Pritchard: Broncos offense needs to ‘make the difference’ vs. Bengals
Nov 29, 2018, 1:03 PM | Updated: 2:06 pm
With Andy Dalton out for the season, much ado has been paid to how the Denver Broncos will fare against Cincinnati Bengals backup quarterback Jeff Driskel and the threat of the run-pass option.
But on Thursday, “Pritchard and Cecil” co-host Mike Pritchard disregarded the “Driskel nonsense,” saying that it’s actually the Broncos offense that should be chomping at the bit to play the Bengals on Sunday.
“This week is not about the defense though. This is about a side of the ball that absolutely needs to make the difference in this game: the offense,” Pritchard said. “Why is everybody worried about Driskel and his running ability?
“Nobody is bringing up the fact that the Cincinnati Bengals defense is dead last in the NFL. I mean, they are horrible.”
Through 11 games, Cincinnati’s defense has given up 4,836 yards, good enough for worst in the NFL.
Pritchard said that if he were playing offense this week for Denver, he’d be excited and equally as confident as linebacker Von Miller and the Broncos defense were when facing off against the Arizona Cardinals earlier this season.
“… How is this game any different than the Cardinals game?” Pritchard said. “You should be overly excited as an offensive play about what you can do producing fireworks in this game against the Bengals.”
Driskel has a big arm, can run, and he’s new, Pritchard said, but giving up an average of 31.54 points per game — also worst in the NFL — is “more significant than anything Jeff Driskel can do.”
“If the offense goes out there and puts up, I don’t know, 35 points, are you concerned about Driskel then?” Pritchard said.
Pritchard said that if this Broncos offense doesn’t think they can put up 40 on the Bengals, “then there’s something wrong with you offensively.”
But on Wednesday, head coach Vance Joseph said as long as Denver comes out on top, he’s fine with it.
“It’s a young quarterback, so hopefully we can keep their points to a minimum and we can score enough to win. That’s our only concern, honestly,” Joseph said. “It’s week to week. If we score 10 and hold them to nine, I’m happy with that.”
Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.
