The Broncos of 2017: Game by Game Predictions

[iknowftbll]

Anything is possible man, even that record if that is what you choose to believe..

Perhaps you can do better? Why not hazard a guess of your own? It's easy to be critical when you don't have any chips on the table...

 

[idahoraiderfan33]

Perhaps you can do better? Why not hazard a guess of your own? It's easy to be critical when you don't have any chips on the table...

Im not being critical at all dude. It was a good post, i was just a little surprised at the record you gave the RAIDERS is all.. And really i shouldn't be surprised at all? Bronco board bronco fan.. Im pretty sure all boards have a different take on how it all shakes out? My bad dude, i was just sort of giving an opinion..

 

[richig07]

So you have the RAIDERS finishing at 9-7 eh? Hmmm

Raiders have a lot of hype. It seems like quite often, those teams fall a tad short. They certainly aren't without holes/weaknesses.

I like them to win 10+... but I am not sold that they're going to really make a run at the AFC title. It's not that I think they can't... I just need to see more from them, than simply having a nice run for 3 quarters of a regular season.

 

[iknowftbll]

Im not being critical at all dude. It was a good post, i was just a little surprised at the record you gave the RAIDERS is all.. And really i shouldn't be surprised at all? Bronco board bronco fan.. Im pretty sure all boards have a different take on how it all shakes out? My bad dude, i was just sort of giving an opinion..

I didn't have them at 12-4 last year, but I DID have them as a playoff team. Go back and look at my post on this topic last year. This isn't a matter of "Broncos board, Broncos fan" because I've given Broncos rivals a lot of credit in the past and will continue to do so as long as I feel they deserve it. FWIW, 9-7 IS giving the Raiders a decent amount of credit.

12-4 is a tough act to follow. Plus we see it all the time: a team has a great season and signals to the league they're going to be a contender only to follow it up with a dud. In fact, we see that (or something like it) more often than we see continual improvement.

I definitely welcome your opinion. I post this stuff so people will share their opinions. I just think it's a far better discussion if you're willing to offer your critique and take it to the next level by making some predictions of your own.

 

[BigKen]

A good conversation to have on Memorial Day weekend. I can only have the honor of serving today because countless others did before me, and many made the ultimate sacrifice.

It's Memorial Day and I'm a bit late on this conversation.

As a vet of four tours of Viet Nam, I have nothing but respect for anyone who is serving or has served whether in combat or not. I consider it a privilege to know and speak with anyone who has served the honor of guarding the Tomb.

I thank you and respect you from the bottom of my heart.

BK

 

[Mingo]

It's not about me. I was as close to a Kurt Vonnegut character as you could find in the 70s.

Some interesting things - I learned in service:

The public knows the place as the "Tomb of the Unknowns," but the official decree by Congress to establish the tomb - explicitly denies providing this sacred place an official name. The feeling was - that a name would only confine the meaning of the tomb - when it represents the ultimate sacrifice no name would do it justice.

From the Country's founding the concept of honor was different than you and I think of it today. In those days it was understood and expected that honor was created by a person's actions. With every job there is an expectation that a person will do that job to an identifiable standard - the qualitative distance between the expected standard and the actual service is what creates personal honor. This sense of honor is why a soldier spends 5 hours getting his uniform as clean, crisp and shiny - as chemical science and elbow grease can make it -prior to going out to guard the Tomb even at night with no one watching. Every step - every movement of the guard routine has symbolic meaning - and the duty must be performed every hour of every day within 99% of perfect. We honor the ultimate sacrifice to our country - by performing to a ridiculously high standard.

The ultimate sacrifice - refers to dying without identification or acknowledgement of your service or notice to your family - any knowledge of your death.

 

[idahoraiderfan33]

I didn't have them at 12-4 last year, but I DID have them as a playoff team. Go back and look at my post on this topic last year. This isn't a matter of "Broncos board, Broncos fan" because I've given Broncos rivals a lot of credit in the past and will continue to do so as long as I feel they deserve it. FWIW, 9-7 IS giving the Raiders a decent amount of credit.

