The Denver Broncos got their first win of the 2022 season after a sluggish game against the Houston Texans in Week 2. There appears to be a lot to clean up for the team and it’s no question a good thing that there are many more opportunities to get things right.
The team’s victory in Week 3 was bigger than many could have imagined, according to history.
According to Sunday Night Football on NBC, here are the playoff chances for teams that started 2-0, 1-1, and 0-2 since 1990.
Chances of making the playoffs based on record after two weeks - since 1990:
— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) September 15, 2022
🏈 2-0 start: 63% chance
🏈 1-1 start: 42%
🏈 0-2 start: 11.3%
Who needs a win badly this weekend?! #NFL pic.twitter.com/fmq975NNub
Obviously, we would love for the Broncos to be on the 2-0 side of things, but the win on Sunday helped avoid an 11.3 percent chance of making the playoffs. After all, the Broncos didn’t trade for and sign Russell Wilson to a long-term extension just for them to miss the playoffs.
The Broncos are all-in and the move to acquire Wilson was the indicator.
That being said, there is a lot that the Denver Broncos have to clean up going forward. First of all, the timing on several plays was off. There were some instances where plays absolutely should have been made. I understand the timing between quarterback and receiver takes time, but specifically, you cannot make that excuse for the drop by Tyrie Cleveland. Thankfully, the Broncos were not doomed from that play.
At the end of the day, almost nobody expected this game to go the way that it did. I think that many people expected the Broncos to demolish the Texans. I guess it is safe to say at this point that we should lower our expectations until we see the team have a streak of solid play. There just have been too many hiccups early on in the season.
The way that the Denver Broncos played over the first two weeks of the season, it does not look encouraging. However, it is a work in progress.