The Denver Broncos take on the New York Jets. I chat with fellow Predominantly Orange writer Andrew Wade as we talk about the state of the Denver Broncos.
For the second straight season, the Denver Broncos and New York Jets will lock into battle. However, this game will take place at the Medowlands. While Denver has not dominated the Jets on the road, they still hold a winning record against them in East Rutherford and overall.
Both Case Keenum and Sam Darnold will look to get back to winning ways after both quarterbacks had solid week one games. The last three games were not kind to them.
Denver’s pass rush will also need to get things going. They were able to get some things going, but only recorded one sack against Patrick Mahomes. They should be able to bounce back.
Broncos Country is hoping for a good game on the road. East coast games haven’t gone well, but hopefully that changes on Sunday.
In our next edition of the Denver Broncos fanzone, I talk to Andrew Wade. He is a contributor here at Predominantly Orange. I sat down with him and talked about the state of the Broncos four games into the season.
The Denver Broncos suffered a heartbreaking loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. What do you believe went wrong in that game? Did you see improvement from the last game?
That was an extremely frustrating game. Denver controlled the game for three quarters and then reverted back to old habits that hurt them in the first three games. For example, why wasn’t Chris Harris Jr covering Travis Kelce in the second half? Why were the Broncos playing soft coverage? Why weren’t they putting more pressure on Mahomes? They needed to play more aggressive in the second half and specifically the fourth quarter on the defensive side of the ball, and that primarily comes down to Joe Wood’s play calling in my opinion.
Yes and no on the improvement. The stuff that has plagued them in the past three games still hurt them on Monday night. Garrett Bolles is a basically offering free sacks to pass rushers right now. Case Keenum isn’t making the necessary throws to win the ball game, and our linebackers continue to struggle in coverage. Furthermore, the play calling remains suspect. There are times where Denver is rocking and rolling on both offense and defense and then all of a sudden, we get too cute with the plays and things go awry.
Through the first four games of the season, what are your thoughts on the Broncos season? What do you believe Denver needs to do to get back on track for the second quarter of the season?
Frustrating and inconsistent. I think Denver has more individual talent than they are showing, but they don’t seem to be able to put it all together at once. For example, the offensive line looked pretty good in the first two games, but Keenum struggled to keep the ball out of the defense’s hands. In two of the first three games (save for Oakland), Denver’s pass rush was harassing the quarterback, but the secondary couldn’t get a key stop. Against Kansas City, it was the opposite. The amount of penalties have also been pretty annoying. Those are things that Denver can control, and they aren’t.
To get back on track, Denver’s offense needs to rely on Royce Freeman and Philip Lindsay to carry the load. Case Keenum is an average quarterback but he has shown in every season of his career except for last that he cannot be relied on to carry a team on his back and win games consistently. Bill Musgrave needs to look back at the tape from last year and see what he can do to better put Keenum in a position to succeed. On defense, Joe Woods needs to show vast improvement in play calling. He’s been terrible. Absolutely terrible. Also, the Broncos should look to moving Darian Stewart out of the lineup. He’s slow and ineffective and can’t be relied on for coverage over top.
After this latest loss, how warm do you think Vance Joseph’s seat is?
I honestly don’t feel like Vance Joseph has done that poorly this season. The biggest thing I can say is the penalties need to be cleaned up, he needs to learn how to more effectively challenge plays, and he needs to have better communication with his coordinators. It doesn’t appear like they are in sync, and the leash needs to most certainly be shorter on Joe Woods. If Denver wins less than 6 games though, I think he is gone.
He had the Broncos ready to go for the Chiefs and they should have won. The blame for me goes on both coordinators, and that’s a big deal because I am not a huge proponent of Vance Joseph.
As a Denver Broncos fan, what is your favorite moment of all time?
My favorite moment of all time was being at the Denver Broncos vs New England Patriots AFC Championship game. It was the most exciting sporting experience of my life. I am literally getting goose bumps thinking about the moment when Denver recovered New England’s last-ditch onside kick attempt to secure the win. The stadium was nuts. I walked three miles to my hotel (I wasn’t living here yet) because I was too excited to get a cab.
The Broncos take on the Jets. What do you believe Denver needs to do to get a win in East Rutherford?
I think they need to rely on Royce Freeman and Philip Lindsay to carry the load, and they need to be super aggressive on defense. I want Sam Darnold to be hit, a lot. The Jets receivers are not strong either so Joe Woods better have the secondary playing tight coverage as opposed to the 10-15-yard cushions that they have consistently been playing in. This should be an easy win but traveling two time zones for an early game is never easy.
Thank You Andrew for taking the time to chat with me. Hopefully the Denver Broncos can get a big win on Sunday.