After their first six games of the 2026 season, the Denver Broncos find themselves in familiar territory. They sport a 4-2 record—just like last season. It wasn’t pretty then and hasn’t been thus far. Nevertheless, more wins than losses is always a good thing.
Strong defensive performances and penchant for fourth quarter heroics have continued for this year’s Broncos. This weekend, they face off against the Arizona Cardinals who are currently 2-4 and coming off an impressive victory the Los Angeles
Rams. Even though the Cardinals have a losing record, the Broncos aren’t overlooking their Week 7 opponent.
Each game provides an opportunity for every team in the National Football League. For the Broncos this Sunday, it’s a chance to get an important fifth win of the season. Moreover, it could become a streak starter. A gridiron battle—if won—that would give them confidence and momentum as the second half of the season approaches.
Yesterday after practice, Head Coach Sean Payton touched based on a variety of topics. However, finding a way to improve and string together more victories to go on a run [like last year] was a point of emphasis.
“That 4-2 mark a year ago, we’d come off of a real good defensive effort in London. It just can’t be a yo-yo. Any team that I can think of, there are runs. I think more importantly the last thing I just said to them was, ‘We have to be ascending, improving.’ I think they understand that,” stated Payton.
The Broncos haven’t played a complete game thus far. Interestingly enough quite similar to 2025. The major exception being the matchup versus the Cincinnati Bengals who were without star quarterback Joe Burrow. There is no doubt Payton’s right. Denver needs to keep pushing forward and make the necessary adjustments to become a more complete team that’s built to compete for the long haul.
A huge part of that is finding a viable recipe for success offensively. Broncos Country has grown accustomed to slowing starts on offense the past several years, only to find relief in the second half of the season when things finally started to click. Though with a little extra preparation for their Week 7 matchup, the team hopes that spark comes sooner than later.
The Cardinals may not have a lot of star power on defense and rank in the bottom half of most metrics across the board. However, they put together a quality outing against the Los Angeles Rams last weekend. They give a lot of different looks and switch up a lot between Cover 3, Cover 4, and Cover 6 coverage looks—zone principles that Bo Nix and Denver’s offense are failing to find ways to beat.
In order for the offense to do better, Payton acknowledged that it will be critical to be able to decipher and adequately react to their unique defensive packages.
“Our defense, we see a base-look, kind of an Okie structure. There’ll be some similarities. Then they have a nickel package, a dime. Their penny—and we have a penny too—it can be a little blurry. One of the important notes this week was Communication ID,” mentioned Payton.
“Usually there’s someone in the huddle that’s looking, and Bo is stepping into the huddle. They’re saying, ‘Nickel, nickel,’ or ‘Base, base.’ Then I’ll a lot of times say, ‘Hey Bo, this is base defense here.’ When we’re game planning, if you’re wanting to run a play against their base defense, there are certain things in order to know you’re getting base. There’s no 100 percent. That’s an important thing this week,” added Payton.
How the Broncos choose to combat Arizona’s defense will be interesting to watch. Everyone is hoping to see Nix dial it up through the air, yet the biggest weakness the Cardinals have defensively is stopping the run. They’ve given up over 140 yards in three contests thus far.
I think a big part of their game plan will be a healthy dose of J.K. Dobbins, RJ Harvey, and giving reps to Jonah Coleman who is expected to play on Sunday. If Denver can establish a formidable rushing attack, that would bode well for Nix and the offense, who have thrived off play-action principles and deep shots when the running game is clicking.
Can Denver’s offense finally find a recipe for success on Sunday? You’ll just have to tune in and find out.
