The Denver Broncos are now 7-2 on the season and are tied with the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts for the best record in the NFL. It's been a great year for the team thus far, as their success has been on par, thus far, with the Super Bowl team from 2015.
With two more games before the bye in Week 12, Denver could position themselves nicely for the stretch run beginning in Week 13 against the Washington Commanders. Denver has to deal with the Las Vegas Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs over the next two weeks, and these two divisional games could not be more important.
The Broncos also likely won't win these games without a key player they signed in the offseason who patrols the middle of the defense. His presence, when on the field this year, is noticeable.
Sean Payton is saying what we're all thinking about linebacker Dre Greenlaw
Sean Payton is holding nothing back when talking about the value of linebacker Dre Greenlaw:
"He brings toughness, a competitiveness. It's hard to put on paper. He's extremely physical. He plays with such good pad level and leverage. He's a great tackler. It's good to have him in the lineup. It was tough waiting and making that decision, but hindsight it was worth it." -- Sean Payton
Sean Payton says something important here when he says "it was tough waiting and making that decision..."
The Denver Broncos clearly wanted Greenlaw back on the field a lot earlier in the season, but the quad injury was one they were wanting to be careful with. At the end of the day, it's more important to have Greenlaw for the stretch run than the beginning of the season.
Fortunately, Denver got out of the Greenlaw-less defense relatively unscathed. Alex Singleton has played way too many snaps this year, but the Broncos, for whatever reason, seem to be sticking with him as the other starter. With Dre Greenlaw back, though, the Broncos are now fielding a very strong ILB room.
And with some insanely important games coming up, the team will need Greenlaw and his intense attitude and physicality to be the catalyst that powers the team to their first division title since the 2015 NFL Season.
Denver has largely been healthy this year, and it seems like Dre Greenlaw is just about 100%, so we should see his snap counts increase in coming weeks as well.