12-4 is a tough act to follow. Plus we see it all the time: a team has a great season and signals to the league they're going to be a contender only to follow it up with a dud. In fact, we see that (or something like it) more often than we see continual improvement.

I definitely welcome your opinion. I post this stuff so people will share their opinions. I just think it's a far better discussion if you're willing to offer your critique and take it to the next level by making some predictions of your own.

I do remember that post where you had the RAIDERS as a playoff team, heck i posted on it. And what did you base that playoff jump for the RAIDERS on?? A young team improving? Well we still have that same team with added players.

And i agree that some teams have a good season one year and have a bad season the next. A lot of the time that's due to key injuries or drama with the players, FO or coaching staff. With this RAIDER team they all bought into the system from Mark Davis down to the players.. Injuries is another story man. See the RAIDERS when Carr got hurt.

As far as predictions go? I will roll with 11-5 for the RAIDERS
And i base that on continued improvement of the team, but with one less win than last year.
AFCE, NFCE and the AFCW Death Row Schedule for all of us!!

 

[CEH]

I like Raiders to win the division with Denver 2nd and KC 3rd.
Winner of AFCW will have to go 4-2 in the division otherwise the whole division is up for grabs. Raiders draw Titans and Ravens while Denver gets Indy and Cincy as the schedule differences.

D Ware thinks TS will win the job.

 

[LGM]

It's not about me. I was as close to a Kurt Vonnegut character as you could find in the 70s.

Some interesting things - I learned in service:

The public knows the place as the "Tomb of the Unknowns," but the official decree by Congress to establish the tomb - explicitly denies providing this sacred place an official name. The feeling was - that a name would only confine the meaning of the tomb - when it represents the ultimate sacrifice no name would do it justice.

From the Country's founding the concept of honor was different than you and I think of it today. In those days it was understood and expected that honor was created by a person's actions. With every job there is an expectation that a person will do that job to an identifiable standard - the qualitative distance between the expected standard and the actual service is what creates personal honor. This sense of honor is why a soldier spends 5 hours getting his uniform as clean, crisp and shiny - as chemical science and elbow grease can make it -prior to going out to guard the Tomb even at night with no one watching. Every step - every movement of the guard routine has symbolic meaning - and the duty must be performed every hour of every day within 99% of perfect. We honor the ultimate sacrifice to our country - by performing to a ridiculously high standard.

The ultimate sacrifice - refers to dying without identification or acknowledgement of your service or notice to your family - any knowledge of your death.

Maybe I'm old now, but that concept of honor has always been how I defined it; maybe that had more to do with who raised me and how. But any honor I ever earn will always fall short of that earned by those who have served, and died, for this country.

 

[Southieinnc]

I'll have to give my detailed breakdown in a while. I really appreciate this thread every year and look forward to it. Most years you have been closer than most so always trust your judgment on a lot of things when it comes to the Broncos. Plus love the other thread of you breaking down with the Broncos avenging their Super Bowl loss to the Cowboys with our 4th Lombardi!

Just one comment though I do disagree with. I think our OL is going to be much better as a run blocking unit. The guys we brought in are much more known for run blocking than pass blocking in my opinion and the offense is going to want to build that bully mentality like our defense. So at least early on in the season I see them leaning heavily on the run game until teams respect it and have to delay a bit before getting after the QB.

I'm also one that has Paxton Lynch winning the QB competition. I like both of our guys though and cant' wait to see how this QB situation shakes out.

Lynch was erratic, threw into coverage early on and watched linebacker Brandon Marshall intercept him."

Broncos' QB competition has a familiar feel to it

"the first day of OTAs proved one thing: if Lynch is going to win this job, the 2016 first-round pick has a long way to go"

 

[Mingo]

Lynch was erratic, threw into coverage early on and watched linebacker Brandon Marshall intercept him."

Broncos' QB competition has a familiar feel to it

"the first day of OTAs proved one thing: if Lynch is going to win this job, the 2016 first-round pick has a long way to go"

I remember - in the middle of a HOF career John Elway throwing erratically for an entire first half. So the sampling size needs to be considered.

My thought - is if Siemain starts - some time during the season we will see Lynch get some starts. Hardly any QB makes it through a 16 game season. I root for both of them to get better - this will ultimately be won on the field - where both the players and the fans will make a judgement.

