Mile High Report
Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos suffered their first brutal loss of the season.
Now comes the first real test for 2025. Will the Broncos put the 29-28 defeat to the Indianapolis Colts behind them? Or will Denver stack losses on the road?
The Broncos enter Sunday’s game against the host Los Angeles Chargers as a +2.5-point underdog at FanDuel Sportsbook. The total sits at over/under 45.5 points.
This goes without saying, but Denver will need to play complementary football and be strong in all three phases to get the big road divisional win (thanks, John Madden).
Denver: Seventeenth in total offense (320.5 yards per game), 10th in rushing offense (134.5 YPG), 25th in passing offense (186 YPG), tied for ninth in scoring offense (24 points per game).
LA Chargers: Fourth in total offense (418 yards per game), 25th in rushing offense (85.5 YPG), fourth in passing offense (270 YPG), tied for 11th in scoring offense (23.5 points per game).
Denver: Twelfth in total defense (303 yards per game), 20th in rushing defense (119 YPG), ninth in passing defense (184 YPG), tied for 14th in scoring defense (20.5 points per game).
LA Chargers: Seventh in total offense (282.5 yards per game), eighth in rushing defense (83 YPG), 16th in passing defense (199.5 YPG), third in scoring defense (15 points per game).
Here are the MHR staff’s keys to Sunday’s game.
The Broncos were just trucked by Daniel Jones, Jonathan Taylor, and the Indy offense. The only thing Denver did well against the Colts was its red zone defense. The Broncos held Indianapolis to 2-for-6 in the red zone. Aside from that, last Sunday’s showing by the defense was reminiscent of the beatdown Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills handed Denver in the playoffs. Now comes Justin Herbert and a Chargers offense that is playing excellent football right now. And rest assured, LA offensive coordinator Greg Roman watched what the Colts just did to this Broncos defense. Denver had better improve along the line of scrimmage on defense, or this game will get ugly. — Ian St. Clair
JK Dobbins and the Denver rushing attack have been producing chunk gains consistently over the first two games. Now teams are going to start catching onto that personnel package and what Denver aims to do out of it, so the solution is to get creative in how you get into that package. I’d like to see Payton shift in and out of that formation to keep the Chargers guessing. We’ve already seen some creative shifts last week out of him, so I’m sure we can see plenty more. — Ross Allen
Teams will abuse Denver’s inside linebackers in pass coverage until the Broncos punish them for trying, and Greenlaw is the key to that*. — Taylor Kothe*
Show some killer instinct for once ----------------------------------...
