Which Denver Broncos players have to be better against the New York Jets? Let’s take a look at a few who will be under pressure in week five.
Winning and losing is a team effort in the NFL but for the Denver Broncos, a few specific players have been significant contributors to the outcome of games over the first four weeks of the season.
With a 2-2 record heading into a road matchup against the New York Jets, the pressure is on the Broncos to make some necessary changes and get better.
We looked at some of the players who played well in the week four loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football, but there are — as usual — players who simply have to be better if the Broncos are going to win football games.
Let’s take a look at some of those players individually, starting with the team’s signal caller on offense.
Case Keenum, QB
The Broncos’ offensive captain and leader of two (almost three) comeback wins already this season simply has to be better over the long haul of a 60-minute game. The Broncos won’t be upset if Keenum and the Broncos keep things close and save their best for last, but when the team needed Keenum most against the Chiefs, he was not as accurate with the football as he needed to be.
Over the first four weeks of the season, Keenum has not quite been in a groove and hasn’t looked as efficient or effective as he did in 2017 with the Vikings (who unquestionably had a worse offensive line and running game than Denver does currently).
But why?
The answer may be as simple as this: Keenum is throwing too many passes 20-plus yards downfield.
The Broncos obviously want to hit on deep pass plays and they have the playmakers to do it, but ripping the ball 20 or more yards downfield has never really been Keenum’s forte. The Vikings and former offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur put Keenum in successful situations throwing the ball deep downfield because their short passing game was an extension of their running game.
The Broncos have the players to do the same thing, so perhaps you could lump Bill Musgrave in this ‘needs to be better’ category as well. For some context, let’s take a look at Keenum’s deep ball stats (Pro Football Focus) this year compared to last year. Again, these are throws of 20 or more yards downfield in the air.
2017 (with Vikings): 14 starts, 60 deep throws (4.2 attempts/game), 23 completions, six TDs, three INTs, 40.0 accuracy percentage
2018 (with Broncos): 4 starts, 25 deep throws (6.2 attempts/game), 10 completions, 0 TDs, three INTs, 44.0 accuracy percentage
What can we determine from these numbers? Keenum ranks third in the NFL with his 25 deep ball attempts so far this season. He ranks 24th (worst among qualifiers) in QB rating on those types of throws.
With the Vikings in 2017, Keenum was taking his shots, but not nearly as many per game and right now, he’s just not efficient enough on those deep throws to continually justify throwing them. Even in five games so far this season, Tom Brady has fewer deep ball attempts than Keenum does.
The Broncos are throwing the ball deep more than every team in the NFL besides the Chiefs, Bears, and Bills.
It might be time to pull the reins back in just a little bit and have Keenum start operating a more effective quick-strike offense rather than trying these long developing deep balls that aren’t on play-action plays.
The Broncos have one of the best running games in the NFL, yet rank 30th in play-action percentage. Keenum has been one of the most effective play-action quarterbacks in the NFL this season, but the Broncos aren’t using that to their advantage.