BUSTED BRONCOS ALL BUT ELIMINATED
Five factors derail champs’ bid to repeat
Quarterback Trevor Siemian leaves the field after Sunday’s loss to the Patriots that essentially ended the Broncos’ Super Bowl title defense.
The Denver Broncos almost certainly will not repeat as Super Bowl champions.
The Broncos have not technically been eliminated from playoff contention, but the end feels inevitable after Sunday’s 16-3 loss to the New England Patriots.
So how did Denver go from mounting a title defense to 8-6, with the distinct possibility of finishing 8-8?
Repeating isn’t easy, but several factors have made it impossible for the Broncos. That includes the way they won last season.
Broncos executive vice president of football operations John Elway has become fond of saying he wanted to build a team to win “from now on.”
It turns out the formula the Broncos won with last season — with the league’s best defense routinely making up for a sluggish offense — is not sustainable.
The Broncos needed to be a more complete team to make another title run, yet they became even more lopsided in 2016.
Here are the five biggest issues:
NO SOLID SUCCESSION PLAN FOR POST-MANNING ERA
Though Peyton Manning refused to talk about his potential retirement last season, it became increasingly clear as the season progressed it would be his last in Denver. Either the quarterback would retire (which he ultimately did) or the Broncos would cut him.
So far, Elway’s biggest blunder as general manager is not having a better plan for life after Manning. The Broncos appear to have avoided disaster after being outbid by the Houston Texans on signing Brock Osweiler.
But Trevor Siemian, though he has played several good games, does not look like the team’s longterm answer.
Maybe Elway will wind up being right about Paxton Lynch, whom the Broncos drafted in the first round in April after trading up. But with a championship window open, the Broncos needed a quarterback for 2016 who was ready to win right away.
OFFENSIVE LINE FAILURES
The unit was a liability during the team’s Super Bowl run a year ago, and somehow its play has been even worse this season.
Elway tried to address the position in free agency by signing two tackles — left tackle Russell Okung from the Seattle Seahawks and right tackle Donald Stephenson from the Kansas City Chiefs. Neither move has fixed the pass protection, and run blocking has been an even bigger issue.
The Broncos are happy with young center Matt Paradis, but the other recent draft picks — Ty Sambrailo, who was a healthy scratch Sunday against the Patriots, and Max Garcia — have been slow to develop.
DISAPPOINTING RUN DEFENSE
This facet of the defense took a hit with the free agent departures of lineman Malik Jackson and inside linebacker Danny Trevathan. Running right at the Broncos became the game plan of choice for opponents.
The strength of the Broncos defense is on its edges and in the secondary, and all of its best players could be neutralized by a physical offensive line (like that of the Oakland Raiders) and an offense committed to running the ball (like the Patriots).
LACK OF BIG DEFENSIVE PLAYS
The defense ranks among the league’s best in many major statistical categories, and no group has been better against the pass, thanks to linebacker Von Miller and the “No Fly Zone” secondary.
But something has been missing lately: big, game-changing plays, which the Broncos seemed to make regularly last year.
The Broncos are getting pass pressure, but not the strip-sack. Or they are breaking up passes, but not getting the interception — in their six losses, they haven’t recorded a single pick.
With as limited as Denver has been on offense, it has had to count on defense to provide a big swing. When that doesn’t happen, the Broncos struggle to win.
Denver’s five-year reign atop the division is over, and it wasn’t difficult to see the end coming.
The Kansas City Chiefs were the hottest team at the end of last season, and the Raiders showed they were rising. The two teams left Denver with little room for error, which marked an abrupt shift.
Last December, the Broncos lost back-to-back games in December, but they never found themselves trailing in the division.
Now, the Broncos are 1-4 in the AFC West, with their two remaining games coming against the Chiefs (at Arrowhead Stadium) and at home vs. the Raiders.