Denver Broncos: 25 or Under? Week one edition
Looking back to the 2020 NFL season, the New York Giants struggled mightily on offense. Scoring just 17.5 points per game, they underwhelmed significantly.
That said, this is not the same Giants’ offense. Offensive Coordinator, Jason Garrett, has reinforcements in the return of Pro Bowl running back, Saquon Barkley. He isn’t the only thing that will be different with this New York Giants’ offense, they also signed former Detroit Lions’ number one wide receiver, Kenny Golladay.
Rookie wide receiver Kadarius Toney was also selected by David Gettleman and the New York Giants in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Offensively, this team could look vastly different, but will they?
In my opinion, they will be better, but not enough to challenge the suffocating defense of the Denver Broncos. Quarterbacking the New York Giants is still Daniel Jones. Jones threw just 11 touchdowns last season to pair along with 10 interceptions. Piling on to the turnover scrum, Jones also had 11 fumbles last season.
Going one-for-one with touchdowns:interceptions and one-to-one with touchdowns:fumbles certainly is uncharted territory for a franchise quarterback. Needless to say, Daniel Jones has to step it up, if the Giants want to even sniff surpassing 25 points against the Denver Broncos.
Can he or will he be able to literally “step up” against this defense? I’d say he inst going to be able to. As it stands today, the New York Giants may have the worst offensive line in the entity of the NFL. Claiming a whopping three offensive linemen off of waivers, that tells you what they think of the group they currently have.
Former first-round pick, Andrew Thomas, has been a bust up to this point. Overpaid and underperforming, Nate Solder is the tackle on the right side. Wil Hernandez, former second-round draft selection out of the University of Texas-El Paso, has not turned out to be what they expected since he was drafted. Not to their faults, the Giants have invested in this unit up front, it has just been horribly miscalculated.
Von Miller and Bradley Chubb will be seeing the field together for just the 21st time in their respective careers. Injuries and misfortune have really dominated the possibility and ceiling of this dream duo as pass rushers, but this year, there is a fresh start. Rising star, Dre’Mont Jones is ready to build off of his coming out season and take his game to the next level.
Talking about the abilities of the Denver Broncos’ pass rush and the inability of the New York Giants’ pass blocking has me slightly concerned for Daniel Jones’ well-being. If Jason Garrett is as smart as he wants to believe, he will attack this front will pressure beating schemes, in the form of quick draws from the gun and running back screens.
If there is one area that could bite the Broncos’ horrifying pass rush in their rear end, it is their instantaneous dominance and break-through. Garrett, Jones, Barkley, and even former Denver Bronco Devontae Booker must work together and find ways to neutralize the pass rush by allowing the Denver Broncos pass rush by allowing them to press up the field too quickly.
While Saquon Barkley is on the field, Daniel Jones is much more efficient as a quarterback, especially via play-action. If Barkley is 100%, the Denver Broncos should be concerned with his ability. He is a special type of player, I’m not sure if his quads are able to even fit in jeans. It looks like Barkley is walking around on two tree trunks.
Saquon Barkley is a powerful, explosive, home-run hitting running back when healthy. This Denver Broncos’ game plan begins with shutting Barkley down, getting pass-rush, but not rushing upfield, and forcing Daniel Jones into mental errors.
All of these things are completely reasonable to ask of this Denver Broncos defense, I think they accomplish all of these things. If come Monday, fans are talking about why the Denver Broncos lost this game, it would be because of Saquon Barkley. This Giants’ passing game strike absolutely zero fear in my heart, even with the multiple upgrades at the skill positions.
Daniel Jones will be facing the best secondary in the league, in my opinion. Jones also may be facing the best pass-rush unit in the entire league. Pair all of these factors together along with the monstrosity that the New York Giants offensive line is, I do not see the Denver Broncos having an issue holding their Week One opponent to under 25 points.
Concluding the first bout of the season, against the New York Giants, I think the Denver Broncos travel down to Jacksonville hoisting a 27-13 victory.