The Broncos keep winning. But…
Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Trying to describe the Denver Broncos to other people is a really trying endeavor.
It’s really difficult to find a decent comparison for this team, and by that, I mean the only ones I’ve come up with are not related to football. They’re the NFL equivalent of a scrappy 11 seed that makes it to the Final Four. Or a colony of cockroaches. Or a coven of witches. The point is, this is a team that is by all fundamental standards, an outlier. They don’t win in ways comparable to any other successful NFL team. They’re lucky to a point of suspicion. They face poor odds every single week and they always beat them.
All that is to say: If they want to keep beating those odds, they have to start playing cleaner, more traditional football.
Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
The Broncos keep winning because they defy reality or common sense. It makes for a really fun brand of football, but it isn’t very sustainable. That unsustainability is mostly tied to the team’s asinine turnover rate. This team has forced 15 turnovers over their last four games. If that sounds impossible, that's because it is. Or was, until these guys came around. The Broncos formula over this winning streak has been pretty uniform: Run the ball, control the clock, get some turnovers, and capitalize when you do. This team is hyper efficient in the red zone, and when they inevitably get a turnover or two on their opponent’s side of the field, it’s guaranteed points. A lot of that formula is based on things the broncos can control, and control well. But the biggest thing that keeps Denver’s engine running- their turnovers- may not be. For as crazy as these turnover numbers seem, the catch is that quite a few of them would be better classified as giveaways. For every brilliant interception or well timed strip, there’s an instance where the Broncos opponent simply drops the ball or throws the ball right to a defender. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like all of Denver’s defensive success is a fluke; The entire unit, and particularly the secondary, has played outside their minds for the last month. The ball wouldn’t be finding them so much if that wasn’t the case. But the fact of the matter is, Denver is eventually going to play a team that can hold onto the football. When that happens, is this team going to find a way to win that game? Is the offense going to be as efficient without short fields? Will the defense still be as dominant against cleaner offenses?
The answer to these questions is not inherently “no.” In fact, given how well coached the team is and how healthy the locker room dynamic is, it’s entirely reasonable to believe Denver will find different ways to keep winning ball games. I think it says a lot about this team that the only real “problems” they have are based on hypotheticals. They probably understand these weaknesses, and are going to be well prepared to face them when they arise. There’s no guarantee any opponent they face stops handing them the ball. This team has made the most of what they’ve been given, and they cannot be faulted for that. The greatest enemy of the Denver Broncos is common sense, and common sense doesn’t seem to have a fighting chance.
