The 2024 Denver Broncos W-L Prediction Thread

[iknowftbll]

See I said 7 at best and we are at 7!

Yup so any additional wins from this point forward are gravy for you and your Thanksgiving turkey. For those of us who believed in this team we still have work to do!

 

[Mingo]

11 wins baby - almost there.

 

[58crash]

If we won KC I would have had a chance at 12 wins

 

[LGM]

Still looking like 8-9/9-8 to me.

 

[SpringStein]

See I said 7 at best and we are at 7!

Anyone doing better than me?!

 

[Draft Crazy]

Anyone doing better than me?!

Might be time to change your Simmons avatar in for a Bonitto?

 

[LGM]

Still looking like 8-9/9-8 to me.

Like I said, looking like 9-8/10-7 to me.

 

[Draft Crazy]

Good job LGM

 

[SpringStein]

Might be time to change your Simmons avatar in for a Bonitto?

After the season. This year is for Justin! (Whose heart is still in Denver)

 

[Orange Crush77]

Might be time to change your Simmons avatar in for a Bonitto?

Send me some

 

[58crash]

I am jealous of pump fakes avatar ....
Mims is going to be our best player soon enough . just saying .

 

[Draft Crazy]

After the season. This year is for Justin! (Whose heart is still in Denver)

Sounds good. I probably need to go back to Mims but Mingo missed my dog.

 

[Draft Crazy]

Send me some

Heart or avatars?

 

[Orange Crush77]

Heart or avatars?

Both

 

[femurovjr]

It's been a while since I've predicted a complete schedule. Maybe the post-Manning years just took the fun away. Despite the O/U for this team being at 5.5 wins I am actually more excited about this season than I have been in a long time. I can partially understand the "experts" being down on this team. National media does the bare minimum when it comes to analyzing teams that aren't among their favorites. Even when the Broncos are good they tend to be overlooked, so a team that posted an 7-season high of 8 wins last year is definitely not going to get more attention then, "oh, starting QB left? Bottom feeder!"

And to be fair, even I have expressed doubt about the defense. Even if we remove the "feast or famine" outliers of last year's unit, from the 70 point performance to the incredible run of generating turnovers every week, it's hard to predict where this unit will land. And I don't have a lot of confidence in Vance Joseph. But I also think our run defense should be improved. And I've seen some reports to suggest we'll have a functional pass rush. Our secondary should be good. So maybe the unit as a whole will at least not be a huge liability.

On offense it is hard to imagine being worse. That is always possible as a rookie adjusts to the league (can't really use pre-season as a gauge). But I am sure Bo Nix can at least improve the infuriating rate of 3 and out. The Broncos were also 19th in scoring, showing a slightly below average relative to the rest of the league last year. Can Nix swing that to slightly above average? I think his style of play can because he's an all around better fit for the offense.

So let's get to my predictions:

Week 1, Broncos @ Seahawks: Win, 20-17. I already picked this score on another thread. 1-0.

Week 2, Broncos vs Steelers: Win, 23-7. RW shows the Broncos why they're paying him $80 million to not wear a Broncos uniform. 2-0.

Week 3, Broncos @ Buccaneers: Loss, 17-27. The Bucs are a hard team to figure out but early games in the EST are usually a dud for the Broncos. 2-1.

Week 4, Broncos @ Jets: Win, 23-20. The Broncos stay on the East Coast and it helps them adjust to another early East Coast game. 3-1.

Week 5, Broncos vs Raiders. Win, 29-10. A return home and what appears to be a breakout game creates a buzz. 4-1.

Week 6, Broncos vs Chargers. Win, 26-16. Chargers could go in any direction this year, but far less competent Broncos rosters have done well against far better Chargers rosters. Harbaugh should make this team competitive again, but he's got his work cut out for him in 2024. 5-1.

Week 7, Broncos @ Saints (TNF). Loss, 13-23. A short week and travel combine for another dud. 5-2.

Week 8, Broncos vs Panthers. Win, 31-3. A breath of fresh air. And they're going to need it... 6-2.

