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2015-16: The Denver Broncos Thread

How Far Will the Denver Broncos Go in 2015?


  • Total voters
    26
  • Poll closed .

MHSL82

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As explained in the Team-by-Team Thread, I am planning on making a thread every four days for a different team. The first few posts will be questions, requests for predictions, etc. There will be a poll unless I don't feel like making one. Some teams are less interesting than others. Please participate in posting articles, predictions, etc.

Last Year: The Denver Broncos Thread

This Year So Far:

1. The New England Patriots Thread
2. The Seattle Seahawks Thread
3. The Indianapolis Colts Thread
4. The Green Bay Packers Thread
5. The Baltimore Ravens Thread
6. The Carolina Panthers Thread
7. The Denver Broncos Thread
 

MHSL82

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Ryan Clady down - does not look good.....

If I had posted this thread first, I would have felt bad that I might have caused it. ;) Maybe not starting this thread earlier caused it?
 

NWPATSFAN

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Clady out, Manning I'm guessing still not 100% (I could be proven wrong), Shane Ray was a great pick up but the rest of the draftwas just so so for me, status of Welker, Thomas contract issues... A lot of other AFC teams improved more. Combine all that with a tough schedule and if I had to bet? I'm betting they miss the playoffs as we look at it today.
 

Southieinnc

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Clady out, Manning I'm guessing still not 100% (I could be proven wrong), Shane Ray was a great pick up but the rest of the draftwas just so so for me, status of Welker, Thomas contract issues... A lot of other AFC teams improved more. Combine all that with a tough schedule and if I had to bet? I'm betting they miss the playoffs as we look at it today.

Not sure I agree. Who is going to bump Denver? A gut feeling that all is not well is understandable but the other teams are not better.
 

JMR

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Well, I guess if you're looking for a silver lining with this Clady thing, it's better that it happened now so they have time to work in the replacement. Would be a lot worse for them if we were like 2 days from the season opener.
 

Broncosr0k

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Clady out, Manning I'm guessing still not 100% (I could be proven wrong), Shane Ray was a great pick up but the rest of the draftwas just so so for me, status of Welker, Thomas contract issues... A lot of other AFC teams improved more. Combine all that with a tough schedule and if I had to bet? I'm betting they miss the playoffs as we look at it today.

Who will take our place?
Chiefs: No passing TD last year. Maclin, a deep receiver, will not help Smith if he cannot or will not throw a deep ball.
Chargers: Possible. They have some talent so but they also struggle with consistency of late.
Raiders: They are the raiders

Early reports have Manning performing well so I don't think health will be the issue early on. A bigger issue will be if the new schemes work out. Going run heavy on offense with zone blocking, making Manning start behind center or in a pistol formation, 3-4 defense.

Losing Clady sucks but we did make the SB without him and we still have his replacement for that year on the team. Better to make line adjustments now instead of September.

Overall, I think the broncos are going to be under the radar for a lot of people. I think the win the division but not by beating teams 42-28 like the past couple of years. I don't think the division rivals have done enough to catch up to the broncos just yet. The homer in me says a loss in the AFCCG.

As for the AFC competition, Patriots will find a way to be good like always. Ravens are flirting with getting back in the top-tier category. Colts have not done much to fix that defense (unless I missed something). I think Irsay is going to make the same mistakes with Luck that he did with Manning in he will go all offense.

There is not a team in the AFC that strikes me as dominant so far, but it is very early.
 

cdumler7

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The silver lining in the Clady situation is that the Broncos made the Super Bowl in the year he went down week 2. At least this time around they have an entire off season to figure out his replacement. Throw in they did draft a guy in the 2nd round that played a ton of LT for one of the better offenses in college football this past year. They also still have the guy that replaced Clady who finished with a better grade on PFF in 2013 than Clady did for the Broncos this past season. Clady played last year hurt and wasn't his dominant self. 5 years ago this is like the Broncos losing an All-Pro talent. Now just not sure what Clady would have been as he was still good but not dominant.

As for the team I could see them go either way. With a brand new coaching staff and new offensive and defensive schemes being put in they could either really take things up another notch or could really struggle with all the new adjustments. Manning's arm is obviously a question mark but I would have worried more about it under the Fox regime than I do this one as Gase refused to run the football for a long time. It took John Elway coming down and telling him to "Run the Damn Ball!" Why this was such a foreign concept to an OC is beyond me.

As with every team in the NFL the Broncos have question marks. Obviously the homer in me picked for the Broncos to win the Super Bowl but I honestly have no expectations of what is going to happen this year. At least that way I can't be disappointed if they fail and will be overjoyed if they succeed.
 

HammerDown

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Well, I guess if you're looking for a silver lining with this Clady thing, it's better that it happened now so they have time to work in the replacement. Would be a lot worse for them if we were like 2 days from the season opener.

Kinda like what Yogi said. :D

"The sooner you fall behind, the more time you have to catch up!"
 

NEhomer

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....hey, are we allowed to talk about football again? Lol!

You guys are pretty spot on. I think that both the Pats and Broncs are question marks until we see a few games but they're going to remain the two top dogs til someone knocks 'em off.
 

TDs3nOut

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Clady is certainly a key loss, but as others have mentioned, better to know now that he is lost than it would have been later on.

Also agree that the Broncos have other question marks (Manning's health and how well he fits into the new offense), but there are no clear favorites to replace them as one of the top AFC teams (along with NE and Indy).

One thing I'm really looking forward to this year is what I'm hoping will be a more aggressive defense. I really think that other than NT, which could be a big problem, Denver has the personnel (both players and coaches) to have a formidable 3-4 defense. Hopefully, Sylvester Williams, Marvin Austin, and the rookie Darius Kilgo will at least suffice at the NT position. That happens, and we have some luck avoiding key injuries, I think that Denver might have its best defense in quite some time.
 

