Denver Broncos Are Getting Hot At the Right Time
By Ryan Ratty
The Denver Broncos are getting hot at the right time
The 2014 NFL season is winding down and the playoffs are starting to take form. In the AFC, all season long, it has been the New England Patriots that have gotten all of the attention. The duo of quarterback Tom Brady and head coach Bill Belichick has once again been quite the spectacle. However, one team that hasn’t gotten a ton of attention is the Denver Broncos. Although he hasn’t been the same over the past few weeks, Peyton Manning is in the midst of another special season as a quarterback in this league.
In Manning’s tenure as a Bronco, his running backs have always been touchdown vultures. In 2013, Knowshon Moreno had a spectacular season. Moreno rushed for over 1,000 yards last season and he scored 10 rushing touchdowns on the ground. However, in 2014, C.J. Anderson over the course of the past month has turned into a relevant playmaker for the Broncos. Because of their newly-found ability to run the football with the success, it’s going to be hard for the AFC to stop this Broncos team in the playoffs.
Last season, the Broncos set records for being the most prolific offense of all-time. They put up all of those yards mainly with the pass, but the Broncos are starting to become just as good as of a running team. What that means is that they don’t have to rely on Manning to throw 5,400 yards again. With the involvement of their running attack paired with Manning’s ability to find holes in the defense, the Broncos are deploying once again the league’s best offense. It won’t show up in terms of statistics, but the Broncos can now beat you with the pass and with the run. That being said, it’s going to be extremely hard to stop a team that deploys so many weapons.
As I said earlier, Peyton has been in a slump over the past three weeks, but that doesn’t mean he has lost a step. The main problem with Manning over the past few weeks is that he hasn’t gotten a lot of time in the pocket over the past few weeks and that has led to the Broncos running the football more. Because of defenses sending more men to get pressure on Manning, the Broncos have handed the ball off to Anderson 109 times in the past four games. Also in that span, Anderson has rushed for just 483 yards. Even though Peyton hasn’t ended up with his usual numbers, it needs to be said that the Broncos have scored 114 points in the past four games. Knowing that, it is clear that even if Peyton doesn’t throw for 400 yards and four touchdowns, the Broncos can still score points at will.
Despite his struggles, Peyton still has dynamic weapons around him. Although Eric Decker left for a huge contract in the offseason, the Broncos brought in Emmanuel Sanders and he has been a great weapon for Manning in 2014. Julius Thomas started the season well, scoring nine touchdowns in the first five games, but ever since Week 5, Thomas has scored just three touchdowns. However, the Broncos have gotten production from a different Thomas. Demaryius Thomas is off to his best season in his career. The Georgia Tech product has caught 96 passes for just under 1,400 yards and 12 touchdowns.
With their win over the rival San Diego Chargers, the Broncos are now 11-3 and they are just a win away from clinching a first-round bye. The Patriots beat the Broncos earlier in the season. That being said, if New England wins out, they hold home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. When the playoffs come around, cold weather starts to affect passing games. That was the case with the Broncos in the Super Bowl. If the Patriots host the Broncos, even though New England will be home, Denver will have the advantage because they can do something the Patriots struggle with, and that is running the football.
It’s going to be a tough road for the Broncos to get past the playoffs. They will likely have to face the Indianapolis Colts and the Patriots again, but the Broncos have improved tremendously since the first times they played both of those teams. Denver is the team no one is talking about and that makes them even more dangerous. The team that wins the Super Bowl is not usually the best team in the NFL. The team that wins the Super Bowl is usually the hottest team. The Broncos now have a two-dimensional offense, which makes them even more explosive in the playoffs. Now with a first-round bye locked up and winners of four straight, the Broncos are getting hot at the right time.
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