It is a brand new week at Dove Valley, and the Denver Broncos still have things to work on, despite their domination of the Chicago Bears Thursday night. Denver was able to answer a few questions during their first preseason game, but there are plenty remaining.
The quarterback situation isn’t as broken as we all thought it was going to be. Mark Sanchez, Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch only had one turnover between them. The Broncos look very deep at running back and wide receiver. The defense also showed that it can be one of the best, even without Malik Jackson and Danny Trevathan.
Denver had only one major penalty that killed a drive, the return game looked good and pretty much every draft pick and free agent from this season had a solid impact on the game. So what can the Broncos work on to improve this week?
Hopefully, with joint practices and a game coming up with the San Francisco 49ers, we will begin to see some sort of separation between Sanchez and Siemian along with continued improvement from Lynch.
The Broncos still need to answer legitimate questions at the tight end position, which we saw a lack of production from Thursday night. Special teams need to be ironed out as well. Denver rarely misses field goals and gets kicks blocked, but had one of each against the Bears.
This will be a big few weeks for Cody Latimer. He will get many more targets while Bennie Fowler is recovering from his fractured elbow. Latimer needs to step up and show the Broncos why he was drafted so early.
The area Denver needs to work on the most, though, is finishing drives. If you take away the special teams touchdown and the safety, two plays you normally do not rely on in an NFL game, the Broncos only win that game 13-0. That is a score way to narrow for a game in which Denver blasted Chicago.
This is a strong concern going back to last season. It seems that the offense only wants to kick field goals. The Broncos are playing with fire, even with a defense as great as theirs. This offense cannot rely on their special teams and defense scoring every game. Denver needs to find a way to get the ball in the end zone more if they want to be successful this upcoming season.
We did not see as many three-and-outs as we got used to seeing last season in the first game of the preseason. That is a start, but there has to be more urgency for this offense to score touchdowns.
It should be a fun and telling week as the Broncos get ready for preseason contest No. 2.
To hear more about what the Broncos need to be working on, listen to the podcast below …
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