AFC West, Week 1: Everyone goes undefeated in opening week
By Ellen Mathis
Denver Broncos
Is there any team more confusing than the Broncos? Maybe the Texans? The Broncos have tons of talent, especially on offense, and chose to not draft Justin Fields. Presumably they thought they were going to land Aaron Rodgers. Well, that didn’t happen and we are now looking at a Teddy Bridgewater-led team. Teddy is fine. He is not going to turn the ball over like Drew Lock. I see the move as an Alex Smith-type situation. I love Alex Smith and he was great for the Chiefs, but he wasn’t going to take the Chiefs to the Super Bowl.
The Broncos beat the Giants on Sunday. Good for them. The Giants are bad, but this is a game that I think Drew Lock would have lost. I still think the Broncos are the third best team in the AFC West, but there is promise. Should the Aaron Rodgers drama escalate and John Elway covet another older quarterback, could we see a trade that brings him to the AFC West? Who knows…
On the injury front, the Broncos were not so lucky. Wide receiver Jerry Jeudy (who I believe can be a star) suffered a gruesome high ankle sprain. I honestly thought he snapped his ankle when I saw it in real time. He got lucky and is out 4-6 weeks and was placed on IR. He should be back this season in plenty of time to play the Chiefs. They also lost Ronald Darby to a hamstring injury. Darby was also placed on IR and will miss at least 3 weeks. The Broncos are monitoring and haven’t provided an estimated timeline for his return.
One other thing to monitor as we move forward is the status of Bradley Chubb. He was inactive on Sunday with an ankle injury. With the return of Von Miller, we still haven’t seen the pass rush so many have talked about on the field at the same time. If and when Chubb gets back on the field, that Broncos defense could be formidable. Oh and Patrick Surtain II is the real deal.
Next week, the Broncos face the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jags have a star in Trevor Lawrence, but they also have a lot of holes they need to fix. I don’t believe Urban Meyer is going to last long in the NFL so I could see another Broncos win here. Could we be rolling to an AFC West that sees all four teams at 2-0?