The Denver Broncos are not projected to be good in the 2024 NFL Season, but I am here to tell you that they can indeed finish with a winning record. The year was 2016 when the Broncos last finished above .500, but even that year was just 9-7. It was the final year of the Gary Kubiak era, and since then, a ton of turnover has happened.
Well, the Broncos now seem to have a long-term coaching staff in place with Sean Payton and the coaches he's brought on. This continuity alone is one reason why Denver can finish with a winning record.
Another reason why is that this team won eight games in the 2023 NFL Season, which is obviously just one game away from a winning record. They won eight games with a bottom-10 QB in Russell Wilson, one of the worst run defenses in football, and an inconsistent running game. It's clear that Denver tried to fix all of these issues this offseason.
They brought in Bo Nix, a rookie with a much higher ceiling than Wilson and someone who objectively fits the offense better than "DangeRuss" could ever dream of. It's really not a debate; Bo Nix is a much better fit and should immediately be more efficient in his rookie season than Russell Wilson was at any point in 2023.
They also beefed up their defensive line, trading for a plus defender in DE John Franklin-Myers. They also added viable depth along the DL with Malcolm Roach and Angelo Blackson, and we cannot forget about rookie EDGE draft pick Jonah Elliss.
The run game should also be better in 2024, as the Broncos took a bruising RB in Audric Estime in the 2024 NFL Draft. Many thought of him as being the best running back in this year's class. Javonte Williams is also another year removed from his devastating 2022 knee injury and has looked great in camp thus far.
It's not outrageous to think that Williams can return to his rookie season form, as he is still quite young as well.
Folks, what am I missing here? Why can't Denver finish with a winning record? I guess if you're extremely low on Bo Nix and can't be convinced otherwise, all of the points I just made don't matter, but man, it's hard for me to not look at this tema as winning nine games.
The rest of the NFL seems to have counted them out, but the Denver Broncos have a winning formula in place.