Kansas City Chiefs: Behind Enemy Lines With The Denver Broncos
Denver’s Offense
The Broncos have struggled at QB since Manning left. Has Keenum been what you guys hoped or expected through three games this season?
SB: The Broncos have indeed struggled at quarterback since Peyton Manning left, and their plight of 2015 at the position even with Manning was memorable. It’s been since 2014 the Broncos had inspiring quarterback play and so far, Keenum has left something to be desired.
The first week of the season was a whirlwind of both very good and very bad from Keenum, but the Broncos won so no one cared. The second week got off to a slow start, but Keenum helped orchestrate a comeback and again, no one really cared. After he struggled against Baltimore, I think people started coming to grips with the fact that he certainly hasn’t been what they’d hoped for but perhaps was closer to the low end of expectations.
Denver has a pair of young running backs that look promising. How have they done so far and what are expectations for them this season and beyond?
SB: The play of the young running backs has been incredible. Both Royce Freeman and Phillip Lindsay look like they could be backs in the NFL for a long time. They are just such smart players. They both play their roles really well. The expectation throughout the rest of the season is that both guys will continue to improve and become even bigger pieces of the offense, which already ranks near the top of the NFL in total rushing yards.
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The offensive line has improved this season, but how much?
SB: Based on the past few years, the improvements made on the offensive line have been substantial. Garett Bolles played maybe the worst game of his NFL career against the Baltimore Ravens, but that shouldn’t wipe out just how good these guys have been this year, especially in comparison to the past few seasons. The Broncos made the adjustment coaching-wise of bringing in someone to coach specifically the tackles (Chris Strausser) and someone to coach the interior linemen (Sean Kugler) and so far, that has worked out very well.
How are the wide receivers looking so far with Keenum? Rookies and veterans?
SB: No one has benefit more from Keenum’s presence than Emmanuel Sanders, who is clearly his favorite target and looks reborn this season after an injury-riddled 2017. The position as a whole gets a huge boost though, as Keenum is at least capable of spreading the ball around and he’s done that well. He’s helped get a lot of different players involved. The only playmaker that doesn’t have a touch in the passing game so far through three games is DaeSean Hamilton.