The Denver Broncos have a chance to notch their seventh victory of the season on Sunday. The Carolina Panthers stand in the way of the Broncos becoming winners of five in a row. Here are three storylines I’ll be watching closely in Denver’s Week 9 matchup.
Who gets the lead role in the Broncos’ backfield?
Earlier this morning, I gave my thoughts on how the Broncos can beat the Panthers. My first major point was getting the run game going. The Panthers have a bottom 5 run defense in the National Football League and it’s clearly their biggest weakness
as a team.
I think the Broncos will try and take advantage of this. However, I’ll be interested to see how the carries shake out for the Broncos. Without RJ Harvey, the Broncos three-headed rushing attack is down to just J.K. Dobbins and rookie Jonah Coleman.
In the second half of the Chiefs game, Dobbins was virtually absent from the field. Coleman dominated the second half playing time and went on to notch 104 all-purpose yards, a touchdown, and had several big plays that helped guide the Broncos to a huge victory.
Yesterday, Head Coach Sean Payton was asked whether or not the Broncos are trying to manage Dobbins’ workload. Payton seemed to imply that the media and fans are making a bigger deal of his second half absence versus the Chiefs than anyone inside Dove Valley is.
“He’s a huge part of what we’re doing. Each week we look at—a lot of times who’s the back that’s in there with the hot hand. But he’s been fantastic. To answer your question: No, that’s not a hot button topic with us here. It might be with you guys, but not with us. We’re good. We’re good with the rotation,” stated Payton.
Dobbins has carried the ball 94 times this season for 306 yards and 3 touchdowns. His 3.3 yard per carry average is the second worst of any running back in the NFL who has at least 90 carries on the season. While Coleman’s body of work is limited, it’s quite obvious he is the ‘hot hand’ in Denver’s group of running backs and should be in store for more carries.
Payton has always said it’s easier to gameplan for two running backs as opposed to three. With that in mind, I’m quite curious to see who ends up getting a majority of the work in the ground game versus the Panthers. Will it be an even split or will one back prevail as the clear-cut favorite?
Will rookie Tyler Onyedim see his first action of the season?
The Broncos were able to come away with a big victory last week against the Chiefs. Unfortunately, several players exited the game with injury and may not be able to go versus the Panthers on Sunday. Those would be cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine, safety Brandon Jones, and defensive lineman Eyioma Uwazurike. None of them participated in yesterday’s practice session.
If Uwazurike isn’t able to go, that would a big loss for the Broncos. He has been a big part of their defensive line rotation this season and has the third most snaps behind Zach Allen and Malcolm Roach. However, his potential absence would provide rookie third-round draft selection Tyler Onyedim with a path to see his first action of the season.
Onyedim has been a healthy scratch in every game thus far. The Broncos’ depth at the position is a big reason why. While I wouldn’t expect him to get a bunch of snaps, I am excited at the prospect of him getting his first reps of the season. Denver has embraced the next-man up philosophy numerous times over the past few seasons. If he does play, I’m hoping he can show some flashes in his regular season NFL debut.
Can Bo Nix continue to build upon his success the past two weeks?
The Broncos have a shot to be 7-2 before the bye. I consider that quite the accomplishment considering how inconsistent their offense has been. It’s even more impressive when you factor in the tough slate of opponents they have faced in the first half of the season.
Just how good Denver can become on offense will likely determine how far they can go this season. As of right now, it’s certainly not a Super Bowl caliber offense. Even so, quarterback Bo Nix has made some great strides the past few weeks. They weren’t big-time games statistic wise, but there is a lot to be excited about.
The Panthers’ run defense is suspect, but they enter Sunday’s matchup being a Top 10 unit in several aspects against the pass. They rank high in completion percentage allowed, passing yards per game, yards per attempt, and touchdowns. That came as a surprise to me, especially since they don’t have a lot of top-notch players in their secondary.
However, they have really struggled to get after opposing quarterbacks. Carolina ranks in the bottom 5 in the NFL with just 11 sacks on the season. Not only that, but they are banged up in the defensive backfield and could be down one of their starters on the boundary.
Those issues may give Nix and Denver’s aerial attack enough of an advantage to finally take flight. If the Broncos’ offensive line can hold up and give him time to through, I think Nix is poised to have one of his best games to date. At the midway point the past two seasons, things really began to click for him. I’m hoping Sunday is the best performance we witness from Nix thus far and a sign of greater things to come in the second half of the season.
