Denver Broncos
The Broncos traveled to Indianapolis to take on the Colts. The Colts have been playing extremely well under the direction of Frank Reich and quarterbacked by Jacoby Brissett. This game came down to kicking. Adam Vinatieri had missed two field goals in the game when the final seconds of the game started to approach. The Colts chose to go for the game winning field goal and Vinateiri knocked it through the uprights to defeat the Broncos 15-13.
The Broncos fell to 2-6 on the season and more calls for Elway’s head are being made. After the game, Joe Flacco had quite a few words for the press on the coaching decisions. Flacco stated
"“we’re now a 2-6 football team and we’re afraid to go for it in a two minute drill…I just felt like, what do we have to lose? Why can’t we be aggressive in some of these situations.”"
Following Flacco’s frustrations, the Broncos announced that he would not be starting next week. Blaming a herniated disk in his neck, the Broncos may be placing him on IR. That means that the Broncos will likely be starting Brandon Allen because rookie Drew Lock is still on IR. This will be something important to watch as the Broncos consider the future of the quarterback position on their team.
Additionally, the Broncos lost Ja’Wuan James to a knee injury. He limped to the sidelines but was eventually carted to the locker room and did not return. Dalton Risner also hurt his ankle in the game, but he returned.
Lastly, the Broncos traded away star receiver Emmanuel Sanders to the San Francisco 49ers in the days before the game. While there were rumors of the Broncos looking to ship Chirs Harris Jr. before the trade deadline, nothing materialized.
Next week, the Broncos host the Cleveland Browns. The Browns are one of the more confusing teams in the NFL right now. They have tons of talent on their roster but just can’t seem to put it all together. Despite that, the Broncos are terrible. I think this will be another loss for the Broncos.
Opening line odds for the Broncos in Week 9: Browns by 3.5.
Game time is 3:25 p.m.