Denver Broncos quarterback should be X-Factor vs Houston Texans
The Denver Broncos play their first home game of the 2022 season this Sunday against the Houston Texans. Fans will get to see the new and hopefully improved team up close at Empower Field.
While there were things to clean up against the Seahawks in Week 1, the expectation is that the mistakes that happened then won’t be happening again. Well, they still might, but hopefully to a lesser degree (ahem, penalties).
Denver Broncos level of QB play should be a huge factor vs. Texans
Being at home should lessen the penalty count for the Denver Broncos on Sunday. It should also help Russell Wilson beat Texans quarterback Davis Mills. Wilson has been around a lot longer than Mills. The Broncos’ home-field advantage should greatly help, too. When the Broncos are on offense, the stadium should be so quiet you can hear a pin drop. When the Texans are on offense, let the stadium go crazy.
According to StatMuse, Russell Wilson has a record of 57-21 at home during his 10 seasons with the Seahawks. Seattle is one of, if not the loudest stadiums to play at.
As for the Broncos’ defense, we know it has to be better. Unfortunately, there are a couple of weak links on that side of the ball (i.e. inside linebacker, run defense). Along with the crowd noise trying to cause Mills into mistakes, the Broncos need to bring a lot of heat toward the young quarterback.
In Monday’s game against the Seahawks, the Broncos did try to do that to Geno Smith, but Smith was able to escape all but two pressures—both from outside linebacker Bradley Chubb.
Denver cannot let Mills have enough time in the pocket to throw to speedy receiver Brandin Cooks. Although there is a lot of confidence in Patrick Surtain II in stopping Cooks from going off, the ideal scenario is that the team just doesn’t allow Mills and Cooks to get something going.
Earlier in the week, I said that the Broncos should be more balanced on the offensive side of the ball. I think that will remain the case for the entire season. Denver will have to continue its strong passing game with Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton. Hopefully, we see K.J. Hamler be more involved going forward as he continues his rehab from a torn ACL.
The Broncos’ running backs will have to step up not only in the run game but also in the passing game. We got a pretty big glimpse of the passing game on Monday Night Football, with Williams catching 11 passes for 65 yards and Gordon catching two for 14 yards.
I am not worried at all about the Denver Broncos offense. I strongly believe the future is very bright and Week 1 was just a hiccup.