 

[iknowftbll]

I do remember that post where you had the RAIDERS as a playoff team, heck i posted on it. And what did you base that playoff jump for the RAIDERS on?? A young team improving? Well we still have that same team with added players.

And i agree that some teams have a good season one year and have a bad season the next. A lot of the time that's due to key injuries or drama with the players, FO or coaching staff. With this RAIDER team they all bought into the system from Mark Davis down to the players.. Injuries is another story man. See the RAIDERS when Carr got hurt.

As far as predictions go? I will roll with 11-5 for the RAIDERS
And i base that on continued improvement of the team, but with one less win than last year.
AFCE, NFCE and the AFCW Death Row Schedule for all of us!!

I'd say my prediction notwithstanding that's a pretty good guess for the Raiders. And you won't be alone with a prediction like that.

 

[randymon]

Funny. I think SD wins division at 10-6. They win head to head tie-breaker with Oak and KC. Denver earns 3rd pick in draft. VJ is fired week six after winning opening Monday night game vs SD in OT then loses next 5. TS earns starter gig but loses it to Lynch after injury after wknd 1 SD win. Lynch comes in wk 2 and throws for 4 tds and 7 picks in Denver's 5 game losing streak. Denver starts Sloter wk 7 but have to go back to Lynch who guides Denver to 2-11 record until he gets bruised up and Kelly starts and finishes last two games with 1-1 record with the win due mostly to KC having secured wild card spot after SD won and Raiders lost early game therefore they rested many players due to nothing to gain. Denver trades up to #1 pk in following draft and selects Sam Darnold. This sets into motion a 10 year SB dynasty in Denver and shuts door on TB and NE. Lynch is retained as Darnold back up and TS is traded to Jacksonville where he replaces Bottles and leads Jaguars to Title in 2020. Then comes Denver and Darnold.

 

[cdumler7]

Lynch was erratic, threw into coverage early on and watched linebacker Brandon Marshall intercept him."

Broncos' QB competition has a familiar feel to it

"the first day of OTAs proved one thing: if Lynch is going to win this job, the 2016 first-round pick has a long way to go"

Couple of things...

1) What he fails to mention about when Lynch calmed down later on the first day is that he was hitting some huge plays down the field into tight windows for touchdowns. What comes with an aggressive QB is some bad throws during practice and sometimes during games. He will have to learn to control himself better, but he is also the guy that will challenge a team more down the field and keep a defense backed off knowing at any moment he will cork one down the field for a big play.

2) The practices since that first one people have said he has looked much more under control and making the right reads. At this point with OTA's I'm not going to read too much one way or the other in the QB battle. I like both Lynch and Siemian and will be happy for whoever wins the job. I'm just one that thinks Lynch has the higher ceiling and would like to see him get the opportunity to show that.

 

[LGM]

Couple of things...

1) What he fails to mention about when Lynch calmed down later on the first day is that he was hitting some huge plays down the field into tight windows for touchdowns. What comes with an aggressive QB is some bad throws during practice and sometimes during games. He will have to learn to control himself better, but he is also the guy that will challenge a team more down the field and keep a defense backed off knowing at any moment he will cork one down the field for a big play.

2) The practices since that first one people have said he has looked much more under control and making the right reads. At this point with OTA's I'm not going to read too much one way or the other in the QB battle. I like both Lynch and Siemian and will be happy for whoever wins the job. I'm just one that thinks Lynch has the higher ceiling and would like to see him get the opportunity to show that.

Lets keep in mind the defense he's practicing against as well. We likely won't find that kind of back 4 many places in the league; of course he's going to look worse against them than others.

 

[iknowftbll]

So I wrote an 11-5 prediction based to some degree on best case scenario for the Broncos. The thing is any given week all 16 games on the schedule are winnable games. The reality is we know the Broncos are going to lose games and sometimes lose games we'd consider winnable games.

My worst case scenario for the Broncos is 8-8. There are a lot of ways the Broncos go 8-8:

1) The offense does indeed improve but the team suffers some injuries to the defense. Even an improved offense may not be enough to carry this team.