Week 9, Broncos @ Ravens. Loss, 17-34. A late TD makes the blowout loss look less "blowouty" but it's still an ugly one. 6-3.

Week 10, Broncos @ Chiefs. Loss, 21-27. Reality and maybe some fatigue is setting in. It's a lot season. 6-4.

Week 11, Broncos vs Falcons. Win, 24-21. The team is definitely showing signs of fatigue at this point but they gut out narrow win. 7-4.

Week 12, Broncos @ Raiders. Loss, 17-27. Raiders assemble just enough competent football to take advantage of an exhausted Broncos team. 7-5.

Week 13, Broncos vs Browns (MNF). Win, 31-23. An extra day of rest and a primetime showcase helps the Broncos get up for this one. 8-5.

Week 14, Bye. (Seriously, week 14...)

Week 15, Broncos vs Colts. Win, 31-20. A rested team comes off a much needed bye and the Broncos win another decisive one. They also secure their first winning season since 2016. 9-5.

Week 16, Broncos @ Chargers. Loss 24-26. In an oddly specific prediction the Chargers win this one on a late FG, set up by an overly generous Defensive PI call. Sean Payton and the crew all say all the right things, "That call didn't cost us the game." And they'll be right. But it did. 9-6.

Week 17, Broncos @ Bengals. Loss, 17-23. It's a tough swing, to play in PST one week and EST the next. Assuming Joe Burrows is healthy, the Bengals post a late season win and the Broncos are on the playoff bubble. 9-7.

Week 18, Broncos vs Chiefs. Win, 31-24. No, the Chiefs don't rest their starters, the Broncos just outplay them, punching their first playoff ticket since 2015. 10-7.

So there it is. 10 wins and 7 losses should be good enough for #7 or maybe even #6 in the playoffs. I think I am being optimistic with these but at this time of year that's ok. A much improved offense tallies up 395 points for an average of 23.2 PPG, a solid improvement over last year's 21 PPG. The defense allows a total of 348 points on the season for 20.5 PPG. This would be a massive improvement over last year's 24.3 PPG. An improvement of this caliber isn't entirely out of the realm of possible considering the once-in-a-generation 70 point performance against the Dolphins last year really skewing the stats.

So definitely optimistic. I've said ever since the draft I've felt this team could improve on last year's 8 wins. I've predicted them to an 8 or 9 win team multiple times, so doing a game by game breakdown teases out one more win in my prediction.

A 10-7 finish and playoff game would be huge for this young team and the entire franchise. Let's hear your thoughts.

Not game by game but what a fucking snipe sir I think I had denver at 5 wins going into last year so to have them at 10-7 is crazy to me, put you were right

 

[iknowftbll]

Not game by game but what a fucking snipe sir I think I had denver at 5 wins going into last year so to have them at 10-7 is crazy to me, put you were right

Haha maybe got the number right but I was way off on who they’d beat and who would beat them. Still, was really excited by the 10-7 finish.

I think they can get to 10 wins again, even with a tough schedule and what appears to be a very strong division.

 

[nflbronco]

I like the direction we are headed in. Expectations are higher Opponents will take us more seriously as well. Toughest HC Division Group in NFL that adds to record quesses. AFC West goal is at worst go 3-3 anything less puts more pressure against other teams can't afford too many bad play games.

I'll say 10-7 safe choice (This year to me is like last year I need to see us stack another successful season before my expectations rise honestly) It will be fun to see the progress.

I can also see 7-10 if Nix has Soph slump or we go 2-4 or worse in division which we could do or injury issues on roster esp OL.

 

[Orange Crush77]

We win 11 this year, in honor of Mingo

 

[SpringStein]

We win 11 this year, in honor of Mingo

He might slap you for your pessimism!

 

[cdumler7]

The early part of this schedule with 4 road games out of the first 6 will be a bit brutal. I think if the Broncos can be 3-3 after that stretch then they have a really good shot at 10-11 wins. They should have a win against Tennessee (although week 1 can be a bit fluky). Jets is another. So getting one against the Chargers, Bengals, Colts, or Eagles I think is very possible. If they can be 4-2 then watch out. I think at that point division is possible.