Broncos have a fun backup plan with no kicker or punter

If the Denver Broncos have to play Saturday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs without a kicker or punter, they at least have a fun backup plan.

Both of the Denver Broncos‘ kicking specialists — kicker Brandon McManus and punter Sam Martin — popped up on the team’s COVID/reserve list early in the week of their final game of the 2021 regular season.

On a short week with the game being played Saturday afternoon, it’s not like the Broncos have time to just go out and find someone else to replace those two guys on the roster. They tried that last year and it was horrendous, remember?

Although the major disclaimer here is that the Broncos believe both McManus and Martin will be available after the mandatory five-day window, they apparently have a fun plan ready to go if, indeed, these two guys have to miss Saturday’s game.

The Broncos could forsake the kicking game against Chiefs

According to Mike Klis of 9News in Denver, the Broncos’ plan for the season finale against the Chiefs if they don’t have their kicker or punter available is to go for it on fourth downs and go for two if they score touchdowns.

When you put it that way, it sounds incredibly fun.

On the other side of that coin, who is going to be handling the kickoff duties after the touchdowns? What happens if the Broncos go four-and-out from their own 25-yard line?

The idea of not punting and going for every fourth down as well as going for two after every touchdown is extremely fun. However, the idea of the Broncos giving the ball back to the Chiefs on the Denver side of the field a bunch of times throughout the course of four quarters sounds like the Chiefs could score about 100 points.

The Denver Broncos approaching a real-life game the way I used to play Madden video games sounds like a lot of fun. In reality, the Broncos would be much better off with two players who have actually been weapons for the team on a weak special teams unit.

Sam Martin’s first season in Denver was average, but he’s actually been quite good in 2021. McManus is fresh off of nailing his career-long of 61 yards against the Chargers, another notch on the future Ring of Famer’s belt.

Yes, I believe McManus is destined for the Ring of Fame, and he should be. He was arguably the offensive MVP during the Super Bowl 50 run and he’s been a clutch kicker ever since, at least for the games the team has been competitive in.

McManus, with his booming leg, has hit from 61 and 58 in the last two seasons. Could 62 or longer be on deck?

4 major positives for the Denver Broncos in a lost season

The Denver Broncos' 2021 season is going nowhere fast. Even though the 2021 season was a lost year, there are positives that cannot be ignored.

Against the Chiefs, it may not be.