Mile High Report
After back-to-back wins, the Denver Broncos are back on track tied atop the AFC West. At 3-2, they have a real chance to get on a bit of a run over the next six weeks. The Broncos are fresh off an impressive fourth quarter comeback win on the road against the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles handing them their first loss of the season.
Their rankings collapses during their two-game skid early in the season, because the national media is highly doubtful of the Broncos. Teams like the Kansas City Chiefs can lose three bad games and continue to be solidly in the Top 10, but Denver must prove themselves every single week. I like that situation. Keep the doubters alive and well for another week.
Here is where the Broncos rank to in Week 6:
Sean Payton insisted he had a good team after the close losses to the Colts and Chargers, and the Broncos proved him right in arguably the biggest win of the Payton-Bo Nix era. Slow starts remain a huge issue; asking the defense to hold teams down while the offense figures things out feels like a shaky roadmap for success. But it worked Sunday in Philadelphia, with Nix and the attack roundly struggling prior to the fourth quarter. The second-year QB completed nine of his 10 passes in the final period for 127 yards and a touchdown (adding another completion on a two-point conversion) to deliver the rousing victory. And now, with this Sunday’s London tilt coming against the winless Jets, there’s a golden opportunity to exorcise some of those slow-start demons. Fair warning: If the Broncos can’t do that, I might take back my “good team” assessment of Denver.
Nik Bonitto is on fire to start the season. Bonitto, who turned 26 years old last week, has four sacks in four games and has been one of the best edge rushers in the NFL. His four-year, $106 million extension signed before the season might be a bargain.
That was a big-time road victory against the Eagles. They rallied from 17-3 down to win it. Bo Nix played well in the second half, which is a good sign going forward.
In the Broncos’ Week 4 win over the Bengals, Dobbins had the first 100-yard rushing game for Denver since Latavius Murray in the 2022 season finale. It was also the first 100-yard rushing game of Sean Payton’s tenure as Broncos coach. Payton has steadily moved Dobbins into a firm RB1 role, and Dobbins followed his 100-yard game with 20 carries in Week 5. The Broncos have used Tyler Badie in their two-minute offense, and rookie RJ Harvey will continue to get snaps, but Dobbins has been the one to help the offense move.
They should be 8-2 when the Chiefs come to town in Week 11.
USA Today: 10th ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------...
