Hear me out, Broncos Country. There are a lot of you out there who need to lock in. Eat your veggies, take your vitamins, get some cardio regularly, and don’t forget to mix in some strength resistance training. Especially those of you who, like me, have been watching this team for more than a couple of decades.
The heart attack Broncos are alive and well.
Mile High Magic lives forever.
Don’t you dare for one second EVER give up on this team.
From Sean Payton to Bo Nix to Nik Bonitto to the ball boy,
this team is built to win come hell or high water. They have absolutely no give-up in them. They are the Rocky Balboa of the NFL, and the Kansas City Chiefs just got knocked the hell out.
Offense
I’m done getting frustrated with this offense, in all honesty. They had me pulling out my hair for 3 quarters. Constant inability to convert 3rd downs. Giving carries to the objectively worst running back on the team and trotting him out as the starter. Wide receivers who are incapable of getting separation. Tight ends who were paid big bucks to come catch passes and can’t even snag one catch.
My current theory about their ineptness is that Nix is playing it safe to avoid getting buried due to turnovers. He isn’t forcing contested catches unless he has to, for the most part. They believe in their defense to a fault and are very comfortable chipping away until they have to go guns blazing at the end of the game.
Quarterbacks
Bo Nix is my quarterback. I love this guy. The dude can make every throw (whether or not he tries to early in the game). He’s got the most frigid of fluids running in his veins when it gets down to crunch time.
He’s not without faults worth talking about, though. That attempt to throw to Trautman backwards was the most ghastly thing I’ve seen from the Broncos offensive backfield since a Paxton Lynch dab. He also threw a pass into the dirt on 3rd and 10 when Waddle was streaking with plenty of separation from the chaser and the safety.
He’s also far too timid on 3rd down, throwing short of the sticks. He’s got to work with Payton on how to have reads further down the field that he’s comfortable with at 6, 8, and 10-12 yard depths.
The other thing for him to improve on is navigating throwing windows. He had far too many tipped passes this game, and it cost the team big time on 3rd down.
But man, you have to love that sprinkling of amazing we get to see from him every game. His throw down the sideline to Sutton was perfection. His ability to wait for plays to develop and deliver the ball to open runners gave us big gains by Coleman, Waddle, and Trautman.
Line
The only nit to pick with the line really from this game is training them up on driving into their defenders or chopping their arms when they raise them to bat down passes. I thought the line played very well in this game. Their run blocking has been improving every week. Many of our successful throws were due in large part to excellent blocking up front, giving Nix time to get the ball out.
Running Backs
Jonah Coleman is the truth. He’s a better back than anyone else we have on the roster and needs to take over the starting role immediately. This young man had 11 runs for 41 yards and a touchdown and 4 catches for 63 yards. He’s a power runner who has excellent vision and burst to go with it.
JK Dobbins needs to stop getting a starting role just because he’s a veteran. He certainly does have a run here or there that looks good. The problem is that he gets stuffed for very little gain far too often. He deserved getting benched after losing 8 yards on a run play. This offense is far too fragile for him to try playing Barry Sanders on his Lance Ball skillset.
Receivers
Courtland Sutton may be a bit long in the tooth. He may have lost a step. He put in some great work this week against the Chiefs. Sutton showed supreme focus to catch his long pass over the middle that was tipped by the defender. His sideline go doesn’t look like much on film, but that was a timing route that required him to be in stride between defenders. Sutton caught all 4 of his targets for 53 yards and, as always, had some great blocks in the run game that don’t show up on the stat sheet.
Jaylen Waddle bailed out an awful offensive start after the 8-yard loss by Dobbins by getting a 35-yard pass deep down the middle of the field. He scored his touchdown on a tricky little trips play that had him stutter while Franklin ran upfield in front of him to spring him open for an easy score. He also nailed the 2-point conversion on a deep crossing route behind that caught the deep defender flat-footed.
If you look at the stat sheet, Troy Franklin shouldn’t really be mentioned with 1 of 3 catches for 3 yards. He got us an 18-yard pass interference call, though, and that counts for something in my eyes. Keep grinding, Troy!
Adam Trautman hasn’t gotten as many opportunities this year, but he showed up in this game. He had a big catch downfield for 22 yards after his defender slipped in the 4th quarter and ended the game with 2 catches for 30 yards.
Nate Adkins snuck out into the flat for a TD catch on 4th and goal. I love what Adkins brings to the game. He’s strong as hell as a blocker and is a shifty route runner for a big guy.
Defense
What a gutsy performance from this defense. While they had both their starting corners return for this game, they lost their last standing starting safety when Brandon Jones left the game early. That left them with Taylor Rapp, Devon Key, and JL Skinner holding down the fort at safety. It was a rough go, and Patrick Mahomes took full advantage of the weakness, along with our flaws in coverage from the inside linebacker position.
The Chiefs do a great job against Denver with their quick-throw game, as has been their plan for a few years now. They know their line can’t hold up to the pressure of our defense, which leads Mahomes to get the ball out quickly.
The Chiefs scored 24 and honestly should have scored another 6 to seal the game had they not ultra-choked while poor return coverage, poor pass coverage on Kelce, luck, and practically God himself tried to hand them the game.
