Behind Enemy Lines: Perspective on the important Broncos questions from Broncos Wire
To prepare for Thursday Night Football where the Cleveland Browns take on the Denver Broncos, we talked with Jon Heath from Broncos Wire. With both teams 3 – 3, what can we learn about how the visitors have fared this season?
Teddy Bridgewater has had an interesting career, has his time in Denver been seen as a resurrection or just another pit stop locally?
Three games into the season, it seemed after if Bridgewater might be more than just a holdover QB. After the last three losses, though, I think it has become clear that he’s just a short-term solution. Denver will likely trade for, draft or sign another QB next offseason. Bridgewater is a good game manager and the Broncos can win with him, but they’ll probably want to bring in a younger QB with more long-term upside in 2022.
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Between Sutton, Jeudy and Fant, the Broncos have some great weapons, are they being used to their fullest?
Jeudy has unfortunately been injured the last few weeks but he looked excellent before his ankle injury. He’s very iffy for Thursday and if he doesn’t play, Jeudy should be back in Week 8. That’s big news for the Broncos’ offense because he has been greatly missed. Sutton is the team’s No. 1 target but Bridgewater hasn’t had a great connection with the talented WR in recent weeks. Perhaps that will improve over time. Fant’s performances have been up and down, but that seems to fall primarily on him. Denver could certainly get more out of that trio than it has been.
Von Miller is returning from injury, has he been explosive as always and able to back up his “kill him” threat?
He looks completely recovered, thankfully it wasn’t the kind of injury that has lingering problems — once it’s healed, it’s healed, and Miller had all of last season and the full offseason to recover. Miller has been a little quiet in the team’s last two games but he does face a lot of double teams and chips, so it’s not as if his production has slipped because of a lack of explosiveness. He’ll be looking for a bounceback performance this week after two games without a sack, and he’s made it quite clear that he believes a big game is in store for him.
Nationally, Vic Fangio is viewed mostly as lukewarm, how is he viewed locally?
Most fans were willing to give Fangio patience because he didn’t pick his QB in 2019 and the 2020 season was impacted by many circumstances out of his control. Entering his third season, though, Fangio has to deliver. Denver started well this year but after three straight losses (and terrible performances), it seems that a majority of fans are ready to move on. Unless the Broncos can turn things around and make a legitimate push for the playoffs, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Fangio’s time in Denver come to an end before next season.
What is your prediction for Thursday night?
Under normal circumstances, I would definitely pick the Browns to win this game. But without their starting QB and top two RBs (plus several other big injuries), Cleveland could struggle on Thursday evening. Broncos, 20-13.
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