Mile High Report
If you had asked me in August if by Week 16 the Chiefs would be 6-8, in third place in the AFC West while the Broncos were dominating the entire AFC at 12-2, I would have said, “Yes, that is exactly how I see this playing out!”
Just kidding! No way would I have said that. In fact, I’m still in disbelief that the Broncos — who always seem to win in the most impossible and heart attack-inducing ways — are the tops in the entire league. But I am not complaining. And neither is Topher Doll, former MHR writer and best stats guy on the planet, who is our veteran UFGer this week! Like me, he isn’t sure if he can trust the Broncos’ offense (because they cause a heart attack nearly every game), but he’s excited to watch it try. Especially this week in a battle against a defense that lives and dies by turnovers.
Sunday’s matchup against the Jaguars could be a defensive dogfight or an offensive shoot-out, depending on which team shows up for both squads. Whatever it is, here’s to the Broncos coming out on top.
We better hear you, Broncos Country!
**MHR – A great win over the Packers. What were you thinking after the first quarter versus after the third?
TopherDoll: I don’t think I’ve been this frustrated with a team that keeps winning in a while, haha. The Packers are a good team with a strong defense so I wasn’t too surprised by such a poor 1st quarter but the 2nd and 3rd quarter explosion of offense, by both teams, made for a really exciting middle of the game. The 4th quarter once again showed the hot-and-cold nature of the Broncos offense, but it was certainly exciting.
MHR – The Jaguars are good. But are they good enough to beat the Broncos? Are these teams pretty even in their ability to win this or is one a clear dominant opponent?
TopherDoll: The Broncos are living on a razor’s edge with their games against quality opponents (they have yet to beat a team with a winning record by more than 8), so I think the Jags are good enough to beat the Broncos as their record in one-score games is so fickle (just as Chief fans didn’t want to admit last year and I’m sure Broncos fans won’t want to admit this offseason). I do think the Jags are a flawed but exciting team, which is almost the most scary. They can hang 30+ on the best team out there with tons of explosive plays on offense or defense but then score under 15 if they don’t hit those big plays or if they have turnovers. I am still wary of Coen and while Lawrence has obviously improved under him, the offense is still maddeningly inconsistent. And that defense seems to live or die on turnovers, which isn’t an easy way to win in the NFL. But...