But give credit to Vance Joseph and this defense. Bo Nix gets all the talk about comeback wins over the past few years. But none of those stats go in the record books without this defense, and I know Nix would tell you the exact same thing. This defense is absolutely stacked with guys who answer the bell with ice water in their veins when the game is on the line.
I honestly feel like both Payton and Joseph have a specialty in coaching players on how to execute no matter what. This team knows how to put bad plays behind them and dial in for the next one. We got big plays all over on this defense that found a way to close out this game and get us back on top of the AFC West.
Front 7
Malcolm Roach is a damned playmaker in the trenches, and I don’t think we give him enough credit for how consistent he is up front. While he may have been brought in to stop the run originally, he’s learned how to shed blocks and crash down to get sacks, which we all saw in the last play of the game. He also had a batted pass, tackle for loss, and a quarterback hit in this game to go along with his game-winning sack.
Speaking of that sack, let’s give a quick shout-out to Jonathan Cooper, who is the main reason that sack happened. His rush off the edge was great technical work. He bull-rushed the RT back, stepped into him to make it seem like he was stopped, and then burst out to the left to get around him and force Mahomes upfield into the sack.
Alex Singleton is still playing his ass off out there. He got smoked for a touchdown early (any play with him in man coverage on a back is a bad design, as he doesn’t have the jets to keep up). He made a key sack right before Butker missed his field goal. It was an excellent job of pressuring up the field without getting fully engaged, which allowed him to dart around the big tackle and put Mahomes in the dirt.
Justin Strnad is usually a wizard in coverage, but he gave up a huge pass to the sideline at the end of the half that set the Chiefs up for a field goal.
Secondary
Welcome back, Patrick Surtain! He sniffed out a screen early with a big open-field tackle. He also saved a touchdown throw in the end zone with perfect inside leverage coverage. His tackle assist against Walker late in the game was technical perfection on how to take down a big runner if you are a smaller defensive back. He got the outside leg and used his leverage to lift and push to get him down, which was as good a play as his pass defense in the end zone, as both of them stopped a touchdown.
Riley Moss came to play against the Chiefs on Sunday. He put a big-boy hit on Walker, who was running laterally. He barely missed an interception that the receiver had to bat away. I noticed his effort and attention to detail when it came to angles and tackling technique in this game.
Taylor Rapp gave up a touchdown on a deep pass, looking completely incompetent in the open field. He also had a holding penalty in coverage. While I’m glad for him being available for us to bring in given our injuries at safety (it was an area of weakness I talked about this past offseason), I’m thinking there’s a reason he was available to be signed.
Devon Key needs a ton of love for this game. Key has been a special teams ace for us, but really balled out in this game. He had a pass defense, a tackle for loss, and totaled 8 tackles.
I usually don’t mention many names of players who had only 9 snaps in the game on defense. Yet on 3rd and goal from the 1-yard line, JL Skinner was in on the left side of the defense assigned to cover Kelce if he went out in a route. The ball was handed off to Walker, who barrelled down the gap next to Skinner. Skinner stood Walker up and put him on the ground. That is a big-time play in a big moment for a guy mainly known as a special teamer.
Special Teams
I thought both Marvin Mims and Cody Schrader did a very good job in the return game for the Broncos. They both averaged at least 25 yards per return and found all the yards that I saw available on their returns.
Unlike the Chiefs (LOL), we have a kicker who knows how to do his job. Wil Lutz was 2 for 2 on field goals and 3 of 3 on extra points. The game didn’t come down to him needing to kick a game-winning field goal, but rest assured, we needed those kicks.
Final Thoughts
Congratulations to Sean Payton for his 200th NFL win. This was a hell of a way to get that notch in your cap. Regardless of how much we nitpick your play calling, let me say that there is no coach I would rather have leading this team than you. Thank you for getting this ship righted and headed in the correct direction. Now let’s keep grinding and see if we can get 12-13 more this season.
I’m not shy about talking about the refs for the KC fans, so let’s address that false start. There are ample videos available out there showing it, as it was the right tackle on the end. He ABSOLUTELY rocked back and turned his body, which is a false start. Yes, he can turn his head, and it doesn’t matter. What matters is that he moved his body. If you don’t want that flag to happen, then he needs to do his damned job and not move before the ball is snapped. Don’t blame the refs for letting it happen other times; blame the player for not having the discipline or intelligence to stop such a dumb habit. It is such a whiny move to say that your team lost because of the refs in this case. That’s not a subjective call at all. Your team deserved to lose that game due to dumb coaching, poor play by your players, and your golden-boy quarterback who melted under the bright lights and pressure.
I will say that I am a big fan of the Broncos buying at the trade deadline. This team needs offense. While Jonah Coleman may be able to provide part of that, there’s no reason not to pursue another talent like Jonathan Taylor or Breece Hall. They instantly improve this offense. The rough part for that is making the money make sense. They will either need to include Dobbins (a rough sell), or cut a player like Evan Engram to get the money to make sense.
Meanwhile, Broncos Country, doesn’t it feel good to be 6-2 at this point in the season? There’s a lot of football left to go. This wasn’t our Super Bowl. We’re a long way from that. Bring on the Panthers.
