The Broncos celebrate after recovering a fumble against the Dolphins. (Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)

The mid-way point of the NFL season has the Denver Broncos (2-4) hosting the Detroit Lions (5-2) in what will be an absolute slugfest. These two teams have met just 10 times with the Broncos holding a 6-4 edge in the series. The Broncos won last week while the Lions have dropped two in a row since their 5-0 start. The Lions will be entering their bye week after this game, so expect the team to go all in to get this last game before their time off. The Broncos have not won two games in a row since October 2009. Here’s what we can expect from the offense, defense, special teams, and coaches.

Offense

Broncos: The Broncos have not come out getting points up on the board early in games. The key in this one is getting off to a fast start instead of playing catch up at the end. Willis McGahee is likely sitting this one out so Knowshon Moreno and Lance Ball will need to pick up the slack. The Lions have given up some big plays on the ground this year. The Lions bring a strong pass rush, so the offensive line will need to be at their best and Tim Tebow will need to make his reads faster. The thing that will help Tebow is if the ground game gets going early so that the play action works later. The Broncos are ranked 16th in rushing and 26th in passing. With one nerve racking game under his belt, let’s see if Tebow will let it fly more early on rather than waiting to work his magic until the end.

Lions: The Lions are ranked 27th in rushing and 11th passing. Matthew Stafford hurt his ankle last week, but claims that he’s ready to go this week. His No. 1 target Calvin Johnson is the team’s biggest offensive weapon. He’s got 10 touchdowns on the year and he’s dangerous in all areas of the field because of his ability to make plays on the ball and shed tacklers after the catch. Running back Jahvid Best is sitting this one out. The team gets former Bronco tight end Tony Scheffler back after he sustained a concussion in week 5. This is a situational running team that relies on the pass. Stafford is fourth amongst QBs in touchdowns with 16 while only throwing 4 interceptions.
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The Lions will play the Broncos at Mile High Stadium on October, 30th, 2011. (Eric Lars Bakke/DenverBroncos.com)

As part of a feature by Zac Snyder of Sidelion Report (The Fansided site for the Detroit Lions), we were asked to provide some answers to a few questions on the state of our franchise. Snyder is providing Q&A sessions on Sidelion for all of Detroit’s opponents in 2011. The Lions will travel to Invesco Field at Mile High for a Sunday afternoon contest on October 30th (assuming that the season is played as currently scheduled). That will be Denver’s 7th game of the season and will be the second game of four against the NFC North. I will post a link to his story when he posts my answers about the Denver Broncos, but in the meantime I figured I could post his answers to my questions about the Lions. Enjoy.

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Brandon Lloyd takes on Chris Houston in a preseason matchup. (Eric Lars Bakke/DenverBroncos.com)

Now that the draft is over, let’s get back to our regular season game breakdowns.

Detroit may have been the league’s armpit of the NFL just a few years ago, but like the city itself, Detroit is rebuilding its character and reputation.

The Lions went 0-16 (the first team in league history to do so in the regular season) in 2008. The following year saw slight improvement in their 2-14 record. 2010 saw the team go 6-10.
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