The Denver Broncos After The Bye
By Eric Mergens
Tracy Porter (22) will be looking to celebrate after the Denver Broncos’ bye week (Ron Chenoy-US PRESSWIRE).
Hope you enjoyed your week in Cabo.
The Denver Broncos are back to work on Monday to prepare for the high powered (and underrated?!?) New Orleans Saints who just might be the best 2-4 team of all time.
So with all that time to prepare since last Monday night’s historic win, how do the Broncos perform after the bye week?
Well, history is on the side of the Broncos. Since the bye was established in 1990, the Broncos have gone 17-6 in the week following their bye week. Only the Philadelphia Eagles have fared better (19-4) in their games following the bye. And if history does have patterns and decides to repeat itself, Broncos fans will likely know early against the Saints, as typically the games are a boon or a dud with little room in between.
Of the 17 wins after the bye, there are instant classics like last year’s thriller and the world premier of “Tebow Time” against the Miami Dolphins. Perhaps the 49-29 victory of the Kansas City Chiefs stands out as well as it was the only game the Broncos controlled all year in 2010. Another that would fall in this category is the 2004 game against the Saints when Reuben Droughns rushed for 166 (with 51 coming on a touchdown run on the Broncos’ first play from scrimmage). Essentially, when the Broncos win after the bye, they play a complete game on both sides of the ball and move on to the middle portion of the season with statement win.
Their losses on the other hand are anything but closely contested battles that go down to the wire.
In 2009, the Broncos were fresh off a 6-0 start only to set the pace for a terrible finish with a remarkably flat 30-7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Now, the Broncos have never been known for playing well in Baltimore, so perhaps we can excuse that one and move on.
After starting the season 4-1, the Broncos were looking to shake back-to-back losses prior to the bye. Their retort? A franchise low 14 rushing yards and 111 receiving yards given up to some unknown Miami Dolphins wideout. Hey, those are Brandon Marshall’s words not mine. Ok, it was Greg Camarillo. But still, it was perhaps one of the most lifeless performances you’ll see out of a Broncos team at home. In both losses, nothing the Broncos tried worked from opening kickoff on. The tone was set early.
The Denver Broncos and their fans will likely know what kind of game it will be very quickly based on history and the tenor of the game they bring next Sunday night against the Saints.
Though I suppose we all thought that at halftime of last week’s game. We know how that went.
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