The Denver Broncos have one of the best rosters in the NFL. Of this, there is very little doubt. Yet, will a very demanding schedule keep this franchise from making a second consecutive Super Bowl appearance? It will be very interesting to see if Peyton Manning can make back-to-back Super Bowls for the first time in his career.
Strengths
The Broncos’ strength begins with their quarterback and their offense in general. Peyton Manning is one of the greatest regular season quarterbacks in the history of the NFL. His playoff record is spotty and littered with mediocre performances, but over the course of a full season, his consistency has exceeded that of almost anyone who has ever played the game. Manning’s ability to read defenses and display an exhaustive knowledge of tendencies has kept him a step ahead of the competition for a very long time. The Seattle Seahawks figured him out in the Super Bowl, but Manning has vowed to adjust the way he processes plays and surveys the field. He’ll be ready. The Broncos’ offense should be ready, too. An offensive line that was hit hard in the 2013 offseason at the center position was able to find more-than-adequate replacements. The Broncos’ running game was strong, a big source of help to Manning’s passing attack. Denver was so balanced and deep that it was hard for defenses to cheat in terms of stopping either the run or the pass. The Broncos can turn to so many players in both their receiving corps and their stable of running backs for meaningful yards. They are going to continue to be hard to deal with. On defense, their secondary has been improved by the signing of Aqib Talib from the rival New England Patriots. Having Talib is valuable, but what’s also big is simply that New England won’t have him.
Weaknesses
The Broncos fell into a dangerous patch last season when injuries cut into their pass-rushing defensive ends and their linebackers. Denver became highly vulnerable in the middle third of the field both in terms of length and width. Covering receivers in medium-depth routes while also policing the middle of the field between the hashmarks became problems for the Broncos. New England was able to expose this deficiency in the regular season meeting between the two teams. The Broncos can be very fragile on defense, and it’s mostly at the speed positions, along with the back seven. The front four is pretty strong. Backups on the defensive line were able to play very well against New England in the AFC Championship Game, so there’s a lot of depth which can help the team for stretches of two to three games. In general, though, defense and the specific area of pass coverage are where this team might find problems in 2014.
Schedule
The schedule is nasty. Playing Seattle and San Francisco is the biggest headache for Denver, but the Broncos also play a number of tough non-division AFC games on the road, specifically New England (the second seed in the AFC playoffs last season) and Cincinnati (the third seed). There are so many places where this team can trip up.
Outlook
The Broncos could be the top seed in the AFC and yet not hit the over. The AFC could be very bunched up this season, with a lot of the top teams winning 10-12 games and the wild cards having 10 wins as well. The key for Denver, if it wants to get to 12 wins, is to at least beat San Francisco at home. However, the 49ers seem to be much too strong for the Broncos. The NFC’s best teams are likely to beat them and keep them under the total.
Pick: Under 11.5
