Crystal ball shows potential rough spots for the Broncos

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Blink and you miss so much.

It seems like yesterday we couldn’t wait for the season to start, and now we’re four games into the season. When the Denver Broncos start 3-1, that no doubt aids in how fast the time goes.

On the latest Mile High Report Radio Podcast, Adam Malnati and I hit rewind and then fast-forward on the Broncos season as the team enters its bye. Adam pushed the rewind button on Wednesday when he looked at the surprises from the first quarter of the season. I’ll take a look into the future.

Before we go any farther, Denver sent out its weekly release and an interesting note was included. As it stands right now in the NFL, the earliest teams have their bye is Week Five. This is only the fifth time in franchise history they have had their bye in Week Five or earlier. As those who listen to the show know, Adam and I occasionally go off on tangents. Anywho, back on track.

As John Fox would say, the next quarter of the season is the most crucial for Denver. Unlike Fox, hopefully this team has a plan and isn’t caught off guard. Of those four games, three straight are on the road. No matter who you are, that’s a tough stretch. When you throw in the cross-country travel, that gets even tougher. Those three road games are against the Los Angeles Chargers, Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles.

For the first game out of the bye, they host the as-of-now winless New York Giants on Sunday Night Football. The Broncos need Eli Manning and New York to beat the Chargers this Sunday for no reason other than you don’t want to play an 0-5 team.

Then comes the three weeks of travel. What helps Denver is the first game is basically a home game in Los Angeles. Of the three, this should be the one the Broncos get. Still, you never can predict divisional games, let alone ones on the “road,” and the second in six weeks.

The last two games will give us a great indication of what the remainder of their season will look like. Both the Chiefs and Eagles will test Denver’s defense with how they run the ball and set up big plays off that element. Those defenses also match up well against the Broncos offense.

If Denver starts to fill in the cracks that have appeared over the first four games against the Giants and Chargers, the chances for success increase. If the problems on third down and the red zone persist, Denver is in trouble.

Before you know it, we’ll be halfway through the season and want to know where the time went. Will the Broncos’ success continue to make the time go even faster? Hold onto your butts, the next four games will be quite the ride.

The MHR Radio Podcast is now on iTunes, Google Play and Stitcher. Please subscribe to the one that fits your fancy, and also rate and review what you hear.