Anything can happen any given Sunday. That is one of the things that make the National Football League so much fun to watch. The Denver Broncos received a little bit of help with yesterday’s divisional slate of games. While they can’t rely on other teams to take care of business for them, anything to make things a bit easier in a tough AFC West is most welcome.
The New York Giants led by rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart were able to upset the undefeated Los Angeles Chargers. That was a big surprise
that not a lot of people predicted all things considered. Meanwhile, the Chicago Bears were able to hold off a potential comeback by the Las Vegas Raiders. Unfortunately, the Baltimore Ravens weren’t able to get their offense rolling against the Kansas City Chiefs on the road at Arrowhead Stadium, who are now back to being a .500 ball club at 2-2.
This evening, the Broncos have a chance to take matters into their own hands and keep pace within the division. An opportunity to change the tide of their season presents itself against the Cincinatti Bengals on Monday Night Football. Sporting a 1-2 record, Denver needs to put together a complete performance under the bright lights to secure a must-win victory as September ends.
The Bengals will be without star quarterback Joe Burrow tonight. That may make things a little bit easier for the Broncos’ defense who has had an up-and-down start to the year. In place of Burrow, veteran quarterback Jake Browning will get the start who struggled mightily last weekend against the Minnesota Vikings. Though Browning lacks experience, Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph knows they can’t afford to underestimate the Bengals’ offense.
“He’s a veteran player. He can operate at a high level. He’s not Joe Burrow, but the offense is still intact. Those skill guys who can make explosive plays are still intact. Our focus is to keep the explosive players from hurting us, and to play cleaner and smarter football,” Joseph stated.
Limiting the big play potential of star wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase and his teammate Tee Higgins will be critical if the Broncos want to come away with a notch in the win column. Even with Browning at quarterback, those two have the ability to take over game and dominant. In order to halt their passing attack, expect Joseph to be blitz happy and dial up the heat on Browning. Going up against a shaky offensive line, the league-leading sack unit with twelve is poised to add to their total.
While the Broncos have lost to two quality opponents, one could argue they have been their own worst enemy to start their 2025 campaign. That’s especially true on the offensive side of the ball. Whether it’s turning the ball over, committing too many penalties, or failing to be efficient on third downs, struggling to execute at consistent level has been a main culprit in their woes thus far. Denver will need Bo Nix and his supporting cast to be firing on all cylinders to earn their second win of the season.
September hasn’t been kind to the Broncos under Head Coach Sean Payton’s leadership, but hopefully tonight that trend can change. He knows the stakes are high and knows a 1-3 hole would be a hard one to get out of. Nevertheless, Payton is optimistic he has his team prepared and ready to seize the moment in front of a sellout hometown crowd.
“We talked about playing at home obviously and then playing a national TV game. That’s important. It’s something that these players understand generationally. It’s important we start fast. We’ll have a good crowd behind us, and we should take advantage of that.”
