New Season Mile High Expectations! (Not really)
Here we go. Before we jump into this season, a quick recap of last year.
Finished 3rd in AFC West with an 8-9 record
Offense Rank - Yards (32 teams): Total 19, Passing, 24, Rushing 18
Defense Rank - Yards Allowed - Total 24, Passing 22, Rushing 30
Best moment of 2023: Beating the Chiefs for the first time since 2015 (16 Ls in a row)
Worst moment of 2023: Getting throttled by Dolphins 70-20
Reason for poor season: Russell Wilson - According to Advanced Stats: RW held on the ball too long. DEN had the highest pocket time (2.7secs) tied with BAL, SF, CHI, yet he was sacked 6th most. DEN was not blitzed much (lower 1/3 of league) but he was among the most hit QBs. These numbers, along with watching the game, showed how indecisive/ineffective he was in SP's offense. The split was necessary.
Coaching: Sean Payton has the 6th best active win % at .620. That is tied with Mike McCarthy. Last year (year 1 with Broncos) was the second worst offense in his coaching history. What does that mean, nothing probably, unless he has his QB.
Defensive Coordinator: Vance Joseph is back for year 2 as DC. Hard to be excited about him. His reputation far exceeds his performance. In his 8 years as DC or HC, he has only had 1 top ten defense (yards) and 0 in PA. He seems to be out-schemed a lot, ala Dolphins, Lions, and Chiefs.
2024 Outlook:
Betting sites have Broncos about O/U of 5.5 Wins.
Cross-Division Opponents: AFC North (tough), NFC South.
Reason to be excited: Bo Nix looked really good in the Pre-Season. Seemed to understand the offense. Hard to tell if it will translate in regular season with actual starters and schemes. Still like to see a QB looked poised and with so much college experience. He has shot up to 5th best odds-on winning ROY. I may homer-hammer those odds.
Reason to be worried: Defense.
Thoughts: Can't hold out much hope that this team will contend in the division, let alone playoff race. The defense is a big question mark, and we are now hoping a rookie QB is the answer. The schedule is tough. You want to think this team can win 6 games. I'll try:
Wins: Steelers (welcome back Russell!), Jets, Raiders (1-1), Chargers (1-1), Carolina, Colts
Excited about Broncos' football being back.
Aw, screw it: LETS GO WIN THE SUPERBOWL!!!
Here we go. Before we jump into this season, a quick recap of last year.
Finished 3rd in AFC West with an 8-9 record
Offense Rank - Yards (32 teams): Total 19, Passing, 24, Rushing 18
Defense Rank - Yards Allowed - Total 24, Passing 22, Rushing 30
Best moment of 2023: Beating the Chiefs for the first time since 2015 (16 Ls in a row)
Worst moment of 2023: Getting throttled by Dolphins 70-20
Reason for poor season: Russell Wilson - According to Advanced Stats: RW held on the ball too long. DEN had the highest pocket time (2.7secs) tied with BAL, SF, CHI, yet he was sacked 6th most. DEN was not blitzed much (lower 1/3 of league) but he was among the most hit QBs. These numbers, along with watching the game, showed how indecisive/ineffective he was in SP's offense. The split was necessary.
Coaching: Sean Payton has the 6th best active win % at .620. That is tied with Mike McCarthy. Last year (year 1 with Broncos) was the second worst offense in his coaching history. What does that mean, nothing probably, unless he has his QB.
Defensive Coordinator: Vance Joseph is back for year 2 as DC. Hard to be excited about him. His reputation far exceeds his performance. In his 8 years as DC or HC, he has only had 1 top ten defense (yards) and 0 in PA. He seems to be out-schemed a lot, ala Dolphins, Lions, and Chiefs.
2024 Outlook:
Betting sites have Broncos about O/U of 5.5 Wins.
Cross-Division Opponents: AFC North (tough), NFC South.
Reason to be excited: Bo Nix looked really good in the Pre-Season. Seemed to understand the offense. Hard to tell if it will translate in regular season with actual starters and schemes. Still like to see a QB looked poised and with so much college experience. He has shot up to 5th best odds-on winning ROY. I may homer-hammer those odds.
Reason to be worried: Defense.
Thoughts: Can't hold out much hope that this team will contend in the division, let alone playoff race. The defense is a big question mark, and we are now hoping a rookie QB is the answer. The schedule is tough. You want to think this team can win 6 games. I'll try:
Wins: Steelers (welcome back Russell!), Jets, Raiders (1-1), Chargers (1-1), Carolina, Colts
Excited about Broncos' football being back.
Aw, screw it: LETS GO WIN THE SUPERBOWL!!!
