It’s hard to oversell the magnitude of Sunday night’s game. You can throw out as many cliches has you want — “It’s only one game”; “We’re on to Indianapolis”; “Nobody’s going undefeated” — but the fact of the matter is that this game means a lot more to the Denver Broncos then it would to any other team.
Not only is this a blockbuster matchup between two 6-0 teams, but this is the Broncos’ opportunity to prove something to themselves, the fans and the rest of the country — not to mention, I’m sure we all want to hear Peyton Manning grab the mic after a victory and shout “This one’s for Pat!”
The Broncos aren’t your run-of-the-mill undefeated team; far from it. Over the last two weeks, a civil war has been ignited within Broncos country, and it’s spilling out over the Rocky Mountains and across the nation. Tell me, when was the last time you saw a 6-0 team enter the week as a three-point underdog at home?
That’s not normal.
Despite one of the best starts in franchise history, the Broncos seem to be at a crossroads. And this game could go a long ways towards deciding where the franchise ultimately lands.
If the Broncos are going to pull out their seventh consecutive victory, silence the critics and cement themselves as true contenders, they’re going to need some special performances out of some special players.
Here are the the five most important players to a Broncos victory over the Packers:
5. Demaryius Thomas
Peyton Manning is the one dominating national airwaves, but within Denver, I don’t think anyone has received more criticism than Demaryius Thomas, and rightfully so.
Whether it’s because of the new offense, the lingering effects of his holdout or a product of his off-the-field life — Barack Obama commuted his mother’s prison sentence back in July; she’s been in prison for over 15 years and will be released this November — Thomas just hasn’t been himself.
That said, through six games, Thomas is still on pace for 128 receptions and 1,405 yards, which just shows how vital he is to this Broncos offense.
And in order for Manning and the offense to go toe to toe with Aaron Rodgers and the Packers, they’re going to need Thomas to play at his best — to stop dropping balls. He needs to dominate Green Bay’s cornerbacks, to post them up down the field like he did at Arrowhead earlier this season, and help lead the Broncos to touchdowns, not field goals.
DT isn’t perfect, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be great; he needs to prove it this weekend.
4. Darian Stewart
Aaron Rodgers is probably the most dangerous man in football. And when you’re about to face some danger, you need to make sure you have some insurance; that’s Darian Stewart.
Stewart has been great for the Broncos all season, but this is going to be a whole different beast. He’s dealing with the perfect quarterback, someone with the mind, arm and legs to beat you in any which way. If you slip for just a nanosecond, mentally or physically, you’re done.
And while this may be the best defense Denver has ever seen, they’re going to slip. But when they do, Stewart needs to be there. He needs to be darting into the box to take down Eddie Lacy when he slips past Sylvester Williams. He needs to be sprinting from the right hash to the left boundary when Aqib Talib lets Randall Cobb get a step on him. He needs to be catching Aaron Rodgers any time he scrambles out of the pocket.
He needs to be everywhere.
Just be glad that it’s Darian Stewart and not Rahim “The Dream” Moore.
3. Ronnie Hillman
Run the ball. Run the ball! RUN THE BALL!
We’ve been saying it for years, but it’s never been more important than right now. And honestly, for the most part, I’ve been against the idea that the Broncos needed a balanced attack on offense, that they’d never win a Super Bowl unless they could run the ball.
I mean … the Broncos were in the Super Bowl, and I think a lot more went into that loss than just the running game.
But this is different. This isn’t an offense with a top-three quarterback of all time behind center; this is an offense with an average at best quarterback. The Broncos need to give Peyton Manning some help, and that starts with the coaching staff calling some run plays.
Here’s a stat that should shock you: Peyton Manning through the ball 48 times against the Cleveland Browns in Week 6. 48 times! Why?
It’s not as if the Broncos were trying to come back from a deficit. They were leading almost the entire game. More importantly, the Browns came into the game as the worst run defense in the entire league, and Ronnie Hillman was having his best game of the season.
So why have Manning chuck the ball up more than any other game this year? No idea.
The Broncos need to give Hillman the ball — please, please, please don’t give it to C.J. Anderson — and they need to lean on him. Manning will do his fair share, but unless they’re trailing by two scores, there’s no reason why he should be anywhere near 50 pass attempts.
This piece brought to you in part by …
[adrotate banner=”9″]2. Von Miller
Von Miller is a freak of nature. He’s easily the most important defender on the Denver Broncos, and he’s just about the only thing that can slow down Aaron Rodgers.
As I wrote earlier this week. If there’s anything that can put a chink in Rodgers’ armor, it’s a pass rush. For as great as Chris Harris Jr. and Aqib Talib are, when Rodgers throws the ball, it’s as if there’s no defender there. It doesn’t matter how great of coverage you have, the perfect throw — and Rodgers has a lot of those — almost always beats the perfect coverage.
But when Rodgers faces pressure, he can look human. According to Pro Football Focus, when under pressure, Rodgers is only the 11th most effective quarterback in the NFL. And luckily for the Broncos, their front four brings A LOT of pressure.
Unfortunately, though, it’ll take a lot more than that to get into Rodgers’ head. While getting pressure is critical, the most important thing will be to keep No. 12 contained within the pocket, limiting his scrambling ability as much as possible.
Again, that’s where Von Miller comes in.
I think back to a play against the Kansas City Chiefs where Alex Smith scrambled around the edge, only to see Miller regain contain within a second. After the play Smith just shook his head because linebackers should not be able to do that; Von Miller can.
1. Peyton Manning
All week, as they’ve been advertising this game across every screen, billboard and radio wave in the nation, there have been two faces engrained into our minds: Aaron Rodgers and Peyton Manning. And for as much as we want to talk about the other 21 guys on the field at any given moment, that’s what this game will come down to.
I believe this Broncos defense can do just about anything, but I’m not sure even the ’85 Bears could put a stop to Aaron Rodgers right now. They’ll keep him contained, sure, but if Denver is going to walk away with a victory, their offense is going to need to help the cause, not hurt it.
And for Manning, this may be one of the most important regular season games of his career. It’s one thing for the media and fans to start questioning him, but once the locker room begins to question their quarterback, that’s when things turn south quickly.
Now, from top to bottom, every Broncos player has adamantly defended Manning all year, and I have no reason to believe they’re lying, but I am seeing cracks. Against the Browns, for the first time ever, I saw a wideout get demonstratively frustrated at Manning after a bad pass. And last week Mark Kiszla wrote a telling column on how diametrically different the offensive and defensive sides of the locker room conduct business.
On one side, you’ve got the defense having fun, getting loud and constantly challenging each other to be better; on the other, you’ve got a quite, subservient group that treats Manning like, as Kiszla says, “Oz the Great and Powerful.”
For Manning, this game is about more than wins and losses. He may say that he doesn’t hear all the outside noise, but he does. We saw how emotional he was after that Thursday Night victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, and this is no different. Manning needs to have a big game, not just for the Broncos or the fans but for himself.