It's 'No Time For Parades' as Broncos Face Tough Slate of Opponents
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The Denver Broncos did it again.
After starting the season 1-5, Sean Payton and the Broncos have completely flipped the script. In the wake of defeating the Cleveland Browns 29-12 in dominant fashion, the Broncos have the national media and fans alike believing they are playoff-worthy.
Broncos Country expected a quick turnaround, but greatness doesn’t happen overnight, and this magical run proves that. As Denver moves to 6-5 on the heels of a five-game win streak, the team has climbed five spots, cracking the top 15 in NFL.com's Week 13 power rankings after toiling in the depths of the bottom five.
Eric Edholm believes that it’s time to start talking about Denver making the playoffs. Considering how the 2023 season started, few could have imagined a postseason berth, but the NFL is wildly unpredictable.
Here’s Edholm’s analysis.
Broncos Rank: 15
The Broncos forced only one turnover in their first three outings -- and now, incredibly, they lead the NFL in takeaways with 22. Twenty-one of them have come in their past eight games, and a stunning 15 have been in the past four. Not shockingly, Denver’s 0-3 start coincided with a turnover differential of minus-4 -- since then, the Broncos have gone 6-2, with five straight wins, while logging a turnover differential of plus-12. The defense has allowed nine scores in the past six games combined, looking unrecognizable next to the unit that gave up 10 TDs to Miami in Week 3. Pair that with Russell Wilson’s excellent ball security (he’s recorded zero picks in five straight games, with just eight turnovers on the season), and we can reasonably talk playoffs now. Four of Denver’s final six games are on the road, including the next three, so this is no time for parades. But Sean Payton’s first season already has been a success, thanks to the massive turnaround.
Denver’s defense has spearheaded this improbable comeback. 15 takeaways in four games is absolutely absurd. The Broncos' defense may still give up chunk plays and is still shaky against the run, but stealing the ball away at a historic rate and clamping down in the red zone is its bread and butter.
It’s hard to believe the Broncos will be able to keep up the rate of turnovers they’ve forced, but until there’s a dropoff, I won’t complain. Outside of a few drives, Browns' quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson and his offense couldn’t get anything going. Things only got worse for the Browns when Robinson was ruled out after a big hit from Baron Browning as P.J. Walker looked completely lost.
Browns fans decried Browning for a “dirty hit," accusing the Broncos of being "dirty” after a very physical game, which is wild (but false) considering the consensus on the NFL game becoming much softer these days. You’d think fans would want more games like Sunday's Broncos-Browns tilt, but getting absolutely bullied will make a fanbase salty.
Big props to the Broncos’ offensive line, as it only surrendered one sack to the "best" defense in the NFL. Sorry, Cleveland, you don’t get to hold that designation anymore.
Wilson has had more time to make decisions, and the run game has exploded due to the cohesion of Denver’s blockers. Garett Bolles deserves a medal for completely neutralizing one of the most prolific pass rushers, Myles Garrett, who had a donut in the sack column.
Wilson played a solid game outside of his lost fumble, but Payton showed confidence in his quarterback by giving him three straight designed runs on a scoring drive. With the Broncos' O- line vastly improving, the run game exploding, and a newfound propensity for holding onto the football, Denver's offense has become uber-efficient.
If the Broncos keep playing mistake-free football, this team will be poised to extend this win streak. The next test for the Broncos is a three-game stretch on the road, the first of which is against the red-hot C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans. Sound familiar?
Luckily, a good defense and prolific run game 'travel,' so if the Broncos can stick to their winning formula, Sunday should result in another win in this immaculate turnaround.
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