Are they any good? That’s the question that should be the topic of conversation during the next two weeks in Denver. Leading up to the regular-season opener, the city should be debating whether or not the Broncos are a legit contender.
But it won’t happen. For the most part, onlookers will be drinking the orange Kool-Aid, buying into the notion that the team is a threat to the Chiefs in the AFC West and a possible Super Bowl contender.
Those two ideas aren’t necessarily outside the realm of possibilities. Either one could happen. But to suggest that those scenarios are likely is overly optimistic, to put it mildly.
The argument for the positive outcomes happening is relatively simple. The Broncos won 10 games last year and they improved during the offseason. So, 10-plus is a foregone conclusion.
It is true that they improved. Evan Engram is an upgrade at tight end. J.K. Dobbins and R.J. Harvey should jumpstart the running game. And Dre Greenlaw and Talanoa Hufanga are playmakers added to an already talented defense.
Throw in a head coach with a championship on his resume, plus a quarterback who won’t be learning the NFL ropes as a rookie, and it all makes sense. A 10-7 team got better, so the sky is the limit in 2025.
There’s just one problem with that theory. It’s based on the belief that the Broncos were a legit 10-win team last year. It’s predicated on Denver not being a fluke a season ago.
Unfortunately, there are plenty of reasons to be skeptical of last year’s results. Of their 10 wins, eight came against non-playoff teams and one was gift-wrapped by a squad that was actively trying to lose in Week 18. Only a Week 3 victory at Tampa Bay was even borderline impressive, against a Buccaneers team that won the somebody-has-to-finish-first NFC South.
When the Broncos played good teams, they lost. The Seahawks, Steelers, Chargers (twice), Ravens, non-JV edition of the Chiefs and Bengals all beat them in the regular season, while the Bills dispatched of them 31-7 in the playoffs.
In other words, there’s not a lot of evidence that Denver was ready to hang with the best of the best on a weekly basis last season. There’s plenty to suggest they still can’t.
The just-completed preseason didn’t offer much in the way of confidence-building results. Yes, the Broncos went 3-0, but they did so in unimpressive fashion.
In the exhibition opener, Denver’s starters struggled against the 49ers backups. Last week saw the Broncos reserves beat the Cardinals twos, threes and fours. And Saturday was another sputtering show against the Saints, a team likely to be in the Arch Manning sweepstakes all season.
Yes, Bo Nix led the offense to 10 points on three drives on Saturday, going 10-of-14 for 110 yards and a touchdown in the process. But it was far from impressive.
The quarterback missed wide-open receivers, got his biggest completion on a designed rollout that was more about play design than a great throw and got in the end zone largely because of a great catch by Courtland Sutton. In other words, the numbers don’t tell an accurate story.
And they haven’t all preseason. In his two appearances, Nix has largely completed checkdown throws and swing passes. When he’s gone down the field, he’s been very inconsistent.
That’s mostly against backups. That doesn’t bode well heading into a 17-game gauntlet against some really good teams.
In addition, the Broncos still haven’t found much of a ground attack. Their longest run, 18 yards, against the Niners was by backup QB Jarrett Stidham. Their longest on Saturday, 19 yards, came on a scamper by third-string quarterback Sam Ehlinger.
Harvey had three carries for four yards against the Saints. The rookie has averaged just 3.6 yards per rush in the preseason. Meanwhile, Dobbins is yet to see the field. So the two backs charged with getting the Broncos rushing attack on track haven’t exactly shown that they’re up to the task.
In addition, Denver’s much-ballyhooed defense hasn’t lived up to the hype. They gave up a touchdown in their opening drive of action against the 49ers backups and surrendered two field goals to the Spencer Rattler-led Saints.
Add it all up and the jury should still be out on the Broncos.
Could they be good this year? Of course. But there isn’t any evidence to backup that claim, aside from the laughable “they’ve looked good in camp” claims. (NOTE: Every team looks good in training camp)
It’s fine to be optimistic about the season. That’s the fun of sports. But a little dose of reality is also good.
Ten wins isn’t automatic for the Broncos in 2025. At least not based on anything they’ve shown on the field.