The Broncos offensive line won’t give up a sack
Now this is a bold prediction.
All season, the Broncos offensive line has only given up zero sacks twice, against the Cleveland Browns and Green Bay Packers. Since Brock Osweiler has come in as the starter, though, they’ve given up an average of 3.5 a game, including their five-sack disaster against the Raiders last week. So predicting that they’ll leave Week 15 with a clean slate isn’t exactly a sure thing, but I believe it’s possible.
For one, it’s hard to imagine that they can play worse; more importantly, it’s hard to imagine Gary Kubiak will let them play worse. Part of what was so frustrating about last week’s game was that not only did he not give Michael Schofield even the slightest amount of help against Khalil Mack, but he kept putting Osweiler in a position to get hit, dropping him back 56 times in a one score game; neither of those are acceptable.
The Broncos offensive line is bad, and at this point in the season, there’s no changing that. But what Kubiak can do, is develop a game plan that can succeed in spite of their line.
Not only do I expect the Broncos to run the ball much more, but I expect Osweiler to be put in a position to succeed through short, quick passes. Don’t be surprised if that bubble screen to Demaryius Thomas makes it’s long-awaited reappearance.
The other factor playing into this prediction is pride. It’s not something I can exactly count on, but at some point, this offensive line has to stand up and play the game of their life. These guys have been facing constant criticism all week — all year, really — and I’m sure they want to prove that they’re not the weak link of this team just as much as we do.
