It’s all or nothing in Broncos Country.
Sure, Denver’s building for the future. They’re one of the youngest teams in the NFL, and they have more talent waiting in the wings. And even if the defense takes a natural step back in the coming years, the offense is primed to take on a starring role. With the Paxton Lynch era on the horizon, and with guys like Demaryius Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders and C.J. Anderson all locked up long term, the future looks bright.
Still, if the Denver Broncos don’t win the Super Bowl this season, it’ll be a disappointment, a failure, because that’s just how things go in Broncos Country.
So, with that said, here are the five most important players to a second Denver Broncos championship:
5. Trevor Siemian
It’s not often that you’d call the starting quarterback of a contending team the fifth most-important player to their title chances, but this is the Denver Broncos. They don’t rely on quarterbacks as much as the rest of the league.
If the Broncos are going to win a championship, though, they’re going to need Trevor Siemian to play his part, and that means not screwing things up.
Despite the fact that Paxton Lynch is waiting patiently behind the scenes, and despite the fact that many Broncos fans would love to see what No. 12 can do, Siemian has every opportunity to hold onto this job for the entirety of the season, and that’s exactly what Broncos Country needs to be rooting for.
The longer Siemian is the Broncos starting quarterback, the more winning the Broncos have been doing. Simple as that.
It’s a high bar to set, but if the Broncos can reach the end of the season with just two, three, four losses, Siemian will be the one leading Denver into the playoffs, whether he led them through the season or not. And once the Broncos reach that point, they’ll be counting on Siemian to do more than just “not screw things up”; they’ll need him to perform at a playoff level.
