The Denver Broncos should see the return of CB Riley Moss for Week 17, and their overall bill of health on defense is squeaky clean. We are now down to the final two weeks of the regular season, and for most of the season for the Broncos, this team has stayed remarkably healthy. In fact, this is one of the healthiest teams in the NFL.
Their most recent notable injury was Riley Moss, who missed, roughly, the last 3.5 games. He left in the Broncos win over the Las Vegas Raiders about a month ago, and in his absence, the defense struggled stopping the pass. Anyway, Moss is playing in Week 17 against the Cincinnati Bengals, and that got me thinking about the defense;
Just how healthy has this unit been?
Broncos' defensive health is quite clean
Well, with the return of Riley Moss, that gives the Denver broncos 10 of their 11 original starters still in the lineup from Week 1. The lone starter not in is Alex Singleton, who tore his ACL a while back when Denver beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Many teams can't say the same thing, and it's been the same story on offense as well. Heck, Denver even saw the return of LB Drew Sanders a couple of weeks ago. For years before Sean Payton arrived, the Broncos always dealt with a ton of injuries.
And since his arrival, the team just isn't dealing with as much, so it seems as if Payton put the right staff in place to keep the Broncos' health where it should be. And when any NFL team is this late in the season, sometimes injuries play a major part in the game. This has also been a big reason why the Broncos have been as good as they've been this year.
No one expected them to be 9-6 through 15 games, and them being able to stay healthy is surely part of that equation. Denver comes into this game more healthy than the Cincinnati Bengals, who have to not only win out, but also get some other help to make the playoffs.
And with Riley Moss back in the lineup, the Broncos may be able to go back to playing heavy man coverage, which they have not been able to do frequently due to Moss missing some time. The defense has allowed 100 more passing yards per game with Moss not in the lineup, so his absence was felt in a big way.
The Broncos are at nearly-full strength at the perfect time.