3 bold predictions for the Denver Broncos in Week 8 against the Panthers

The Denver Broncos have a shot to get to 5-3 on the season with a win in Week 8 over the Carolina Panthers. Let's make three bold predictions for the game. Denver getting to 5-3 would be insane and perhaps not expected depending on who you ask. Heading into the 2024 NFL Season, it was clear to some of us that Denver was about to field a better team than in 2023.

Well, it seems like that was correct. Sure, this isn't some guaranteed win in front of the team in Week 8, but it's very likely that they take care of business. Let's make three bold predictions for the Denver Broncos in their upcoming game against the Carolina Panthers.

3 bold predictions for the Denver Broncos in Week 8 against the Panthers
Broncos sack Bryce Young at least five times

In 20 career games for the Carolina Panthers, Bryce Young has been sacked 69 times. It's insane how much he's been sacked. It's actually 3.45 sacks per game that Bryce Young has averaged. The Broncos' defense is clearly the best at rushing the passer this year, so the team will be able to notch five sacks against Young.

That may not seem like a lot, but at any level, it is if you ask me. I assume that the Panthers are going to try to dial up some quick passes so Young can get the ball out of his hand before the pass rush can get home. The issue here is that Young may just be one of the worst quarterbacks of the 21st century, and I am not sure that is an overstatement.

I could be super bold here and say that Denver is able to sack Young 10 times, but we'll stick with five.

Bo Nix throws three touchdown passes

A few weeks ago against the Las Vegas Raiders, Bo Nix had his first career three touchdown game, but one of those was a rushing score. It's clear that he's already an elite weapon with his legs, and his ability to avoid sacks is also among the best in the NFL.

The one clear area for improvement is his overall passing ability. Bo Nix tends to get happy feet in the pocket and sometimes creates his own pressure that he's forced to escape from. Well, by most every metric, the Carolina Panthers' defense is awful.

Their also banged up and on less rest than the Denver Broncos. This could be a bloodbath favoring Denver. And while the offense has shown some life over the last month or so, it would be nice to see the unit truly get going.

How about three touchdown passes? He's thrown two TD passes in two separate games this season and is probably going to have a three TD game through the air at some point this season. Well, this could be the weakest defense Denver plays this year, so Bo Nix will get three passing touchdowns.

The Denver Broncos shutout the Carolina Panthers

How about a shutout? The Denver Broncos defense has been very arguably the best in the NFL this year, and they had a whopping four games this year already holding their opponent to just one or zero touchdowns on offense.

Since Week 2, the Broncos' defense has held opponents to just 13.3 points per game, so they are allowing around one offensive touchdown per game since then. Well, Denver has faced QBs like Baker Mayfield, Justin Fields, Aaron Rodgers, and Justin Herbert. They were able to mostly shutdown NFL-caliber quarterbacks.

Bryce Young is not one of those people and was kind of unexpectedly put into the starting lineup this past week after Andy Dalton sprained his thumb in a car accident.

I firmly acknowledge that this may be a trap game for Denver, but the Panthers simply might be too bad overall to be good enough to pull off a trap-game upset. The Broncos could tee-off against Young and this offense and will shut them out totally.