After a prolonged wait and a dominant preseason, Denver Broncos football is finally back!

The Broncos coming into MetLife Stadium were energized, calm, cool, and collected. Most evident in their first-half play. The Broncos on the road also had tons of questions that needed to be answered such as “steady” Teddy, is Von Miller back, or can the Broncos continue their momentum? Well, I can tell you they surpassed expectations and dominated the Giants both on offense and defense.

In the first quarter, both teams traded punts, but after that, the Broncos began to gain momentum thanks to Von Miller introducing himself to Daniel Jones, easily rushing past Giants right tackle Nate Solder for the sack. Vic Fangio and the Broncos showed aggressiveness by going for it on 4th & 7 rather than taking the long field goal. Ultimately completing a 15-yard pass to Tim Patrick for the first down, leading to a 23-yard field goal. Furthermore, one aspect of the defense that hasn’t gotten much attention and set the tone for Barkley to only have 26 rushing yards was the Broncos three-headed monster of a defensive line featuring Shelby Harris, Mike Purcell, and Dre'mont Jones who had an underrated performance. The Giants, unable to establish the run, focused on the pass primarily through the middle, causing defensive penalties and scoring on a drag route with Sterling Shepard. The Broncos moved forward with an excellent drive that was fumbled by Albert O, furthermore reviewed to somehow be a recovery by the Giants. After forcing a quick three and out, the Broncos handled their two-minute drill with ease, going once again on fourth down, converting a tight pass to Sutton. In the end, scoring a fake handoff and pass to Tim Patrick for a goals line touchdown. 

In the second half, the Broncos kept their foot on the pedal and stayed persistent throughout the game as the offense did their part in scoring and the defense pressured the Giants. Teddy Bridgewater impressed me and Broncos Country by displaying his pocket awareness. Moving out of the pocket whenever it collapsed and kept the play alive to find KJ Hamler on a crucial 3rd & 5 and a 3rd & 9. Teddy again even displayed his attacking mentality by not being “steady” and took a deep shot to KJ Hamler against broken coverage which ultimately should’ve been caught. Bridgewater kept his composure but still stayed aggressive converting third down after third down. An in the play of the game Bridgewater converted a Mahomes/Murray/Jackson Esque play throwing a laser to Albert O for a touchdown. The following Broncos defensive possessions however were concerning because the Broncos couldn’t handle the Giants fast tempo, Jones scrambling, and had too many defensive penalties. Those three possessions ended in a fumble recovery, a turnover on downs, and a Jones rush TD as time expired.

Week 2 Preview

In a highly anticipated home opener for the Jacksonville Jaguars and Trevor Lawrence, the Broncos come to town ready to play spoiler entering Week Two. The Broncos come off their excellent performance against the New York Giants in MetLife Stadium. The Jacksonville Jaguars on the other hand return home after a disastrous season opener versus the Houston Texans whom many fans expected the Jaguars to win. 

Some questions I have for the Broncos in this game is whether the team continues their momentum with this aggressive, calm, cool, collected mindset or will they underestimate the Jacksonville Jaguars? The Broncos also coming off their dominant victory were hit with injuries on both sides of the ball with starting guard Graham Glasgow, receiver Jerry Jeudy, and cornerback Ronald Darby expected to be out. Not to mention edge rusher Bradley Chubb who was inactive last week and limited in practice this week. Although there is optimism that he will play, I wouldn’t have high expectations and consider his presence not needed for now with the duo of Von Miller and Malik Reed.

For the Broncos to win, the defense MUST pressure Trevor Lawrence. When Lawrence was under pressure he was 6/12, threw for 57 yds, and had one interception according to Pro Football Focus. When Lawrence had time, he was able to find his receivers and open the offense. Speaking of offense the Broncos after leading the last game in total yards have to continue their rhythm converting on third down (7/15 Third down efficiency), establish run the game, and protect Bridgewater. When it comes to going on fourth down, although the Broncos went 3/3 you want to minimize the number of fourth-down chances you go for because not every fourth-down play will be successful. Lastly, the secondary must have an improved performance and minimize penalties. As the only person, I question the most right now is Patrick Surtain II as this game will decide if he is an NFL starting cornerback.

For the Jaguars to win, their main source of success depends on the performance of Trevor Lawrence. Lawrence showed he can sling the ball to his receivers and make plays, the only problem was that he was pressured and threw three interceptions. Two of which were back-to-back after scoring a touchdown on a previous drive. On offense the Jaguars should not be afraid to take deep shots against the Broncos secondary as the defense from my perspective was never beaten deep by the Giants but in the middle of the field. When it comes to the offense line, they must protect Lawrence but most importantly lower their amount of allowed pressures. According to PFF, they allowed a combined 16 pressures (Jawaan Taylor 2, Cam Robinson 6, A.J. Cann 6, Andrew Norwell 2) and one sack. Lastly on defense, the Jaguars have to improve moving forward from the secondary to the defensive line. In that game the defense allowed 160 rushing yards as well as the Texans to be 4-6 in the Red Zone and 12-21 in third down efficiency. 

If either the Broncos or Jaguars take advantage/improve on some of the aspects I mentioned above, you can look for this game to be entertaining and be one for the ages. 

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