It seems like Thursday Night Football might be the NFL’s worst product. Or maybe I watch too many TNF games the Denver Broncos play in. Either way, I’m not a fan of it outside of the traditional Thanksgiving
Day. Their 10-7 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders wasn’t pretty, but it was defensively dominant and that is an important takeaway.
The Raiders started the four drives at their 49 yard line or better and came away with seven points. Defense does win championships and Denver is in the otherworldly in that category. They lead the NFL in sacks by 18 and are in the Top 3 in both total yards and points allowed. This is legit. The offense just needs to get its act together.
Here is what our Mile High Report staff learned from this Week 10 victory:
1. This defense is special.
They now lead the league in sacks by an 18 sack margin – albeit with an extra game or two over some teams. They are second in total yards allowed and third in points allowed per game. This should keep them in most games regardless of how the offense is doing. The real test is next week against the Kansas City Chiefs. They too have a top NFL defense and are fourth in points allowed. Patrick Mahomes isn’t going to squander the opportunities that were given to the Las Vegas Raiders last night, so Bo Nix and that offense will need to figure things out real quick. At 8-2, however, the Broncos are sitting pretty and have a championship caliber defense. They are not a team to be taken lightly by any measure. – Tim Lynch
2. Bad games happen.
The Defense played out of their minds, but the offense played probably their worst overall game in the Sean Payton era. Shit happens. Bad games happen. This is a young offense that has been streaky all season and has turned it on when needed (77 points in 5 quarters). It was a short week and a TNF game vs. a rival. Better games are coming from the offense, and the Broncos sit at 8-2. Rest up and silence the haters by whooping the Chiefs. – Scotty Payne
3. Denver’s (maybe) got the TE thing figured out on defense.
Brock Bowers was coming off a three touchdown monster game and is a wide receiver playing tight end. He was held to one catch for 31 yards and a rush of -4 yards. Denver also held Jake Ferguson, who has been one of the most productive tight ends in the league in Dallas to no catches.
I don’t want to call it too early, but VJ and the defense definitely deserve credit for shoring up what’s been traditionally a weakness.
I love seeing Barron shadowing TEs in sub packages. – Jeff Essary
4. Sean Payton can get too cute sometimes.
Well, we didn’t learn this as much as it was shown to us once again: Sean Payton can get too cute with the play calls. I know that we have no way of knowing what is said to Nix when the plays come in. Maybe he is checking out of the perfect play. But when it’s 3rd and 1, and you are running the ball well, a backward pass to Courtland Sutton so that he can see the play blow up in front of him and then run for a loss is a great example of “Stick a pencil into my ear while scratching my eyes out and throw me into a volcano” play calling.
Scotty is right. TNF is always weird. The Broncos have been all over the world playing tough games and dealing with injuries and suspensions. Still, they are 8-2, atop the division, and in a prime spot to make a deep playoff run. But can I just get a normal running play on 3rd and 1, please?. – Adam Malnati
