The Denver Broncos welcome back Brock Osweiler on Monday Night Football. The Houston Texans boast one of the leagues best pass defenses, which should make for a run heavy night for both teams. However, when the Texans have to pass the ball you can guarantee Von Miller will be ah-coming.
The consensus score prediction of Mile High Report staff and That’s Good Broncos is 20-15, Broncos. I’d take that. Here’s how we broke it down individually.
Broncos 23, Texans 17.
"I’m the best ever. There’s never been anybody as ruthless. I’m Sonny Liston. I’m Jack Dempsey. There’s no one like me, I’m from their cloth. There’s no one that can match me. My style is impetuous. My defense is impregnable, and I’m just ferocious. I want your heart, I want to eat his children." Brandon Marshall Mike Tyson.
"I guess they miss me," Brock Osweiler replied.
Miss you? They hardly knew you. What do you think is going to happen when a player that the defense went against every day in practice, but was never allowed to hit is finally allowed to be hit by that defense?
It will be as if the prison guards in the yard all turned their backs at the same time.
If Denver is great at defending the pass, then Houston is just beneath them as far as air defense goes, despite losing cornerback Kevin Johnson for the season and a banged up Quintin Demps, Kareem Jackson and Johnathan Joseph rounding out the Texans' secondary I wouldn't expect Trevor Siemian to have a ton of success through the air.
The game will revolve around the run, the Broncos availability to get C.J. Anderson and Devontae Booker (who, along with Kapri Bibbs received praise from Gary Kubiak this week) some unpenalized room to run and Houston's ability to get Lamar Miller some open space. DeAndre Hopkins should be about as concerning as Julio Jones was to the #NoFlyZone two weeks ago, Osweiler's options are limited as his pass progression seems to start and end with Hopkins. With an occasional nod to rookie wide receiver Will Fuller and tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz to appease.
If you want to imagine how the game will work out, picture Peyton Manning trotting briskly onto the field to headbutt Johnathan Joseph one last time. - Ian Henson
Broncos 26, Texans 13.
There are so many themes to play out this week for the Denver Broncos: Denver revenge on Brent. Do we have an offensive pulse? Will the Texans be okay without Watt on defense?
For me, just throw all that out the window. I don't care about these minuscule storylines. I care about this team in the past two weeks looking like the Cleveland Browns as far as their desire to impose their will on the other team from start to finish. Denver can and should beat a far less talented Houston team. Yet I get this strange feeling of deja vu that I said these same words the past two weeks.
This is a telling game for the 2016 season. Will Denver after getting a strong left jab and a punishing right cross Bronco up and get off the mat or are they going to just stay down? I'm not confident at all based on the past two weeks, but my heart tells me this team is going to come up swinging. - Sadaraine
Broncos 24, Texans 10.
Osweiler is 4-10 on passes over 11 yards. In his mind, he's Aaron Rodgers who threw the Hail Mary last season, so he keeps trying. Let him have screens and five yarders. Eventually, he'll get frustrated and throw right into Aqib's beautiful hands.
Lamar Miller is the hot hand right now. Our DL is pretty good at stopping the run at the LOS. Our secondary is No Fly Zone. What happens in the 5-10 range is where our linebackers (I'm looking at you, Todd Davis) need to do better. Use more Corey Nelson and Dekoda Watson.
Our biggest advantage, outside of our talent, is a sea level team playing at 5,280. Wearing down their defense only happens if the defense is actually, on the field.
In order for that to happen, we need more Andy Janovich. He had a combined 17 snaps the last two weeks. This is almost half what he was getting in each of our wins. Get Janovich out there and everyone does better. That's my key to the game. You want a run game, more protection for Simian to actually throw a completion beyond ten yards? Play Jano. - Julie Dixon
Broncos 16, Texans 13.
This week is Brock week for sure, but more importantly, we are going to learn a lot about the Broncos on Monday Night Football. The team has struggled on both sides of the ball.
The defense is on it's heels to start games, counter-punching rather than attacking. The offensive line has been a sieve the whole season, which has hurt the run game, and the pass game. And now it is time to take on a Houston Texans team that seemed to swoop in a overpay for the guy who most fans expected to be the quarterback for this Broncos team. If the defense can't get up for this game maybe it is time to pack it in.
If the offense doesn't feel compelled to prove to the NFL that allowing Brock to walk was the right move, this team will never be able to rise to the challenge this season. Add to that the potential hole they will be in in the division if the Raiders and Chiefs (and possibly even the Chargers) can pull out wins, a win on Monday is beginning to feel like a must. That being said, I think the team know what needs to be done. They want to prove John Elway right, and make Houston look bad. Wade is going to unleash this defense, and they will create some chaos. However, the offense is still a work in progress. It will take a huge defensive effort, but the Broncos will get a win. It is more than likely that Brandon McManus will be the difference. Denver squeaks out a win 16-13. - Adam Malnati
Texans 20, Broncos 13.
The last two games have produced some of the ugliest football we’ve seen from the Broncos in what feels like forever. The most recent in San Diego was the creme de la creme of craptastic, capped by an offense only Tim Tebow could love. No question the Denver defense must start stronger and it will against the Texans. That unit will come out motivated and want to repeatedly hit and drive Osweiler into the Mile High turf. The problem is the Broncos offense. Earlier this season, Houston shut down a better version of Trevor Siemian when it embarrassed the Kansas City Chiefs. The Texans will pull a similar outcome on Monday against the putrid Denver offense. - Ian St. Clair
Broncos 27, Texans 17.
There is no doubt that both teams will be eager to win Monday Night. I expect the Broncos to prevail over the Texans in a hard fought game headlined with the Broncos' defense coming up with a handful of big plays that help propel them to victory. Denver's defense talked big all week about how badly they want to rattle Osweiler and I fully believe that in addition to talking the talk, they will walk the walk and play one of their best games of the year against the Texans. - Chris Hart
Broncos 20, Texans 12
As much as everyone wants to make this about Brock Osweiler getting his due from Von Miller and Co. - which will happen - the real story for a Broncos win is going to be the defense stopping Texans' Lamar Miller and the offense not stopping itself with poor play-calling and bad execution. I think the time off to reflect on the reasons for the last two losses plus the head coach back to form will mean a solid team performance tonight and a big win. Plus, the Broncos are wearing the blue jerseys, and we all know what kind of wins come from those. - Laurie Lattimore-Volkmann
Broncos 17, Texans 13.
Looking over all of Trevor Siemian’s starts shows me that he was merely average against defenses that gave up 400 yards passing multiple times and he has since hit a wall. The Texans boast one of the best pass defenses in the NFL, so this is going to be Siemian’s biggest test of the year. Frankly, I don’t think he is ready. But I do think he’ll do just enough to allow the Broncos defense carry them to victory. All he needs to do here is take care of the football. That has been one area where he has been well above average and that’s why I’m giving the Broncos the nod here. - Tim Lynch