Three things the Broncos must do to beat the Panthers on Sunday

The Broncos are back on the road this week. They travel in Week 14 to face the Panthers on Sunday. The Carolina has a rookie head coach Matt Rhule who came from the ranks of college football last year where he was a head coach at both Temple (2013-16) and Baylor (2017-19).

Rhule has brought some of his college concepts to the pro level and those wrinkles make the Panthers a unique team to prepare for. Some of his main weapons on offense are not going to play on Sunday, but Rhule had a bye in Week 13 and should have plenty up his sleeve in Week 14 against Denver.

Broncos head coach Vic Fangio admits he does see a few of those college concepts when watching Rhule’s Panthers team.

“A little bit, but not more than you see from a lot of teams these days. (Panthers offensive coordinator Joe Brady) had a background of coaching with the Saints too for a little bit, so you see some of that stuff in there. I think it’s a combination,” Fangio said.

This looks like a winnable game for the Broncos. Nothing in the NFL is easy, but the Broncos do have a talent advantage in my opinion. So, what is the best plan for the Broncos? Here are three things the Broncos must do to beat the Panthers.

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Take the Easy Money

Drew Lock needs to be better as a passer. He is regularly one of the worst starting quarterbacks in the league, struggling with field vision, timing, turnovers and accuracy as a passer.

A big problem for Lock is trying to win the game on every throw. It’s great that he wants to attack downfield and be aggressive with his arm, but he needs to be patient and understand when it’s best to take his shot. That means instead of throwing that low-percentage throw 20-plus yards downfield, he needs to take the checkdown or underneath routes that have been open regularly in front of him.

Earlier this week, Lock talked about “taking the easy money” as a passer. That exactly what I think he needs to do. Then, when the time is right, he can attack a defense with a field-flipping throw. Lock needs to in essence lull a defense to sleep by working the underneath routes then take shots when appropriate.

Offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur was asked if Lock does need to take the “easy money.”

“That just goes back to him understanding the progressions right, taking a good look downfield, having a sense of timing, and then if it’s not downfield, then drop down. That would be the easy money. Typically, when you put together a progression, the quicker throw is the first one you look at and then you move forward. It’s just understanding the progression and trusting what you see and kind of having a sense of timing and going through it over and over and over. I’m assuming that’s maybe what he was referring to,” Shurmur said.

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Keep Running the Ball

Broncos co-starting running back Melvin Gordon had a good game last week against the Chiefs. It was easily his best performance as a member of the Broncos with Gordon running the ball 15 times for 131 yards. It was the second 100-yard game of his Broncos career, and he really hasn’t had a bigger game on the ground since 2016.

Gordon’s pounding of the rock helped the Broncos stay in a game most felt they would get blown out of against the high-powered Chiefs. They don’t have to worry about such an offensive response this week from the Panthers – especially since they’ll be without superstar running back Christian McCaffrey in Week 14.

Gordon and Phillip Lindsay should be utilized early and often against the Panthers to use up the time of possession and get that Panthers defense tired on Sunday. In addition to the benefit of using up the time of possession and wearing out their opponent, running the ball as the featured part of your offense also calms down Lock.

The young passer is a wild-eyed quarterback who can try to do too much with his arm. The team can settle him down with success on the ground. With a rushing attack that is threatening the defense, Lock will then be the beneficiary of better looks when play-action passing.

Shurmur loves to break his arm patting himself on the back about how much he loves to run.

“I’ve always believed in running the ball and I feel like we’re kind of getting to — we’ve got a much better feel now having worked with Melvin for a period of months now of what he’s good at. We try to structure that in the plan that then hopefully you can call those plays,” Shurmur said.

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How About Not Bending?

The Broncos are playing a bend-but-don’t-break defense. That means they will give up plenty of yards between the 20s, but when a team gets in the red zone, the Broncos defense becomes stronger. You saw that last week against the Chiefs. They had no problem moving the ball, but the Broncos were able to stuff them near pay dirt and force field goals.

The Panthers aren’t the same type of offense as the Chiefs, but they should also be able to eat up yards before they get to the red zone. They’ll likely do that with running back Mike Davis.

A fourth-round pick of the 49ers in the 2015 NFL Draft, Davis has bounced around the league during the last few years, but he has now found a home with the Panthers. He is a powerful runner with natural instincts for the position. Going up against a back like that can be a challenge because of his relentless style.

Running the ball with power against the Broncos means one thing – deep shots for speedy veteran wide receiver Robby Anderson will be there. If the Broncos don’t stop the bending against the Panthers, they may break when Carolina goes through the air.

Starting quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is smart and accurate. He’ll be patient and take what the defense gives him, but you better believe he will also try a deep shot or two to Anderson.

The Broncos may keep them out of the red zone on most drives, but the Panthers have speed at the position – especially Anderson – that can score from outside the 20s. If the Broncos stop bending it will lessen the chance they break on Sunday.

Broncos starting inside linebacker Josey Jewell revealed why he thinks the defense has been better in the red zone this year.

“Some of it is we run a lot of the same stuff that we always do in the red zone and we’re really used to it. We rep it a lot during practice during the week. Everybody knows what they’re doing, and we’ve seen so many different routes, we’ve seen so many different plays with the handful of calls that we call down there. We’re all just really confident and we can all really play off each other. Whether it be the linebackers talking to safeties, whether we’re pushing through on quarters, or whether we’re locking up on man. We know that defense very well and it’s pretty easy for us to be able to go out there and communicate that,” Jewell said.

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