Kansas City Chiefs: 2019 predictions for the rest of the AFC West
By Cullen Jekel
Denver Broncos
2018 Record: 6-10
Key Player: Von Miller, OLB
The Broncos doubled-down on their team identity when they hired Vic Fangio as the team’s new head coach. Fangio, a defensive coordinator for 19 seasons, including the past four with the Bears, inherits a defense with the exciting young pass rusher Bradley Chubb. Fangio also inherited one of the pass rushers in today’s game, if not the best: Von Miller.
Miller enters 2019 with 98 career sacks. Outside of the 2013 season in which he played only nine games due to injury, Miller has collected double-digit sacks in each year of his career, including 14.5 last season.
For the Denver Broncos to have any sort of (outside) chance at reaching the playoffs this year, Miller has to keep it up, especially against divisional quarterbacks Rivers, Carr, and Patrick Mahomes.
Swing Game: Week 8, at Indianapolis Colts
As I have it playing out, the Broncos will be 3-4 entering this Week 8 match-up on the road against the Colts. Initially, I had this down as a loss for Denver. But after the recent news of Andrew Luck’s sudden retirement, I’m less than certain about that. Still, the Colts are good team, solidly built albeit now with a major question mark at the quarterback position.
But the Broncos also have a major question at that same position. Flacco lost his starting gig in Baltimore as much for his recent performance as for injury. He has at his disposal some decent weapons in Phillip Lindsay, Royce Freeman, Emmanuel Sanders and Courtland Sutton, but with that same arsenal last year and a similar quarterback, Denver only went 6-10.
This Week 8 game will be big. It will either put the Broncos at .500 with a chance at going into their Week 10 open week at 5-4, or they drop this one, falling further into the hole at 3-5. Despite Luck’s retirement, I’m still going with the Colts.
And this may be the one loss that keeps the Broncos out of the playoffs. After this defeat, I have the Broncos finishing 5-3 with four home wins at home and another on the road, in Buffalo. But they’ll come up just short of the Wild Card.