2) The defense stays healthy but the offense remains stagnant. The O-line isn't better than last year and the system changes prove too much.

3) Nothing cataclysmic but it's a season of "almost" in which the Broncos are close in a lot of games but just not good enough to win it.

Of course this stuff is next to impossible to predict, though I will say last season I predicted a best case of 12-4 and a worst case of 9-7 with the O-line being the single biggest factor that could lead to the worst case scenario. I think it's safe to say that's what we saw.

For the other AFC West teams:

Chiefs best case scenario: 13-3, Super Bowl appearance. Like it or not, the Chiefs are good enough to contend for a trip to the Super Bowl. Nothing they do is all that flashy but they have consistently won games since Andy Reid's arrival. Another first round bye, maybe even the #1 seed and who knows? A good season with a couple lucky bounces in the post season could have this team making its third trip to the big game.

Chiefs worst case scenario: 9-7, out of the playoffs. Since this team has dealt with so many injuries the past few seasons and still managed to get it done, I'd not consider any one injury to lead to cataclysmic failure. It could make the difference between the playoffs though. Also, like the Broncos, this worst case could be another case of "almost" in which the Chiefs, who can be had on either side of the ball, just fall short.

Raiders best case: 11-5, Divisional Round exit. Even before they lost Carr last year I didn't consider them a serious SB contender and I don't this year either. That doesn't mean they won't exceed the prediction I've made for them, but even then I'd not expect this team to fare that well against teams like the Pats or Steelers once they reached the post season.

Raiders worst case: 7-9, out of the playoffs. One of the biggest words at this time of year is "Should" as in "The Raiders defense SHOULD be improved." But we've seen time and again how "should" plays out. So what if the Raiders defense isn't improved? Now couple that with a key injury on offense and let's not forget JDR is the HC. Maybe I should make that 6-10!

Chargers best case: 10-6, wild card. Because sometimes everything just clicks for a team. The Chargers are a feisty team that never seems out of any game and if a couple break their way it could make for a good first season in Los Angeles.

Chargers worst case: 4-12, (as predicted). I honestly think all the drama of moving, new coaching staff, lack of O-line talent and a gruesome history of injuries always seems to plague them is too much for this team to overcome. Couple that with a brutal schedule and it's easy to see why 4-12 is my pick for them.

What are your best and worse case scenarios for the AFC West teams?

 

[CEH]

1 week into OTAs with a new coaching staff and the offense has zero effort the other day I think it was after practice on Tuesday. Sanders said no one stepped up and the offense just wasn't into it like they should have been. Even Chris Harris said the offense needed a spark and no one stepped up.

A little concerning ?

 

[iknowftbll]

1 week into OTAs with a new coaching staff and the offense has zero effort the other day I think it was after practice on Tuesday. Sanders said no one stepped up and the offense just wasn't into it like they should have been. Even Chris Harris said the offense needed a spark and no one stepped up.

A little concerning ?

Not really. I read they had a great day the very next day. Transitioning to a new system is going to have some growing pains but May isn't really time to panic. If they're looking like 10 pounds of shit stuffed into a 5 pound sack going into week 1 I'll be concerned. I expect us all to have some uncertainties about the offense even after the season starts though. Keep in mind: I'm expected marginal improvement from the unit. This won't be a 30+ PPG offense.

 

[cdumler7]

1 week into OTAs with a new coaching staff and the offense has zero effort the other day I think it was after practice on Tuesday. Sanders said no one stepped up and the offense just wasn't into it like they should have been. Even Chris Harris said the offense needed a spark and no one stepped up.

A little concerning ?

If I remember right DT was gone which one player shouldn't make all the difference but that is a small factor in the equation. I would be more worried if that became a trend. Thankfully sounds like the next day things clicked much better and there was a greater energy on the offense that made some plays even against our great defense. That is actually more comforting to me to see them be able to step up and do something. Seemed like last year we never heard of the offense winning the day or being able to have that bounce back day after a terrible day.

 

[cdumler7]

So @iknowftbll are you rethinking the Cowboys game at all of that being a loss? They have had what now like 3-4 players on defense suspended.