Mile High Report
While the Denver Broncos didn’t show out for a complete team dominating win over the Tennessee Titans in Week 1, they still secured the 20-12 victory. It was the defense that was dominant allowing a league-low 133 total yards and limiting Cam Ward and the Titans to -1 total net yards in the second half. That allowed Bo Nix and the Broncos’ offense to have a bit of a rough and inconsistent day.
Sometimes a sloppy win can hurt the team’s perception when it comes to the power ranking people. They came into Week 1 ranked mostly between 9th and 14th with most of these pundits. Let’s see where they landed heading into Week 2 where they will take on the Indianapolis Colts on the road.
Here is where the Broncos rank to in Week 2:
It wasn’t the showing Bo Nix and the offense wanted, but I give them some credit for working their way through issues. The third- and fourth-down efficiency was poor, as it was in the red zone, and you won’t win many more games finishing minus-2 in turnovers. But with some better drives in the final 20 minutes, the offense could at least say it wore the Titans down. Nix let his mechanics go a little bit early on; he just seemed a little jacked up or something. This wasn’t a Defcon 2 type of game or anything, but it was a little concerning that the defense had to play a nearly perfect game and bail out the offense and special teams. A shaky opener, but not a disheartening one.
Bo Nix got bailed out by his defense. Nix was careless and sloppy with three turnovers. Denver’s defense was so good, and Tennessee is so bad, that it didn’t matter. That gave Nix a pass for a rough outing. He should be better going forward.
Bo Nix didn’t look good in the victory over the Titans. Is that just a one game thing, or the start of a sophomore slump?
When the Broncos signed Hufanga to a three-year, $39 million deal, coach Sean Payton said he wanted “first responders” like him in Denver’s defense. And Hufanga made such a big impression in the offseason that his teammates elected him as team captain. In a sea of quality performances for the Broncos’ defense Sunday, Hufanga had one of the best days with a team-high 10 tackles to go with a forced fumble. He played every snap as the Broncos held the Titans to 133 total yards.
Bo Nix will need to do more against the better teams on the schedule.
No defense allowed fewer yards (133) or collected more sacks (6) in Week 1 than this one, an already dominant unit looking even better against a rookie QB. Now the Broncos need their second-year quarterback to shake...
