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Denver Broncos: 3 reasons why the Cincinnati Bengals are a trap game

By Andrew Wade

DENVER, CO - NOVEMBER 25: Jeff Heuerman #82 of the Denver Broncos carries the ball against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Broncos Stadium at Mile High on November 25, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - NOVEMBER 25: Jeff Heuerman #82 of the Denver Broncos carries the ball against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Broncos Stadium at Mile High on November 25, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /
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BALTIMORE, MD – SEPTEMBER 23: Mark Andrews #89 of the Baltimore Ravens leaps over Denver Broncos defenders during the first half at M&T Bank Stadium on September 23, 2018 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MD – SEPTEMBER 23: Mark Andrews #89 of the Baltimore Ravens leaps over Denver Broncos defenders during the first half at M&T Bank Stadium on September 23, 2018 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /

Denver struggles traveling to the eastern time zone

To be honest, this is less about Vance Joseph and more about the NFL in general. Teams struggle when traveling from coast to coast for games. Specifically, when Denver travels to the east coast, they struggle.

Think about it this way, for an entire season, a team gets into a somewhat consistent routine. They play every home game either in the mid-afternoon or they play a night game on Sunday or Monday. That means that four to five hours before game time they are getting to the stadium, getting ready for the game, and mentally preparing.

When the Broncos head to the eastern time zone, the games are played at 1 PM, which is 11 AM Mountain Standard Time. That’s a four-hour difference between when they typically play and when they have to play against teams in EST. That may not seem like a big difference, but statistics show that it is. Furthermore, teams are aware of this and have been trying to put rules in place to help limit this general disadvantage.

According to an article by CBS Sports:

"Since 2002, Pacific and Mountain time zone teams have been outscored 202-56 in the first half of all 1 p.m. ET playoff games, which means they’ve almost always got off to a rough start."

In Vance’s time with Denver, he is 1-6 in the eastern time zone with his lone win being against Indianapolis last year (that was played at 8:25 EST). This includes two losses this year to the New York Jets and the Baltimore Ravens.

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