NWPATSFAN

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Not sure I agree. Who is going to bump Denver? A gut feeling that all is not well is understandable but the other teams are not better.
I think KC has a chance as far as the division goes. If they were to get past a division round any other conference team still in I feel will have a better chance of winning? Who lnows it will be interesting to see what the new style offense looks like? If it's a more run centric offense, I don't think they can ground and pound against Bal, Pit, Cle, NE, Hou or Jac?
 

Southieinnc

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I think KC has a chance as far as the division goes. If they were to get past a division round any other conference team still in I feel will have a better chance of winning? Who lnows it will be interesting to see what the new style offense looks like? If it's a more run centric offense, I don't think they can ground and pound against Bal, Pit, Cle, NE, Hou or Jac?

They won't have to win with a rushing attack. They just need more balance. A decent rushing attack and this team wins the division - with Peyton.....
 

cdumler7

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I think KC has a chance as far as the division goes. If they were to get past a division round any other conference team still in I feel will have a better chance of winning? Who lnows it will be interesting to see what the new style offense looks like? If it's a more run centric offense, I don't think they can ground and pound against Bal, Pit, Cle, NE, Hou or Jac?

You do realize that Baltimore 2 years ago was considered the worst rushing team in the league. Kubiak shows up in town and they end up being the 3rd best rushing team in the league. What the Broncos did last year is not how you can judge this team. It is why there are so many question marks of what is going to happen to the Broncos this season in this new coaching staff could either reignite this team and take them to another level or we could see them fall from the top tier of teams in the league. To say they can't ground and pound though is not looking at the full picture of what they have tried to do this off season.
 

Tgann69

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You do realize that Baltimore 2 years ago was considered the worst rushing team in the league. Kubiak shows up in town and they end up being the 3rd best rushing team in the league. What the Broncos did last year is not how you can judge this team. It is why there are so many question marks of what is going to happen to the Broncos this season in this new coaching staff could either reignite this team and take them to another level or we could see them fall from the top tier of teams in the league. To say they can't ground and pound though is not looking at the full picture of what they have tried to do this off season.

But Baltimore also had its two top rushers injured most of the season as well as slot of guys upfront. But I agree Kubiak can get it working in Denver.
 

cdumler7

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But Baltimore also had its two top rushers injured most of the season as well as slot of guys upfront. But I agree Kubiak can get it working in Denver.

Well I can agree to a point but everywhere Kubiak has gone the run game has improved dramatically. When he left Denver even though they still ran the same system they still saw a decline.
 

NWPATSFAN

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You do realize that Baltimore 2 years ago was considered the worst rushing team in the league. Kubiak shows up in town and they end up being the 3rd best rushing team in the league. What the Broncos did last year is not how you can judge this team. It is why there are so many question marks of what is going to happen to the Broncos this season in this new coaching staff could either reignite this team and take them to another level or we could see them fall from the top tier of teams in the league. To say they can't ground and pound though is not looking at the full picture of what they have tried to do this off season.
It's not solely based on whether or not the Broncos will be effective as a run team. It has to do with the teams I mentioned D that can control even the best running teams. As I had mentioned early on, anything can still happen. It is way too early. This is my opinion based on where everyone are sitting today. You also have to account for what they did last year because that's all we have (-) moves made in the offseason and unfortunately injuries. Granted last year doesn't matter come week 1.
 

cdumler7

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It's not solely based on whether or not the Broncos will be effective as a run team. It has to do with the teams I mentioned D that can control even the best running teams. As I had mentioned early on, anything can still happen. It is way too early. This is my opinion based on where everyone are sitting today. You also have to account for what they did last year because that's all we have (-) moves made in the offseason and unfortunately injuries. Granted last year doesn't matter come week 1.

What happened last year matters some but like I said completely new coaching staffs on both sides of the ball. That means brand new schemes so what worked last year maybe doesn't work this year and what didn't work now maybe does. This is why I mentioned that everywhere Kubiak has gone he has brought a top-10 rush offense to the table. Now yes those teams you mentioned can stop the run and maybe they do stop the Broncos. None of us know right now. Maybe you are right and the Broncos really struggle this year and maybe I am right and they are right there with the best of the AFC. Only time will tell. Like you said this is just everybody's opinions and starting week 1 all of our opinions mean jack squat.
 

Southieinnc

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maybe I am right and they are right there with the best of the AFC. Only time will tell. Like you said this is just everybody's opinions and starting week 1 all of our opinions mean jack squat.

I still think it's ludicrous that Denver falls on its face and the Kansas Diego Raiders win the division.....
 

NWPATSFAN

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What happened last year matters some but like I said completely new coaching staffs on both sides of the ball. That means brand new schemes so what worked last year maybe doesn't work this year and what didn't work now maybe does. This is why I mentioned that everywhere Kubiak has gone he has brought a top-10 rush offense to the table. Now yes those teams you mentioned can stop the run and maybe they do stop the Broncos. None of us know right now. Maybe you are right and the Broncos really struggle this year and maybe I am right and they are right there with the best of the AFC. Only time will tell. Like you said this is just everybody's opinions and starting week 1 all of our opinions mean jack squat.
Agreed. But I don't think they will "struggle"? Guess that really depends on your definition for struggle is?
For example if the Faiders made the playoffs and got eliminated in the first game they had a very successful year?
Now you take teams that are always competing who either miss the playoffs or get bounced in round one, that in my mind is considered an unsuccessful year.
I think Denver can make the playoffs but as it stands today won't get past the first round. unsuccesful year for them I will say yes. But I wouldn't call it a struggle if they went 8-8 or less and didn't make the playoffs. If that makes sense?
 
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