It doesn't get any easier does it?
The Denver Broncos, rattled by injury and coming off a blowout loss to a division rival, have to face a Dolphins team that's coming red hot off a five game winning streak and have the best overall scoring defense in the NFL. Because... why not?
I'm going to be frank... it'll probably take a miracle for the Broncos to get an upset. Is it possible? Yes. Any given Sunday, any team can play up to a challenge. But the odds are against the Broncos on this one, which can be said for the majority of the games they've played this year. The first reason is obvious. The Broncos have so many starters out that it just seems like every game is a fight for survival. The second is that the Broncos just seem outmatched. The Dolphins are mostly healthy and have most of their starters. The only questionable starter going into the week was Kyle Van Noy. But now he seems ready to go. Can the Broncos go toe-to-toe? One can only hope.
Another area of concern is quarterback. Drew Lock suffered severe bruising on his ribs against the Raiders. The Broncos limited Drew early, but as the week went on, he appeared to be practicing more and more and he seems fine. It's likely he's going to start, but don't rule out Brett Rypien being in option just in case Drew Lock keeps getting pummeled. And vice versa if Rypien were to start. Either way, Drew and the offense need a bounce back performance. Unfortunately, they don't get to face a bad defense that should be easy pickings. They get a defense engineered by Brian Flores, a man who knows how to limit white hot offenses. Pat Shurmur will need to make things easy for his quarterback, regardless of who's under center. One thing that needs to happen is re-establishing the run game. Everyone has been screaming from the mountain tops to give Philip Lindsay more touches. It's that when he gets the rock, good things happen for the Broncos. They need to do all they can to keep their quarterback out of harm's way. At this point the Broncos just need to see some progression to show that steps are being taken to get better.
Defensively, the Broncos aren't exactly facing the Cardinals or Bucs. Not to say that the Dolphins have a bad offense. Rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has done a great job taken the reigns of a team with playoff aspirations. Ryan Fitzpatrick did a good job getting the team to a 3-3 record before Tua became the starter. He had two monster games against the Jets and 49ers, make of that what you will. The timing to name Tua the guy was puzzling to some, myself included. Many figured he'd only come in during blowouts, an injury to Fitzpatrick, or if the season was lost. But it seems to have worked so far as the Dolphins are right in the thick of the race. Tua Tagovailoa isn't a world beater yet, but he's done a good job running the offense. They're good enough to win games. The Broncos will have to do all they can to make Tua uncomfortable. Vic Fangio is good against rookie quarterbacks and he'll need his defense to be at it's best despite their circumstances.
The Broncos clinging to life by a thread. Playoffs are not likely, but the Broncos can at least inspire some confidence for the future. At this point, the 2021 Denver Broncos will depend on the next seven games. This will be the last time fans will be allowed in Mile High this season, so let's hope they get a proper send off.
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