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The Denver Broncos won! Not only did they win, they put together a second straight week of defensive dominance and turnover feasting with a 23-0 dismantlement of the New York Jets.
Before the game, I had resigned to the #EmbraceTheTank movement and was looking purely at the 2018 NFL Draft. However, if the Broncos pull off a second win in four days by beating the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday Night Football, I’ll be looking for a winning streak to finish the season.
Head coach Vance Joseph said it best when he said he hoped this win would spark a winning streak.
“I’m hoping,” Joseph said. “We have a game on Thursday. We can win two games in five days. There have been teams that have won their last four after having a rough season that has carried over into the following season. That’s what I’m hoping for. Our guys again have never stopped working. Everyone is believing. Every Saturday night, we meet and it’s like a party because we’re all so confident because the work was put in. I’m hoping it does spark us. Thursday is our next game, but pushing forward in the future, it sparks us in the right direction.”
He should be hopeful. Joseph saw what this team was capable of when it takes care of the football on offense and generates turnovers on defense. The Jets were a team that dropped 38 points and 500 yards of offense on the Kansas City Chiefs just a week ago, yet they finished Sunday’s game with less 100 total yards of offense and zero points.
If there was ever a game this season that could spark a winning streak it was this one. A complete win in all three phases.
Trevor Siemian was efficient going 19/31 for 200 yards and one touchdown. He wasn’t asked to do much and the offense had plenty of three and outs, but with the defense doing its thing there was never any doubt the Broncos were going to win this game.
“The difference is that we didn’t turn the ball over,” Joseph said. “We played complimentary football today. We ran the ball and ran the ball. We had short third downs. We didn’t convert. We simply punted the ball back and played good defense and kept those guys really backed up the entire football game. It’s really complimentary, simple football. When you don’t turn the ball over, our games could look just like that because our defense can be a difference if we’re in the football game.”
The most impressive part of this win is that Vance Joseph never lost the team during that historic eight-game losing streak. His message was never lost. The players kept grinding week in and week out, finally having it all come together.
Finally, after eight weeks, they found a blueprint that should lead them to more victories. Run the ball, punt the ball, play good defense. I am more than happy to see more of that!
The season is over from a playoff standpoint, but a lot more can be gained for this team heading into 2018 that goes well beyond draft position. A strong finish to the season will give a lot of reasons for these players to buy into the Broncos organization as a playoff contender next season.