Sunday’s win over the Pittsburgh Steelers was huge. I know it may not seem that way right now. I know there are a lot of issues to dissect (we’ll get to those), and I know the Patriots look like a bigger roadblock than ever. But we won a playoff game, and we’ll be playing for an opportunity to go to the Super Bowl next weekend; there are 28 other teams that can’t say the same.
And really, would this opportunity have come any other way? That game was a microcosm of this whole season: Everything goes wrong, everybody gets angry and yet, in the end, everybody wins.
My predicted lifespan may have dropped significantly during the first three and a half quarters of Sunday’s game, but it’s all worth it today. I’ve seen too many disappointing Broncos playoff losses in my lifetime to every complain about a playoff win.
So, with all that out of the way, let’s try and breakdown what actually happened on Sunday, because the truth is that Denver will need to improve on that performance if they want to beat New England in just a few days.
Here are five takeaways from the Denver Broncos win over the Pittsburgh Steelers:
The drops …
If we had lost, this would have easily been one of the biggest topics of conversation on Monday morning. Even with a win, it’s pretty bad. What’s worse, though, is that this is no longer a fluke or a bad stretch; as far as I can tell, it is who the Broncos are.
From the season’s opening kickoff, the Broncos have been dropping footballs, and it was debilitating on Sunday. Pro Football Focus recorded the Broncos receivers as having five drops, but there were easily four or five more that should have been caught.
And it all comes back to the same thing: This offense can’t stop shooting itself in the foot. Whether it’s turnovers, missed protections or dropped passes, Denver’s offense hasn’t been able to get out of its own way all season. That has to change if they plan on winning these final two games.
Against the Patriots, the Broncos have to play a perfect game. They can’t drop passes on third down. They can’t turn over the ball. They can’t settle for field goals. If the Broncos are going to play in their eighth Super Bowl, they have capitalize on every opportunity.
This week, ever Broncos receiver needs to put in some quality time with the JUGS machine.
