarterback Anthony Richardson’s bruising running style, if they can limit the Colts on first and second downs, they’ll force Richardson into passing downs, where he’s produced the highest percentage of turnover-worthy plays of any NFL starting quarterback (according to Pro Football Focus). Richardson’s completion percentage this season (47.4%) is lower than Tim Tebow’s career numbers (47.9%); that’s a guy that you want to throw the ball against you.
A swarming Denver defense that produced a pair of pick-sixes against Jameis Winston and the Browns may find themselves with opportunities to do so again against Richardson on Sundays. If the Broncos win the turnover battle against Indy, they’ll likely also win the war – and bring their first playoff berth since 2015 into clearer focus.