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5 NFL teams poised for a fall in 2016

By John Buhler

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Dec 7, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos general manager and executive vice president of Football Operations John Elway reacts behind the bench before the game against the Buffalo Bills at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 7, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos general manager and executive vice president of Football Operations John Elway reacts behind the bench before the game against the Buffalo Bills at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /

Denver Broncos. 1. player. 45. . AFC. West

Congratulations on winning Super Bowl 50 with an all-time great defense, but even something close to that stellar 2015 defense won’t be enough for the Denver Broncos to repeat as Super Bowl Champions. General manager John Elway went all in on building a champion with Peyton Manning as his quarterback. Unfortunately for the Mile High footballers, that window slammed shut in 2015.

Not only did Manning retire, but his backup Osweiler left for Houston. Star defensive players like Malik Jackson and Danny Trevathan left for better financial opportunities in Jacksonville and Chicago, respectively. Entering the 2016 NFL Draft, it seems that the No. 1 quarterback on the Denver depth chart is Mark Sanchez. He won’t be bad in Denver, but certainly not good enough to help the Broncos repeat as Super Bowl Champions.

In the AFC West, Kansas City is still probably playoff bound, Oakland could be, and San Diego can’t be 2015 bad again, right? Denver draws the usually bad AFC South in a time where the division could get two teams to the AFC Playoffs. Let’s not forget that it’s always a tough time playing against the NFC South, too.

Denver will have to play the two other 2015 AFC division champs this fall in the AFC North’s Cincinnati Bengals and the AFC East’s New England Patriots. That feels like 1-1 at best.

With the Broncos not really getting a great break with their 2016 schedule and looking substantially different from their Super Bowl winning team a year ago, not only could the Broncos fail to repeat as Super Bowl Champions, Denver could very well end up missing the AFC Playoffs entirely if Kansas City and Oakland have great seasons in the AFC West.

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