Denver Broncos 2019 Recap

I'm reposting my Broncos preseason outlook here with my postseason comments. I think I was pretty spot-on, if I do say so myself.

The two biggest changes in 2019 are new head coach Vic Fangio and new quarterback Joe Flacco. Fangio has received good reviews thus far, but he's still unproven as a head coach. Flacco has a nice resume, but he's also 34 years old. There were reasons to be concerned about the F&F Connection heading into this year, and certainly Fangio had some rough patches although the strong finish ended talk of a one-and-done season. Flacco's Bronco career ended halfway through his first season due to injury and mediocre performance.

Otherwise, this is more or less the same team that went 6-10 last year. They've added some veteran help in the secondary, so the defense figures to continue to be solid. They succeeded in keeping the Broncos in most games, but often failed to protect late leads. Most of the question marks are on the offensive side. Will the offensive line perform any better? Mmmmm... Will any tight ends be able to stay on the field? Actually, yes. Is Emmanuel Sanders healthy? Yes, but wanted out as soon as it was apparent this bunch was not headed to the playoffs. How will RB Phillip Lindsay perform coming off a Pro Bowl rookie season? Followed up with a second consecutive 1,000 yard season. Will any of their young talent, such as Royce Freeman, Noah Fant, or Courtland Sutton, break through to stardom? Clearly, Sutton was the breakout star this year (72 catches for 1,112 yards) and Fant had some big plays which hinted of great things yet to come.

My guess is that we'll be disappointed in the answers to some of those questions. I will say the answers were more positive than negative. However, if Fangio's leadership and Flacco's experience make a difference, we could be in for a nice surprise. It's not out of the question that we could see their record flip to 10-6 in 2019. And it wasn't - this was a 7-9 team which failed to hold fourth quarter leads in four different games. We could be prepping for a wildcard round trip to Foxborough this weekend if they had held on to a couple of those.

And really, who are the insurmountable threats in the AFC, beyond the Chiefs and the Patriots? As it turns out, the Ravens. Are you really terrified of anyone else? The Ravens. The new-look Jets? Nope. The Titans or Texans? Both made the playoffs this year, but the Broncos shut out the Titans and blew the doors off the Texans in their own building. The Luck-less Colts? Not really, although this was one of those games the Broncos gave away. The Steelers and old man Roethlisberger? Nah. The San Diego Los Angeles Trash Cans? Broncos swept them this year. Some are expecting the Browns to make a leap forward, but are you sure about that? I was pretty sure they were nothing to worry about, and I was correct. Another losing season in the books for Cleveland!

Sure, a couple of really good teams will emerge as the season goes along, but we don't know who those are just yet. The Ravens. So why wouldn't you give the Broncos a shot at a wildcard spot? If not for the slow start, they would have been in the mix until the final weekend.

If they can get to Thanksgiving at 6-5, they're definitely in the mix with three home dates in December. They were 3-8 at Thanksgiving and that's why they weren't in the mix. But if Flacco gets off to a rough start, people are going to get impatient really quick and the Broncos could be drafting in the top 10 next year. Yup - folks were ready for Drew Lock before we even made it to Halloween.

Honestly, I think it seems like this year will be a modest improvement to 8-8. It was a modest improvement to 7-9. They'll look really good at times but will also lose some that they shouldn't, and will likely fall short of the playoffs in what looks to be a tough AFC West. Times when they looked really good: when they led playoff teams Minnesota and Houston at halftime by scores of 20-0 and 31-3. Times when they lost those they shouldn't: losing that same game to Minny, and losing games in the final minute to the Bears, Jaguars, and Colts. The AFC West turned out to be underwhelming outside of the Chiefs. The Broncos finished second.

Overall, it's encouraging to head into the offseason having gone 4-1 in December and not having head coach or quarterback at the top of your priorities. After two consecutive solid drafts, they need to keep bringing in good players regardless of  position. Although I think the offensive line should be among their draft priorities - the free agency route hasn't worked out so well...