Will Jeudy get more involved in offense?
Q >> OK, we’ve won five in a row and every week we look a little stronger. I have a couple of questions: 1. Jerry Jeudy barely got his number called against the Browns. Do you think he’ll be more involved next week or will Russell Wilson just keep doing short passes to the running backs or the occasional deep toss to Courtland Sutton? And 2. The Broncos allowed like five yards a carry against the Browns. Do you think Houston will come out with a run-heavy offense early? It seems like that’s been our issue all year, but not too many teams have been trying to run hard against us lately. — Mike, Denver
PARKER >> Jeudy’s been steady but hasn’t put up big numbers over the course of this winning streak. Two catches on three targets for 11 yards Sunday was his lowest output of the season. No Broncos receiver has put up big yardage numbers this year — Sutton’s got the touchdown machine rolling, though — so it’s hard to say when Jeudy or anybody else is going to truly go off. If you’re throwing darts, this would be a good week for it, though. Houston’s allowed the sixth-most passing yards in the NFL this year (252 per game) and is stingier against the run (ninth at 95.1 yards per game allowed). Still, I wouldn’t expect Payton and company to get too far away from what’s been working for them in recent weeks.
Here’s a good time to point this out: One element of Denver’s recent surge that’s gone perhaps under-appreciated is the quality of defenses they’ve faced in recent weeks. By EPA/ play, Cleveland is No. 1, Kansas City is No. 5, Minnesota is No. 11 and Buffalo is No. 13. Meanwhile, their next three are on the road and certainly none is a walk in the park, though defensively Houston is No. 21, the Chargers are No. 27 (yuck) and Detroit is No. 15.
As for Houston, it wouldn’t surprise me if they tried to establish the run. Minnesota didn’t have much of a ground game but ran wild over the Broncos. One key difference:
The Vikings were playing a quarterback who’d been with the team for two weeks and the Texans have an MVP candidate in C. J. Stroud. So sure, they may try to run it more than usual, but you can bet head coach Demeco Ryans and offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik will put the game in the hands of their young, budding star quarterback.
Q >> P. J. Locke looked like he was everywhere Sunday. Is he the starter for the rest of the year as long as he’s healthy or will he split time with Kareem Jackson when he’s back from his suspension? — Marshall, Parker
PARKER >> Locke’s played well every time he’s been on the field this year and played his best game Sunday against the Browns. When he first came off of injured reserve, the staff clearly had Jackson in front of him as he worked mostly in spot duty.
I was interested to see how they’d handle the playing time when Jackson returned from his suspension, but Locke hurt his ankle and didn’t play against Minnesota.
Now Jackson’s suspended again. If Locke continues to play well and Denver keeps winning, it’s going to be tough to take him off the field when Jackson’s suspension ends before that Christmas Eve game against New England.
Maybe they’ll feel like they can get Locke a little bit of rest or maybe they’ll run into more injury issues, but there’s a long way to go still before they’re accounting for working Jackson back into the mix.