Mile High Report
The Denver Broncos took care of business last week against the Las Vegas Raiders. While the final score looked closer than it actually was, the Broncos were never in danger of losing that game. At 11-2, they stand atop the AFC — for now — and face their toughest stretch of the season with three of their final four games against teams with nine wins and the one that doesn’t is Patrick Mahomes and the always-dangerous Kansas City Chiefs.
Are they finally getting the respect their record demands from analysts around the league? Or are they still being doubted at every step of the way despite their 10-win streak? Let’s find out.
Here is where the Broncos rank heading into Week 15:
Perhaps we should start looking at Denver’s late-game heroics as a feature, not a bug. I know it’s difficult when you see a team living as dangerously as the Broncos are, but no one has been able to make them pay for their mistakes since mid-September. They’ve won nine straight games now, seven of those by one score. The past four victories came by a total of 10 points. Can they keep living on the razor’s edge? Well, these Broncos seem to thrive amid the danger, perilous as it might feel. Sunday night’s 27-26 overtime win at Washington nearly slipped away from them a few times, and they were on the right end of some fortunate calls, but the results are ultimately what matter most. The Chiefs won nine straight last season in similar fashion and ultimately got to a Super Bowl. Who’s to say the Broncos are not capable of a similar outcome, even with the doubt they cast?
The Broncos might need the Patriots to lose on Sunday to the Bills. Because there aren’t many other difficult games remaining for New England, and the Broncos have four tough ones left: vs. Packers, vs. Jaguars, at Chiefs, vs. Chargers. The good news for the Broncos is they clinched the common opponents tiebreaker (second tiebreaker after conference record for non-divisional teams) over the Patriots with a win over the Raiders, a team New England lost to in Week 1.
They continue to do good things on defense, but at some point the offense needs chunk plays in the passing game. They’ll need that against the Packers this week.
Coach Sean Payton has often said the two things that make life easier for his second-year quarterback are a commitment to the run game and a high-end defense. “Those two things help your quarterback’s development,” he said. Well, 13 games into the season, the Broncos undoubtedly have one of the league’s best defenses. But with a wavering commitment to the run game, Nix is now one of the league’s most active throwers. He was efficient against the Raiders, connecting on 31 of 38 attempts, but he’s still minus-2% in completions above expectation,...
