2013 Denver Broncos
Denver is, absolutely and completely, the class of the AFC West. There are no teams even close to them in talent, and their floor is even better than the next team’s highest ceiling. With Peyton Manning leading the way, the Broncos started out 2-3 before reeling off 11 wins in a row to finish 2012 with a 13-3 record and the top seed in the AFC. Winning the division does not matter to this team anymore; now, they are all in for something greater. John Elway has helped construct a team that could bring Denver its first Super Bowl victory since he won it, the biggest acquisition this offseason being former rival Patriot wide receiver Wes Welker. Manning loves throwing to the slot man in three-receiver sets, and he just landed the best one in the business. Welker’s new receiving brothers each broke out last year in Denver, and Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker are looking to keep improving in Year Two of Peyton. The Broncos drafted college running back Montee Ball, touchdown extraordinaire, to bring even more firepower to the offense via the ground game. 2013 really is Super Bowl or bust for Denver; remember, this team was a blown coverage away from hosting the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game last year, and could have easily been playing for the Lombardi Trophy. Instead, the game ended up being just another loss for Peyton Manning in the postseason, leading to another offseason of regret and disappointment. The Broncos have the inside track to once again be the AFC’s number one seed, and if they do land that spot, it will be interesting to see of Denver could seal the deal this time.
Schedule
The Denver schedule is no pushover, and is full of primetime games against top tier opponents. The Broncos begin the season hosting the defending champion Ravens, then travel to New York for another Manning Bowl against Eli and the Giants, incidentally at the stadium where the Super Bowl will be held. Hm. Foreshadowing, anyone? Most of their toughest games are on the road as well, including trips to Dallas, Houston, New England (Manning vs Brady! Nothing like it), and, of course, Indianapolis. I covered Peyton’s return in the Indianapolis preview, but to reiterate, I am incredibly excited for that game, which is on Sunday Night Football, 10/20. Manning vs Luck is something everyone has been wanting to see, and I think it will be one of those 35-31 shootout kind of games where everyone is just so caught up with each quarterback going back and forth waiting for one of them to blink and it will come down to the last four minutes and everyone will be so excited and unable to breathe and the pace of the game will be pretty much like the pace of this sentence. Can’t wait. Let’s see what’s in store for Denver this season.
Week 1: W vs BAL (they will not let the Ravens slip away again)
Week 2: L at NYG (more foreshadowing?...)
Week 3: W vs OAK
Week 4: W vs PHI
Week 5: L at DAL (don’t know why, I just think this will be a crazy Romo game)
Week 6: W vs JAC
Week 7: W at IND (like I said: Peyton is still the king in Indy)
Week 8: W vs WAS
Week 9: Bye
Week 10: W at SD
Week 11: W vs KC
Week 12: W at NE (F U BRADY)
Week 13: L at KC (Chiefs will be competitive this year)
Week 14: W vs TEN
Week 15: W vs SD
Week 16: L at HOU
Week 17: W at OAK (L if they rest starters, have 1 seed clinched)
So I think the Broncos will be solid enough to again reach the 12 win plateau, if not exceed it. They might fall down to 11 wins if they have the 1 seed locked up already going into that game (which, if my predictions are correct, they will), but that will still be plenty fine enough to win the division and the conference. The AFC is way down this year, especially at the bottom, but even the top teams are not truly elite. Denver is the best this conference has, and they will have another chance to have home field advantage throughout the playoffs and to punch their ticket to the Super Bowl.
Bold Prediction: Not much too bold about this team, so I’ll give you my stat lines for the 3 receivers and see how close I get.
Welker: 101 rec, 1,226 yds, 7 TD
Decker: 68 rec, 976 yds, 11 TD
Thomas: 81 rec, 1,388 yds, 10 TD
Total: 250 rec, 3,590 yds, 28 TD. Wow.
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