We change the conference and go to the AFC West. There’s a team there that has had one thing said about it over and over for the past few years: They’re just a good quarterback away from the Super Bowl. Before last season, this team thought they found that quarterback.
But then everything turned out very differently…
So let’s Ride Broncos Country – sorry, I couldn’t help myself now.
Here’s the Denver Broncos Season Recap!
The Broncos fans were looking forward to the season with great anticipation. With Russell Wilson, they thought they had finally committed the desired top quarterback. But the season was to be a disaster. Already in week 1 there was the first loss against Wilson’s old team from Seattle. Wins over the Houston Texans and the San Francisco 49ers followed, but there were only 16 and 11 points respectively. After that, the team lost four times in a row, to the Raiders, to the Colts to the Chargers and to the Jets. From the last three mentioned games together only 34 points. Before Bye Week, Denver got their third win in Jacksonville.
But those who now believed in the turnaround were badly deceived. Instead, it went bankrupt in Tennessee, against the Raiders, against the Carolina Panthers, against the Baltimore Ravens and against the Kansas City Chiefs. The team scored only 45 points in the first four games mentioned. A win over Arizona was followed by a nasty smack at the Los Angeles Rams, 14 to 51. This resulted in the departure of head coach Nathaniel Hackett. Jerry Rosburg ended a horrific season with a narrow loss in Kansas City and a win over the Los Angeles Chargers. Denver ended up with a record of 5 wins and 12 losses
Surprise: If there was anything good about Denver offense, it was WR Jerry Judy. He caught 67 balls, had 972 yards and six touchdowns.
Disappointment: Even if the answer is of course boring, you can only take Russell Wilson here. Nothing worked out for the 34-year-old and 16 touchdowns, 11 interceptions and an 84.4 rating are a disaster. In addition, it should not always have been easy with his teammates.
How were the rookies?
LB Nik Bonitto had 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble
TE Greg Dulcich showed talent with 33 catches, 411 yards and two touchdowns
CB Damarri Mathis had 54 tackles
DE Eyioma Uwazurike couldn’t show much
Safety Delarrin Turner-Yell was used only sporadically
WR Montrell Washington made five fumbles
Center Luke Wattenberg could not convince
EN Matt Henningsen had a sack
CB Faion Hicks almost completely missed the season due to injuries.
That was good: the defense was solid. 7th in yards allowed, 10th in run yards allowed. Justin Simmons deserves special credit for being one of four players to catch six interceptions. best value
That was bad: the offensive was a disaster. 32nd in points scored and 32nd in third attempt. A defense can’t deliver that much that you have a chance of making the playoffs with such a weak offensive.
What should you do?
I have to make a little confession here, I always check this out with someone, and here at the Denver Broncos, the person was in favor of doing something for the pass rush. For example EDGE. Personally, I’m at a different position, I think the running game needs to be improved. That would perhaps give Russell Wilson more self-confidence again, because one thing has to be clear: we will definitely (have to) tackle the next few years with him. So I would do something for the running back position.