Strike 1: Everyone has their own opinion of the degree of “ugliness” of not only the Denver Broncos punt-filled 18-15 win road over the Houston Texans, but also their 7-2 record, which is tied for the best in the NFL. Hey, first place is first place, right?
The Broncos deserve all sorts of credit for avoiding the kind of losses that nearly every other contending team has suffered already this season.
The 5-4 Kansas City Chiefs have already lost to Jacksonville.
Buffalo (6-2) has already lost to Atlanta.
The 6-3 Chargers have already lost to the New York Giants and the Washington Commanders.
The defending champion Eagles, who are 6-2, also lost to the crummy Giants.
The Green Bay Packers, who were two-touchdown favorites at home, lost to the Carolina Panthers.
On any given Sunday is a real thing. But Denver’s ability – so far – to avoid these kinds of pratfalls has been the key to success the past two seasons under Sean Payton.
The 2024 Broncos, who broke a decade-long playoff drought in Denver, were criticized for not beating any good teams on their way to a 10-7 record. But they did beat all the teams they were supposed to beat, which ended up being enough to make the postseason. This year, they’ve only lost two times, and both times they actually held the lead when the clock hit :00 before a walk off field goal beat them. And the losses were to the second-place Chargers and the first-place Indianapolis Colts.
Clearly the 2025 Broncos aren’t a finished product. The offensive is sporadic. The special teams are poor. The defense is nails in the red zone, records a lot of quarterback sacks, but can’t generate a takeaway to save their souls. And with the offense sputtering, a couple of “complimentary football” style short fields might go a long way to relieving some of the stress that Bronco fans are enduring entering the fourth quarter.
Still, they’ve excelled in those fourth quarters, and that’s breeding a confidence that could help carry them a long way come playoff time.
Room for growth while you’re still winning isn’t a bad thing.
Can it sustain? Why not? The Broncos should continue to improve and have shown the ability to overcome the absences of key players, each of whom should be coming back within the next month. Quarterback Bo Nix should only get better, and the running game is more productive than most thought it would ever be under Payton and can still get better. For all the hand wringing about how few carries J.K. Dobbins is getting per game, he’s been very productive and should still be fresh for the second half of the season.
See, there is a bright side.
Of course the biggest tests are yet to come. Thursday night at Empower Field will bring the Raiders and second AFC West test. Then comes a home game with the million-time defending AFC West Champion Chiefs – the first of two matchups still to come. Another battle with their nemesis, the Los Angeles Chargers, looms as well. The Broncos still have to play the Packers, too.
Is 12 or 13 wins unreasonable to expect? Denver plays five of their remaining eight games at home. If they take care of business against the Raiders twice, beat Jacksonville, the hobbled Washington Commanders and split with the Chiefs and win their home game against the Chargers, they’d reach 13 wins. That would mean a home playoff game.
What Broncos fan wouldn’t be happy with that for 2025?
