The Denver Broncos have ripped off four wins in a row after beating the frisky Minnesota Vikings in Week 11 of the 2023 NFL Season, and their winning formula is very sustainable late into the season. Winning ugly has become something that the Denver Broncos are getting good at. And honestly, who cares how the win looks?
If we're being real here, especially late in the season, winning ugly is how teams punch their tickets to the playoffs. This is what the NFL is; cold weather, lucky bounces at times, and downright ugly wins. For the second week in a row, the Denver Broncos won ugly. And that's perfectly fine. It's also important to add context here.
The Broncos are winning games, but are winning them a certain way. And I think the way this team is doing it is perfectly sustainble late into the season. Denver looked truly cooked after a 1-5 start. Many people are calling for the team to be big sellers at the trade deadline, and they held firm. Well, that was a great decision.
It started with a frisky Week 7 win versus the Green Bay Packers. The Broncos followed that game up with another frisky win versus the Kansas City Chiefs. All of a sudden, the team headed into their bye week a 3-5 and with a bit of life. If you thought the Broncos were going to lose to the Buffalo Bills in Week 10, I would not have blamed you.
But Denver had other ideas. They truly showed how gritty they were after beating Buffalo in the final seconds, getting to 4-5. And for the second-straight game on primetime, the Denver Broncos again won ugly and got some clutch late-game magic from their quarterback. Well, how is the team winning ugly?
First of all, the offense has not been consistent. The team has scored at least 21 points in three straight games, which is nice, but the offense sputters at times. And you know what; that's OK. Scoring in the NFL is down, and the Broncos are still doing enough on that side of the ball.
The team is also running the ball a lot better. Over the last fives games, they've rushed for 115, 145, 153, 122, and 46 yards. The team is definitely prioritizing the run more, and doing that helps win time of possession, which is also what the Denver Broncos have done over their resurgence. Furthermore, the team is winning the turnover battle.
Their four-game winning streak has been largely due to the Broncos forcing a ton of turnovers. They've forced 13 over the last four games, so they've won the turnover battle in each game. They've also only turned it over two times on offense during this same time frame. You could argue that time of possession and turnovers are two of the biggest deciding factors in teams winning or losing.
And the Broncos have really settled into this method of winning. This is old-school, winning football, and it shows just how well-coached the team is. You probably would want to see the passing offense be able to move the ball a bit better, but establishing the run, winning the time of possession, and winning the turnover battle is a recipe for success late in the season.