Parker Gabriel, Broncos beat reporter: Alright, gents, the Broncos have hit the quarter pole. Or, they will after 15 minutes against the Jets — thanks, 17-game season. Head coach Sean Payton said at the beginning of the season that the first quarter is a sprint to figure out who you are and how to get better. So, who are the Broncos? What have we learned? The options here are plentiful. Dreadful defense? Actually good, dangerous special teams? But one result so far that’s surprised me is who Denver is not: the rushing-based offense that we heard all offseason Payton wanted to oversee. The Broncos are at 63% passing so far this season, which is a top-five mark in the NFL. They’ve yet to run for more than 122 yards in a game. Some of that is game-flow dependent. You’re not going to pound the rock after Miami hangs its eighth touchdown on the board. Even still, after Sunday’s win against the Bears, Payton said running the ball is going to be this offense’s DNA. But, like, when?
Ryan McFadden, Broncos beat reporter: There are a lot of things we have learned about the Broncos through four weeks. First, quarterback Russell Wilson is the least of Denver’s on-field issues. Wilson has been one of the best quarterbacks in the league thus far and has the stats to prove it. He has 1,014 passing yards, nine touchdowns and two interceptions. Wilson’s second-half performance against Chicago, in which he willed the Broncos to a 21-point comeback win, reminded me of vintage Russ from the Seattle days. With that said, it’s going to be interesting to see how the Broncos handle the Wilson situation moving forward. He has played to a high level, special teams have been solid and wide receiver Marvin Mims Jr. looks like a future star. But they are not going to win a ton of games if the defense doesn’t drastically improve. Denver has been one of the worst defenses in the NFL and had Justin Fields looking like Patrick Mahomes.
It’s actually crazy to see Denver’s defense fall off the way it has since they were a formidable unit last season. Yeah, it’s still early but a lot of the Broncos defensive issues have come from the lack of speed at certain spots. It’s like Denver made a deal with the football gods to fix its offense but had to give up defensive success in return. If the Broncos don’t fix their issues on defense, they could be staring at a top-five pick in the 2024 draft. And if that indeed happens, the Broncos will have tough decisions to make in terms of the direction they want to take, especially when Wilson is playing at the level he has been.
Sean Keeler, columnist: Let’s see: According to longtime statnik Aaron Schatz, papa of DVOA, or Defense-Adjusted Value Over Average, the Orange and Blue rank 13th in offensive DVOA, 32nd in defensive DVOA and seventh in special-teams DVOA. They’re 10th in passing yards per game (237.8) and in points per drive (2.26) while also being dead-last in rushing defense (176.0 allowed per game!) and in points allowed per opponent drive (3.55). So basically, they’re the NFL version of the CU Buffs, only without Shedeur Sanders’ clutch DNA, without the frenetic Sean Lewis pace on offense and with fewer celebrities coming out to watch their games. Unless that defense gets cleaned up or Vance Joseph gets shipped out, that second half against the miserable Bears was false hope personified. And Sean Payton knows it.
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