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Conor Orr of Sports Illustrated ran a post last week about five teams in the “Jeff Fisher orbit” of NFL purgatory. Of the five teams mentioned as ‘stuck in neutral’, the Denver Broncos were at the top of his list.
Denver Broncos
I’m going to couch a few of these teams. I think the Broncos will be markedly better under Vic Fangio, and I think that his success will lead a bit of a counter movement among teams who opted not to hire from the Sean McVay brat pack. That being said, a great running game and O.K. weapon set at wide receiver is not enough to accentuate a 34-year-old, oft-injured Joe Flacco. They will be fine, but not jolted out of their current status as a middle-of-the-pack team in a very good division. Maybe our opinion changes if Drew Lock comes in and stretches the Broncos into a more unpredictable, vertical offense.
The entire premise that the Broncos will be average at best is based on the “oft-injured” Joe Flacco situation. In 11 seasons, Flacco has missed time in just two of them. The addition of Vic Fangio and the improvements on the defensive side of the ball should also keep Denver in a lot of games.
Denver was a couple of bad calls and missed throws from a winning record in 2018 under Case Keenum, so forgive me if I disagree that the Broncos are ‘stuck in neutral’. If anything, this franchise has finally shifted the car back in drive for the first time since Super Bowl 50.
Nice try, though.