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:
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.
4. Matt Paradis
Who’s the highest graded Denver Bronco according to Pro Football Focus? Von Miller? Chris Harris? C.J. Anderson?
Nope. Nope. And Nope.
The highest graded Denver Bronco according to Pro Football Focus’ grading system is center Matt Paradis (90.7), who leads all centers by over six points. In fact, Paradis is the fifth highest graded player in the entire NFL, only trailing Carson Wentz (90.8), Stefon Diggs (91.2), Josh Norman (91.6) and Aaron Donald (94.8).
That’s pretty darn good.
While everyone loves to point to the tackles as the most important position on an offensive line, Paradis is this unit’s leader, and there’s a reason why they look so improved this season; he’s gone from good to great.
While the Broncos will need the whole group to continue to play at a high level, Paradis is the key. Behind him, the Broncos can build a running game, and behind a running game, they can build a passing game. That’s their recipe to success.
3. Aqib Talib
There’s a reason people have started questioning if Aqib Talib is a Hall of Fame player: He makes Hall of Fame plays.
Now, I’ll admit, the idea of an Aqib Talib bust lining the halls of Canton feels a little weird to me, too, but there’s no denying the guy’s impact on the field.
In three seasons with the Broncos, he’s returned five interceptions for touchdowns and played a role on one of the best secondaries in recent memory, making two Pro Bowls and earning a Super Bowl championship in the process. Chris Harris may be the better all-around cornerback, but that only plays into Talib’s game.
Talib is a big-play player. He’s advantageous. And with a shut-down corner playing opposite him, he gets targeted a lot more than he would on just about any other team, which gives him the opportunity to make these types of game-changing plays.
And as we’ve seen over the last year and two games, if the Denver Broncos are going to compete at the highest level they need game-changing plays from their defense.
2. Von Miller
Von Miller is the best player on the Denver Broncos. He may even be the best player in the NFL — it’s up for debate. In this situation, though, he’s not the most-important player to a Denver Broncos championship, though it’s a close second.
Nonetheless, Miller is vital to this team. As we saw last week, all it takes is one snap for him to end the game and put another tally in the win column. He can get to the quarterback unlike anybody we’ve ever seen, and somehow, there’s a legitimate chance that he’s getting better.
Some may have balked when they first saw Miller’s gargantuan contract this offseason, but there’s a reason why he’s making quarterback money: He impacts the game like a quarterback.
Almost singlehandedly, Miller can neutralize an opponent’s passing game, and he’s pretty deadly against the run, too. Yes, there’s plenty of talent around him, but everything is based off of Miller’s ability to wreck havoc on the quarterback.
If he continues to play like he’s played through last year’s playoffs and the first two games of this season, it might be time to stop talking Super Bowl MVP and start talking NFL MVP.
1. C.J. Anderson
I’ve been beating this drum for awhile now, and I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.
The Denver Broncos do have an opportunity to be a very good offense, but they’ll have to do so against conventional wisdom, sans quarterback.
For the last six months, all anybody has been asking is: How are the Broncos going to replacement Peyton Manning?
Fair question. The issue, though, is that we’ve all been looking in the wrong place for a solution.
Brock Osweiler, Colin Kaepernick, Mark Sanchez, Trevor Siemian, Paxton Lynch, none of those guys were going to replace the offensive production Manning blessed us with for four seasons (well … maybe three). If the Broncos were going to get back to moving the ball up and down opponent’s throats, they were going to have to shift courses, and that’s exactly what they’ve done.
Behind a fully implemented Gary Kubiak offense, the Denver Broncos are ready to run the football, and they’ve proven that over the first two weeks, ranking fifth in rushing yards per game (they were 17th last season). If C.J. Anderson can become the focal point of this offense, much like the running backs of yesteryear, there might be something to this Denver offense.
And if you can add an above-average offense to this defense, there’s no limit to what the Denver Broncos can accomplish.