Hawk Valley

NFL football returns

It’s been awhile and the Broncos first regular season game is today in New York, so lets get to it.

The preseason is over, how did the Broncos do? Hold on to your hat, but the Broncos had the best team in the NFL during the preseason. They ended up with +59 net points. Imagine the possibilities if this trend continues into the regular season... when games actually count. The Broncos were one of seven teams to go undefeated. The other undefeated teams were: Indianapolis, Cleveland, Baltimore, New England, Kansas City and Buffalo. I said the Broncos were the best team during the preseason, who were the other four teams to round out the top five? Baltimore ended up with +54 net points, Tennessee +48, Buffalo +46 and New England +46. The five worst teams were: Atlanta with -49 net points, Green Bay -47, Philadelphia -43, Dallas -42 and Washington -39.

Did Vic learn anything from the preseason? After the third preseason game, Vic did mention that the starters were out of shape and next year, if he’s around, he would do things differently. That has to be a troubling revelation for Vic as the season begins, because the Broncos are expected to start the season 3-0. Their first three opponents are as good as the Broncos...which means fans from both cities see the other team as an easy win. Why the focus on the first three opponents? The answer is easy, this is the easy part of the schedule. The first opponent this year is the New York Giants and over the past five years they have earned a winning percentage of 36%. Their opponent in week two is the Jacksonville Jaguars and they have a five year winning percentage of 31%. In week three, the face the New York Jets. Their five year winning percentage is 29%. The Broncos winning percentage over the last five years is 40%. In week five they face the Baltimore Ravens. Their winning percentage from the last five years is 65%, but good news for the Broncos, the Ravens starting running backs are injured. They are down to their fourth string running back and the season hasn’t even started. If the out of shape veterans take four regular season games to get into NFL shape and the Broncos lose any of these games Vic could be in trouble because it was his decision to rest the veterans. Sports radio is already campaigning to fire Vic in week 4.

Another problem is that a losing culture has set in. Some fans don’t want to win, they just want more high draft picks. Does this remind anyone of the Cleveland Browns? They have a five year winning percentage of 31%. Some people think the new general manager also wants high draft picks so, if they change coaches next year, the new coach will be able to draft a quarterback of his choosing. It’s odd talking about next year before the season has even started, but so much could change. The starting quarterback for this season only has a one year contract. Ownership is still up in the air and Elway could be walking away from the organization next year for starters. Anyways, back to today.

The Giants and the Broncos are similar teams. The funny part, is that Bronco fans might deny being a professional peer of the Giants. Their 2020 records are slightly different. The Broncos finished 5 and 11, the Giants, 6 and 10. Last year both teams finished their non-conference schedules with one win and three losses. Since this is an away, non-conference game for the Broncos I should point out that the Broncos played slightly better on the road (3-5), than at home (2-6) last year. It didn’t matter where the Giants played last year, they were 3-5. The Giants did a better job of ending the season last year than the Broncos. They had a winning percentage of 40% during the last five games, while the Broncos struggled to win 20% of their games. The Giants ended the year on a one game winning streak. The Broncos closed out the season by losing 3 straight games.

I think I’ve already mentioned this but there are now 17 games in the regular season. The extra game is a non-conference game and the opponent is based on your overall record the year before. This year the extra game is from the NFC North. Kansas City finished 14-2 last year, so they get to play the 13-3 Green Bay Packers. The Las Vegas Raiders finished 8-8, so they get to play the 8-8 Chicago Bears. The Los Angeles Chargers finished 7-9, so they get to play the 7-9 Minnesota Vikings. Last but not least, the 5-11 Denver Broncos get to play the 5-11 Detroit Lions.

Game Time