The Broncos' streak stays alive as they knock off the Bills on Monday Night in exciting fashion! The last 2 minutes of the game probably took 10 years off my life, especially after seeing Lutz miss the initial game-winning kick. Fortunately, the Bills were unable to count to 11 so the Broncos got another shot and Lutz booted the game-winner right down the middle and beat the Bills in Buffalo for the first time since 2007. Here are my main takeaways:
Defense Once Again Making Plays:
Vance Joseph deserves a lot of credit for the way the defense has turned around. From being the worst defense the first 5 weeks to making Mahomes and Josh Allen look very pedestrian. After turning over the Chiefs 5 times, they forced the Bills into 4 turnovers. Ja'Quan McMillian set the tone as he forced James Cook into a fumble on the first play. After that Allen tossed a pair of interceptions and fumbled a handoff displaying the Bills continuing their trend of not taking care of the ball. The defense has been sensational the last few weeks. One thing that does concern me a little is the run defense. They gave up 192 yards on the ground and the Bills started moving the ball when they started running the ball consistently. That is probably one area that worries me but other than that the defense looks to be heading in the right direction. The 0 sacks by Denver I feel is not an issue because Allen is very mobile and Denver did a good job limiting his opportunities and kept him boxed in most of the night which I feel was more important than racking up sacks.
This Team Finally Has an Identity:
The Broncos are a team that is going to run the ball down your throat and play keep away. When they need to make a splash play, Russell Wilson always seems like he finds a way to make it. One example was the incredible pass to Sutton on 4th down in the second quarter. He also made some off-script plays flipping the ball to Perine when he was on the verge of getting sacked which led to scores in crunch time. Once again, Russ was safe with the football and was efficient with his passes. He had 2 TDs and no INTs putting him at 18-4 for the reason for TD-INT. I would like to see him be a little more aggressive at times and sometimes he does run into sacks but sacks are better than turning the ball over so it is not something I am going to complain about. Regarding their run-first mentality, Mark Schlereth put it perfectly on Colin Coweherd's show, The Herd, on how their style of keep-away forced opposing offenses to press and be more aggressive than they'd like because they understand that their possession count is getting less and less as the game goes on. Sean Payton is changing the culture in Denver and we love to see it.
Primetime!
Now we look ahead to Sunday Night Football. The Minnesota Vikings come to town riding a 5 game win streak and Joshua Dobbs has played extremely well in relief of Kirk Cousins. He has been the story the last few weeks and rightfully so. He's been ballin! The main key for the Broncos is to keep him in the pocket because he has been making plays with his legs in both of his starts. Justin Jefferson will likely be back this game and seeing Surtain line across from him is going to be a whole lot of fun. A few weeks ago people were wondering why this game wasn't flexed out but now...this could be a very entertaining game between 2 teams on winning streaks after slow starts. The Broncos will be rocking their navy blues in front of the home crowd and I expect this team to keep the momentum going winning a tight ball game 27-20. Go Broncos!!
Comentarios