The Denver Broncos open up the second half of the 2022 NFL season against the Tennessee Titans in Week 10. Will the second half be a lot more speed bumps like we saw in the first half? Or will it be more “Let’s Ride”? Through the first eight weeks of the season, the Broncos didn’t give fans much reason to be excited. Hope and optimism have largely faded in Broncos Country, but there are still nine more games to be played. There’s still a lot of football left this season.
So what are we all supposed to expect? The offense showed signs of progress in the team’s last three games, but unfortunately, they were far too inconsistent to win but one game — the team’s most recent game against the Jaguars in London. The defense has been dominant this year, but the Broncos traded Bradley Chubb to the Miami Dolphins. It’s hard to know what to expect, but let’s make some bold predictions about the Denver Broncos for the second half of the season and dream of what could be.
Denver Broncos bold prediction no. 1: Top 15 offense the rest of the way
Denver Broncos fans are praying for a miraculous turnaround for the offense for the remainder of the 2022 NFL season. Luckily for Denver, the output of 21 points against the Jacksonville Jaguars combined with the team’s inactivity in Week 9 helped boost the Broncos from 32nd in points per game to 30th, so things are already looking up. Unfortunately, there are very real issues facing this team and very real problems that need to be fixed in the second half of the season.
The Broncos are the league’s worst red zone offense. There is only one other team in the NFL that is worse when it comes to converting third downs. The Broncos are penalized seemingly every other snap. The operation offensively has just been terrible.
Now that we’ve been critical, let’s take a look ahead at what could be.
In the first half against the Chargers, the Broncos offense moved the ball pretty well.
They also had some success in the first half against the New York Jets the following week.
In London, we saw bigger stretches of solid play from the offense. We saw some good clock management at the end of both the first and second half, and we saw the Broncos overcome a sluggish start and put together some nice drives.
It’s something to build on, at least. Progress over the last three games versus complete incompetence in games like the Colts and 49ers — we’ll take it. The Broncos’ offense just needs more consistency, and “just” seems like a pretty loosely utilized term here. It’s apparently not as easy as it sounds.
I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the offense ascends into the top 15 for the remainder of the season.
Denver Broncos bold prediction no. 2: Baron Browning averages a sack per game
The Denver Broncos made a really big move before the deadline, sending Bradley Chubb to the Miami Dolphins for a 2023 first-round pick. That move has paved the way for Baron Browning to become a cornerstone piece on this Denver Broncos defense, and he’s going to have to step up in a big way as Randy Gregory is also slowly making his way back from a knee procedure that landed him on IR.
My bold prediction for the second half of the 2022 season in regard to Baron Browning is that he averages a sack per game. He might have some games with no sacks and a few games with multiple sacks, but I am going out on a limb and calling an average of one sack per game that he actually plays here.
Against the Colts and Chargers, Browning had a combined 2.5 sacks and seven QB hits, and as he gets more comfortable playing full-time off the edge, I think he’s going to absolutely wreak havoc on opposing teams.
Prediction no. 3: Damarri Mathis has at least three interceptions
If teams are going to continue to avoid throwing the ball in Pat Surtain II’s direction, then Damarri Mathis is going to get a ton of work on his side of the field. The Broncos don’t have a ton of interceptions from the cornerback position this year. In fact, only K’Waun Williams has one.
I’m predicting that rookie Damarri Mathis will have at least three picks over the course of these final nine games. Mathis has been playing some really good football the last couple of weeks after getting called for a whopping four pass-interference penalties against the Chargers. Those penalties against the Chargers were a little suspect, at least some of them were, and Mathis ended up bouncing back to make some big plays despite the penalties and extra attention he was receiving.
I think he’s going to play confidently and aggressively over the course of the second half of this season.
Prediction no. 4: Greg Dulcich easily breaks rookie TE records
Back in 2019, we saw Noah Fant break some Denver Broncos rookie tight end records by racking up 40 receptions for 562 yards and three touchdowns. He was outstanding that year after the catch and had multiple 100-yard receiving games. Could Greg Dulcich break his records here in 2022?
If Dulcich can keep the pace we’ve seen from him in the last three weeks, he would finish the season with the following numbers:
- 48 receptions
- 730 receiving yards
- 4 touchdowns
He is certainly on pace to set Denver Broncos rookie records at the position, we simply need to see it come to fruition.
Prediction no. 5: KJ Hamler has at least five touchdowns
There’s no question about it — the Denver Broncos need to get KJ Hamler more involved in the offense. Up to this point, Hamler has just nine touches offensively, but he’s done so much when he’s not getting the ball to prove his value and worth that the Broncos didn’t likely consider any offers seriously for him at the NFL trade deadline.
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Hamler’s long speed finally became a major factor against the Jacksonville Jaguars when he burned Jacksonville corner Tre Herndon on a deep ball and set the Broncos up for the game-winning touchdown with an explosive run not long after that. In the second half of the season, I expect to see Hamler more involved and making big plays.