The Denver Broncos will face some tough quarterbacks in 2022, including each of the passers in their own division. Here are the team’s five most difficult quarterback matchups?
It is a well-known fact that the AFC West is the most loaded division in all of football and the Broncos are going to face a difficult quarterback matchup in each of those games. The best part about that is that the team now has a top-tier quarterback of its own.
Looking over the 2022 schedule, these will be the five most problematic quarterback matchups for the Broncos and because there are so many in the division, this will actually cover eight of the team’s games.
The Broncos also have some favorable quarterback matchups on the schedule, at least on paper, but because of the way these five guys make their teams go, the Broncos will have their hands full in each of these games.
5 toughest quarterbacks Broncos will face in 2022
Lamar Jackson- Week 13
Kyler Murray could easily be in this slot, but Lamar Jackson is a former league MVP and at least right now, seems to have a better rapport with his team and is clearly the man there.
This game will also be on the road and the Ravens have historically been a team that has given the Broncos problems.
Jackson’s ability as a true dual-threat quarterback will cause fits for any defense and the Broncos will have their hands full in this one, having to defend the read-option offense.
Though many people still see Jackson as a “running back” who happens to play the quarterback position, that is just not the case. Jackson will make a team pay for treating him as such and he will torch them by throwing the ball down the field.
With Mark Andrews and one of the league’s best rushing attacks, the Ravens also have second-year wide receiver Rashod Bateman who many feel will take a big leap.
Derek Carr- Weeks 4 and 11
The Las Vegas Raiders will be one of the league’s most interesting teams this season. Some fans feel they are a Super Bowl contender while others, despite their offseason additions, feel they will just be an also-ran.
Either way, they have had the Broncos’ number lately and Derek Carr has played great in those games. He stands a good chance to play even better in them this season due to one major piece the Raiders added this offseason… Davante Adams.
Arguably the best wide receiver in football, Adams and Carr have a connection that goes back to their college days at Fresno State. If they can get that flowing again, they could form the best combination in the league and that could certainly be the thing that puts the Raiders over the top.
Add in a healthy Darren Waller and a tremendous slot option in Hunter Renfrow and Carr has the ability to put up a huge season.
Matthew Stafford- Week 16
Matthew Stafford, because of his surroundings in Los Angeles, is going to be a tough quarterback for any team to face this coming season. The Rams are the defending champs for a reason.
The Broncos will travel to sunny Los Angeles on Christmas Day for what will easily be one of their biggest challenges of the coming season.
Stafford has a slew of weapons to get the ball to, including Cooper Kupp, who is coming off of one of the best seasons a wide receiver has ever had. In free agency, the team also added Allen Robinson, one of the league’s most consistent wide receivers but one that has never been in a good offensive situation. Now he is.
Stafford plays in a perfect system run by head coach Sean McVay. He still has the arm to make every single throw and the entire Broncos defense will be tested on this day.
Justin Herbert- Weeks 6 and 18
Though he has yet to lead the Los Angeles Chargers to the playoffs, the general consensus is that Justin Herbert is probably a top-five quarterback in the NFL. The Broncos must see him twice, including in the season finale in a game that could be incredibly important.
Herbert can sling the ball all over the field. He is a guy that could pass for 5,000 yards every season and he has the pieces around him to do it with Keenan Allen, Mike Williams and a very good pass-catching running back in Austin Ekeler.
In two games against the Broncos last season, Herbert completed 50-of-75 passes for 540 yards with four touchdowns. The Broncos were able to intercept him twice. But with one more year now under his belt and a team looking to make a deep run this year, Herbert is on a short list of potential league MVP candidates.
The Broncos will need to bring their best against him this season. Twice.
Patrick Mahomes- Weeks 14 and 17
The only good thing about this is that the Broncos will have a lot of time to prepare for Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs but then they will face him twice in four weeks.
Aaron Rodgers is a back-to-back league MVP and some still consider him to be the league’s best quarterback, but Mahomes is still the most difficult quarterback to go against in all of football because of what he brings to the table.
It is true that Mahomes may be a lot less scary this year without Tyreek Hill but who is to say that the Chiefs’ offense won’t be even better without him? Stranger things have happened.
Mahomes still has Travis Kelce, who routinely torches Denver and he also has free-agent additions Juju Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling as well as second-round pick Skyy Moore.
The Chiefs are always going to be dangerous offensively with Mahomes running the show. There is also the fact that Mahomes has never lost to the Broncos, that alone makes him a difficult quarterback to go against for psychological reasons if nothing else.
Mahomes is still at the top of this list until the Broncos can prove otherwise.