Why the Broncos will have a better record in 2020

DENVER, COLORADO - DECEMBER 22: Drew Lock #3 of the Denver Broncos runs out of the pocket against the Detroit Lions in the second quarter at Empower Field at Mile High on December 22, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
DENVER, COLORADO - DECEMBER 22: Drew Lock #3 of the Denver Broncos runs out of the pocket against the Detroit Lions in the second quarter at Empower Field at Mile High on December 22, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /
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Why the Broncos will have a better record than 7-9 in 2020.

The Broncos get mixed amounts of respect and optimism around the country along with some skeptics, but a fan doesn’t have to look very far to find an optimistic view for next season.

The Broncos “will” win more games this year — 2020 — so long as they don’t take a big step backward this season, and I don’t believe they have.

The loss of Chris Harris Jr. should be negated by the AJ Bouye trade while the loss of Derek Wolfe stings less with Jurell Casey coming to town.

With the returns of Bradley Chubb and Bryce Callahan the defense should be as good if not better then last season especially with players moving into year two under Fangio. That’s good news for Broncos fans because the defense was 10th in points allowed last season at 19.8. The problem was that the offense was 28th in points scored with just 17.6.

So why will the Broncos win more games? 

After Drew Lock took over the offense scored 21.4 PPG and held firm at 19.8 points allowed. That 21 points would have won an additional three games making Denver 10-6. The offense certainly seems to be trending up with new weapons such as Jerry Jeudy, KJ Hamler, and Melvin Gordon joining the fold.

If the Broncos were able to lift themselves even to the 12th place offense in last year’s points per game rankings (Rams) that would have been over 24 points per game and could have netted two more wins. I already pointed out in a previous post how I expect the Denver offense to be more productive this season.

If the Broncos would have scored more then 24 points per game, they would have been 12-4 last season (assuming every defensive metric remained static) and 10-6 at Drew Locks average of 21.4.

So my math tells me that if the defense can be as strong or stronger then last year then Denver wins between 10 and 12 games in 2020.

Next. Who will make the Broncos' roster at edge rusher in 2020?. dark

The Chiefs won 12 last year and one of those they would have lost to the Broncos had Denver scored 24 points. All of this makes Denver much more in the hunt for the division then most national analysts would insinuate. More on that to come.