We know it's still early, but ...
At 6 p.m. on August 10, 2017, a football takes flight in Soldier Field to mark the beginning of the pre-season for our beloved Broncos, hence giving Broncos fans official license to debate X's and O's, the Broncos' QB situation, how terrible the Bears are, and relish in the Peyton days, all while stuffing their face with a fresh, hot, meaty, Papa John's pie. With that said, we can't help but to start thinking about the season ahead, all those Papa John's pizzas, and how ESPN and SI came to two very different projections.
ESPN reportedly puts the Broncos at an underwhelming 6-10 for the season, justifying it by pointing to coaching staff turnover. Although good ol' Kubs still has his hand in things, Wade Phillips will be sunning in L.A., and the Broncos sideline will have many new faces barking into headsets.
That’s also an issue in Denver, as a full turnover of the coaching staff often presages a drop for winning teams. The Broncos already defied historical NFL trends by putting up a second straight year of otherworldly pass defense, and the odds they can do it three straight years are even longer. We have the Broncos seventh in our defensive projections, and with their offense and schedule, that wouldn’t be enough to have a winning team."
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That's the way ESPN puts it, but as Broncos fans, we believe that there's enough leadership left on the field to do better than 6-10. As ESPN wrote, the Broncos have "defied historical trends by putting up a second straight year of otherworldly pass defense." However, some analysts are theorizing that new coaching, along with the addition of Domata Peko and Zach Kerr, could mean the Broncos are going to focus on stopping the run, which could throw them off.
Now we're not saying that they'll lose focus on what they're good at, but like anything, it's a balance, and luckily we have a head coach that speaks defense. After all, Vance Joseph is credited with leading the 2014-2015 Bengals' defense to reaching an NFL-best 41 interceptions, and transforming the Texans' defense where he groomed Johnathan Joseph into a two-time pro-bowler. That's why we prefer
Sports Illustrated's prediction, which is a much more favorable 11-5, especially if Trevor Siemian or Paxton Lynch can have some good days.
"If Trevor Siemian is their guy, the Broncos better hope he’s the first-half-of-2016 Siemian and not the one from the second half. To start the season last year, Siemian threw eight touchdowns and just three interceptions en route to a 5–1 record," writes
Sports Illustrated.
And we hope the first-half-of-2016 Siemian shows simply to keep the AFC on its toes. Whatever happens though, at least I can take refuge in a bite of Papa John's and dream of #18.
What are your thoughts? Which projection do you agree with? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments below!
