Offense Needs Work To Advance
Trevor Phipps
Well now that the 2025 regular NFL season is officially over, Broncos’ fans can rejoice with their team sitting on the number one seed throne – at least for now. But not only did the team tie for the best record in the NFL, they tied a franchise record with the most wins in a season.
In fact, the Broncos haven’t picked up 14 wins at all this century as the last time they won that many regular season games occurred back in the John Elway and Terrell Davis days in 1998. And during that season, the Broncos went on to win Super Bowl XXXIII against the Atlanta Falcons 34-19.
And with their number one seed, the Broncos may have earned the best gift the post season can offer: the challenge to force their opponents to win in the Mile High City in January. The team has won eight games at home this year. Most media insiders agree that Denver’s 12th man has been louder and crazier than ever this season.
On the good side, the Broncos’ defense has been stellar throughout the year and they will be what gives Denver a fighting chance through the postseason. At the end of the regular season, the Broncos’ defense finished in second place in the league, only allowing only 278.2 yards per game. The only team that excelled that mark was the Houston Texans, which allowed a yard less on average than the Broncos.
The Broncos also led the league in sacks with a total of 68 for the season. Linebacker Nik Bonitto was responsible for 14 of those which put him in 5th place in the NFL for sacking the QB
However, as we all know the bad part has been the Broncos’ poor, struggling offense. They only rank around 10th in the league offensively, and we have seen how they can struggle getting into the end zone for the last three weeks. In fact, during the last day of the regular season, none of the four teams in the AFC West scored a single offensive touchdown.
Their poor offensive production and their wins by thin margins have kept the naysayers going. Nobody seems to respect this team in the NFL world, and honestly, I think it’s easy to see why.
And actually, the Broncos are even more despised by their opponents as they seem to either squeak by or get lucky to play against a backup QB. After the Chargers’ (without starting QB Justin Herbert) devastating loss against the Broncos in Week 18, several Charger players expressed no love for their rival team, as they walked into the locker room,
“They suck, bro,” Chargers defensive back Tony Jefferson said. “I don’t care. I have no respect for them. I don’t like nobody on the Broncos. Broncos suck.”
Of course, only time will tell what the Broncos can pull off. But I think I have to join the critics on this one and say that I’m not very optimistic about the Broncos’ playoff future.
Advancing to the AFC Championship Match
This one is pretty easy because every sports analyst has been saying it for weeks: They need to improve on offense. It’s hard to have a defense carry a team all the way to the Super Bowl. Especially since they will most likely be facing other teams with top-notch defenses.
But I will go a step even further and say yes the offense needs to improve, and that includes everyone. I am tired of seeing Bo Nix freeze in the pocket like a statue and try to throw passes to me in Woodland Park while he is playing in Denver.
But I also don’t like to see so many dropped passes from our star wide receiver Courtland Sutton. The running game has been decent, but they need to stop calling plays that get stopped at the line of scrimmage constantly.
Now this takes me to the play calling. Like I have been saying all year, Sean Payton needs to get better. I keep seeing these short blind screen passes that never seem to work. I think we need just a little trickery going forward.
And even though the defense has been stellar, they still have been lacking in one major category: turnovers. The defense needs to get better at taking away the ball and winning the turnover battle especially when they have a QB that likes to lob passes in the air and get picks.
Without improvements in these areas, you can bet local Broncos’ fans will only get to see one postseason game in the Mile High City. Step it up Broncos, don’t ruin your best season in over two decades during the first playoff match!
