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Sean Payton has led the Denver Broncos to a 5-4 record so far. Can they keep up their winning ways? Will they make it to the playoffs in 2024? John breaks it down.
The Denver Broncos currently have a record of 5-4, but it's been a rocky road on the way there. They're fresh off a blowout loss to the Baltimore Ravens, who embarrassed them 41-10 in Week 9. They had no answer for a high-powered offense and weren't able to get much going against the porous Baltimore defense, either.
They drafted quarterback Bo Nix with the 12th pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, and it's reasonable to expect growing pains for the rookie. The team also has a (usually) solid defense, though it was pancaked by Derrick Henry, Lamar Jackson, and Co. just last Sunday.
So what's holding back the Broncos? Will they be able to make the playoffs this season?
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What's Wrong With The Denver Broncos?
The first problem is that rookie quarterbacks tend to struggle in the league. This isn't a surprise to anyone who's followed football recently. Nix's pocket mechanics are questionable, and it looks like he's not comfortable with a few things that NFL quarterbacks need to do when dropping back.
Bo Nix somehow over threw and under threw a wide open receiver on the same play pic.twitter.com/sofYKSntVF
— NFL Memes (@NFL_Memes) October 18, 2024
The pass in the above video was horrendous, no doubt, but it's not impossible to correct a QB's footwork. It's been a persistent issue this season, though. Broncos head coach Sean Payton will likely be sure to make it a priority to fix as soon as possible, but these things take time.
Bo Nix missed 3 potential touchdown throws on Sunday
His footwork & mechanics aren’t the greatest, he reminds me a lot of a young Carson Wentz. I don’t think it will be easy to coach this out of him pic.twitter.com/R3TkCyy03k
— The Homie Zay (@thehomiezay_) November 8, 2024
He was the sixth quarterback taken off the board in this year's draft. It remains to be seen if he can fix these issues, but his happy feet have persisted for over half a season so far. His rushing ability certainly helps the team, but a QB's rushing ability that helps set up the pass is more important.
Will The Broncos Make The Playoffs?
At 5-4, their chances are fine. The defense has played exceptionally well for most of the season and is the driving force behind their good record. The dominant win by the Ravens against the team is an outlier.
After giving up 41 to the Ravens, is there cause for concern with the Broncos defense we thought was the strength of this team?@TroyRenck answers @BruceHaertl saying this performance was more of an anomaly.
Presented by https://t.co/zefIzOPgpA and https://t.co/a0t8PmEFca pic.twitter.com/Jb5jzKxugk
— Eric Goodman (@EricGoodman) November 5, 2024
Last week's game was more of a testament to the explosiveness of Baltimore's offense than to the ineptitude of Denver's D. It is normally a great unit and defensive coordinator Vance Joseph has been doing an excellent job. It has a few star players like cornerback Patrick Surtain II and has still allowed just 17.9 points per game to opposing offenses.
Offense/defense EPA through week 8 pic.twitter.com/MAepel52kR
— Football Insights 📊 (@fball_insights) October 29, 2024
Nix needs to clean some things up, but the defense doesn't, and it should be able to carry the Broncos to at least nine wins, which could get them a playoff berth.
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