3 things the Broncos must do to defeat the banged-up Panthers in Week 9

The Denver Broncos play the Carolina Panthers in Week 9. It's an early window game on the East Coast for the Broncos, which is a time and place that has not always been kind to them. With that said, the Broncos are the better team, as the Panthers are not only inferior in terms of roster talent, but the Panthers are quite banged up.

Sure, this could be a close game, but a win is a win. Denver defeating Carolina, whether in blowout fashion or in a close game, gets the team to 7-2 at the bye and gives them even more reason to add a player or two at the trade deadline, which is two days after the team's Week 9 game.

The Broncos will beat the Panthers if they're able to do these three things.

The Denver Broncos can beat the Panthers if these three things are done

Lean into a strength and get pressure on Bryce Young

The Broncos pass rush has come alive in recent weeks, and the team should see a rather shaky offensive line with who the Panthers have. According to Warren Sharp, Panthers quarterback Bryce Young has been pressured on nearly half of his dropbacks, and his pressure stats the past two weeks are not pretty:

Fortunately, Denver's 43 percent pressure rate, according to sharp, is the third-highest in football. Sharp also further notes that left tackle Rasheed Walker has allowed the most pressures of any tackle in football, so this could be a strong performance from Nik Bonitto.

No matter who steps up, the Panthers offensive line allows a ton of pressure, and Young has not performed well under pressure in recent weeks. Young has already been sacked 23 times this year in just seven games, which puts him on pace to be sacked 56 times this year.

Denver's pass rush has been the identity of this team for years now, and Week 9 could be the game this year where the rush really comes alive.

Run the ball well from start to finish

The Panthers have not been able to stop the run that well this year. The team has allowed 140.7 rushing yards per game this year. They've also allowed two separate opponents to run 250+ yards on the ground. While the Panthers did fire former defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, Carolina still has the same players on offense and will be missing linebacker Bobby Okereke and EDGE rusher Jaelan Phillips in Week 9.

If there was any game this year that Denver must run the ball well, it's this one, as the Broncos will be in a hostile environment, and running the ball will naturally extend drives and keep Carolina's offense off the field, which is their strength.

It's one thing to be able to run the ball well at home, but running the ball well away from home does shorten the game for the opponent and would also, naturally, open up the passing attack, and with a banged-up Panthers cornerback room, Denver being able to run the ball could create an explosive outing on offense.

Feed Jaylen Waddle... a lot

The Panthers have been without their two best CBs for weeks now, and without Jaycee Horn and Mike Jackson, top wide receivers have feasted against this secondary:

It's no secret that Jaylen Waddle is an awesome player who can be an explosive playmaker. Outside of a breakout game in Week 2, though, Waddle has been held under 50 receiving yards in every other game. Optimistically, you can probably chalk this up to the Broncos offense being shaky to begin the season, perhaps due to an insanely hard schedule up to this point.

And perhaps Waddle is still getting comfortable himself in the offense? Whatever the case may be, he's the best playmaker the Broncos have and does need to be force-fed the football. Waddle needs to be the 'easy button' on offense for the Broncos, as he does have insane YAC ability, short-area quickness, and can help get some rhythm into the offense early in games.

With how banged-up Carolina's CB room is, it feels like there are zero excuses for Waddle to not have a major game. Getting a lead here is going to be massive, and pushing the ball down the field would continue building up the momentum that this offense has found in recent weeks.

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