The Broncos aren’t as bad as their 0-3 record would indicate
Sep 25, 2019, 6:39 AM
The Broncos don’t have a win yet in the 2019 season. For the first time in 20 years, the Broncos have started their season 0-3. For the first time in NFL history, the Broncos are the first team to fail to record a sack or takeaway across three games to begin the year.
This is as bad of a start that anyone could imagine, but the team is not as bad as most people think. Even perennial Pro Bowl cornerback Chris Harris Jr. had some interesting comments about the mood of the locker room.
“It’s a different feeling right now. Even though we’re 0-3, we don’t have that end of the world feeling right now. We know that we’re close. We’ve done some good things, but we have to learn not to beat ourselves. We have to be able to end that and get it right and kind of just let that go, man, just put it behind us in the past,” Harris said.
It’s not the end of the world for the Broncos. They may not end up in the postseason, most likely they’ll miss the playoffs for the fourth season in a row. However, they are not as bad as other winless teams in the league.
The Broncos are not your typical 0-3 team. Let’s examine why.
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In It to Win It
In every game so far this year, the Broncos have been in it at some point. Sure, they have only had a lead in these games for less than 12 minutes combined, but things have never seemed to get out of hand for the Broncos.
That may be by design. Opponents know they don’t have to put the foot on the gas with their offense because Denver’s offense won’t respond by scoring touchdowns. Teams can play close and conservative because they know Denver won’t build much of a lead if at all. This is why most opponents are running the ball more than passing the ball against the Broncos defense.
While that may be a game plan for playing the Broncos, the fact of the matter remains that Denver has not been boat-raced in any of these games.
Veteran wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders feel the Broncos have been close in all three contests so far in 2019.
“You look at the Oakland game, I feel like we should have won that. You look at Chicago, we should have won that. I feel like even versus Green Bay, we don’t turn the ball over three times, I feel like we should have won that game. You can’t sit up here and say we’re young and we’re in a rebuilding stage and all this stuff, and say this team can’t win, because we can win. We’ve shown we can win, but the thing is we’re shooting ourselves in the foot,” Sanders said.
The Broncos aren’t good enough to get lucky, but perhaps with improvement we will finally see their hard work pay off with a victory.
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The AFC is a Pillow Fight
The Broncos are 0-3, but it’s not like the rest of the conference – or even the division – is running away from the team. Taking a look around the AFC, it looks like a pillow fight outside of some of the undefeated teams (Chiefs, Patriots, Bills). Aside from those three teams, the AFC has three teams at 2-1 (Ravens, Texans, Colts).
Sure, there are some powerhouse teams. But only a few.
The only winning team in the AFC West is the Chiefs. Both the Chargers and the Raiders are 1-2 after three games. This makes that loss to the Raiders even more painful, but nonetheless Broncos fans should not think either team is going to run away from the Broncos. I don’t think the Broncos get a wild card spot, but they could compete with the Chargers and the Raiders for the No. 2 spot behind the Chiefs.
When the season started, the Broncos had the second-toughest schedule in the league, but now things look different. Games against the Jaguars, Titans and Browns all look different now that we’ve seen the season play out a bit during the month of September. Sure, the Broncos could lose all three of these games, but those opponents aren’t as strong as some thought they would be
The Broncos have six games before their Week 10 bye. If somehow they could win four of those contests, they would go into their break with a 4-5 record. I know it may seem unrealistic at this point, but if the team continues to improve then it’s not out of the realm of possibility.
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Youth Gone Wild
Several excuses have been thrown around about the Broncos lack of success this year. One reason for their winless record that I don’t believe is an excuse is the youth on this roster. The Broncos have the 11th youngest roster in the NFL, with an average age of 25.7 years old.
Harris emphasized that he and his fellow veterans on defense are guiding the younger players.
“We all talk. Me, (Derek) Wolfe, Von (Miller), Todd (Davis), we’ve got plenty of leaders on this defense, but we have a lot of young players, too. You have to know how to be able to help and mold those guys to be able to go out there and play with confidence. It’s easy for these young cats to get down on themselves,” Harris said.
Even Sanders knows the team is young on both sides of the ball.
“We’re young and we’ve got some young guys. I understand that sometimes it can get frustrating because you want to win, but at the same time, you’ve got to understand these guys are young and they’ve got to grow to be professionals,” Sanders said.
The most-telling comment about the mood of the locker room came succinctly from the veteran wideout.
“I understand where you’re coming from, but at the same time, I think we have a good enough team to win now. We’ve just got to stop shooting ourselves in the foot and I feel like that’s what we’ve been doing. Hopefully, we can stop doing that,” Sanders added.
The players know the team is young. The veterans are trying to lead the way so the inexperienced players can understand what the “Broncos Way” should be all about.
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Summary
The Broncos have been in every game they’ve played. Perhaps not for as long as they should have, but none of these three losses have shown the Broncos cannot hang with their opponent.
The AFC West is going to be won by the Chiefs, but perhaps the Broncos could finish second in the division. It seems outlandish right now, but the schedule doesn’t look as tough as it did before any regular-season games were played. Not only is the division somewhat soft, but the rest of the conference is not as strong as many expected for various reasons.
Denver has a young team, and with youth comes inexperience. Once these players get a taste of victory, they’ll know they can win and the self-doubt some may have will be eliminated – or at least satiated.
We’ll see if Denver can get in the “W” column on Sunday against the Jaguars. That’s the start they need to try to fight for redemption, which in my opinion is a .500 record.
