ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Week 1 is here, and the Broncos’ journey toward their lofty goals begins in front of their home crowd.
In Sunday’s matchup against No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward and the Tennessee Titans (Sept. 7, 2:05 p.m. MT, FOX), the Broncos will look to earn their first Week 1 win since 2021 and build momentum at Empower Field at Mile High to start the season.
“The last thing I just finished saying [to the team is], ‘We’re playing at home, and we’ve got to make this the hardest place to play,'” Head Coach Sean Payton said on Friday.
With the Broncos’ first matchup of the season inching closer, here’s a look at the questions that will determine if Denver earns a win over Tennessee and starts 1-0:
CAN THE BRONCOS START FAST?
As the Broncos look to improve their September fortune, they’ve talked often ahead of Week 1 about the importance of starting fast — both from a season standpoint and within the framework of the game.
“We hadn’t done that the past two years, and it’s hard to be one of those upper-echelon teams if you play yo-yo football,” Payton said in late August. “You know, you lose a couple, you win three. At some point, any one of these teams that win 10 or more games, there’s that three wins in a row or four wins in a row.”
The Broncos believe the determining factor in that equation, though, comes before kickoff ever arrives.
“It’s the schedule,” Payton said Monday. “It’s the sense of urgency. Ultimately, it’s the preparation, the details in this game plan and the team we’re playing. Everything from hydration to recovery during the week, so that they’re at their best peak performance on Sunday, sleep included, all of that. That really isn’t even discussing the football scheme.”
As the Broncos closed their week of work on Friday, Payton again pointed to the importance of the preparation.
“The scouting of an opponent is essential,” Payton said of his message to the team. “Who plays where, who has ball skills. Who’s their better run player, who’s their better receiver? You have to know the opponent cold. And yet, it’s a faceless opponent relative to the work week. Sunday’s game will have been won during the work week, long before kickoff. And they have to understand that, relative to how you prepare and what Monday’s like, what Wednesday’s like — what it’s really like on an elite team. Many times — most of the times — those games are won before the game’s ever been kicked off.”
Payton said the Broncos’ preparation had been good during the week, and tackle Mike McGlinchey said he believes the Broncos have the proper expectations for Sunday’s game.
“It’s a matter of intensity,” McGlinchey said of starting fast. “It’s a matter of locking in. It’s a matter of reps [being] as game-like as possible at practice. I think we’ve done that. … I think [the last two years are] kind of out of our heads at this point, because I think it’s the expectation [to start fast]. We’re ready to go.”
HOW DOES DENVER’S DEFENSE PERFORM VS. FIRST-OVERALL PICK CAM WARD?
A year ago, quarterback Bo Nix made his first career start on the road against a stingy defense in a raucous environment.
On Sunday, first-overall pick Cam Ward will take his turn in the same scenario.
The Broncos’ third-ranked scoring defense from a season ago adds former All-Pro safety Talanoa Hufanga and first-round pick Jahdae Barron to an already impressive secondary. In the front seven, recently re-signed Nik Bonitto and Zach Allen will continue to pace a group that set a franchise record in sacks in 2024.
Denver’s 37.4 pressure percentage in 2024 also ranked third in the NFL last year, and the unit will go up against a Titans offense that allowed the 31st-ranked pressure percentage at 40.2 percent. The Titans did add Pro Bowl guard Kevin Zeitler and tackle Dan Moore Jr. to their roster as they looked to improve upon the third-quickest time to pressure allowed in 2024. Still, Denver’s pass rush will look to replicate its 2024 performance that saw the team lead the NFL in sacks and quarterback hits.
“He’s got this get-off that no one else has, and that’s run and pass game alike,” Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph said Thursday. “He’s a finisher. … He’s gained weight, he’s gotten stronger on the edge and he’s a problem. If teams don’t have a plan for him, he can wreck the game.”
The Broncos will try to stop Cam Ward, who led all FBS players in passing touchdowns in 2024 and holds the Division I record for career passing touchdowns, from being the first rookie quarterback since 2018 to win a Week 1 road start. They’ll also try to prevent Ward from being just the third rookie quarterback selected first overall in the last four decades to win in Week 1. According to the AP, No. 1 pick rookie quarterbacks are 4-14-1 in the common draft era in Week 1, with David Carr (2002) and Caleb Williams (2024) as the only players to win since John Elway in 1983.
Denver, though, foresees Ward as a difficult challenge to stop.
“He’s super talented,” Joseph said. “He was the first pick in the draft for a reason. When you watch the guy play, you see a guy with special arm talent. He has this unique poise about him for a young guy. He’s trying to make big plays. … Some young quarterbacks try to not mess it up. He’s trying to make a big play, and that makes him dangerous. That makes him ultra dangerous, and he’s trying to put a dagger in you every single down. He can really move, moving left, moving right. He can throw the ball 60, 70 yards in the air, so it only takes one play for him to make a big play. How we rush this guy, how we contain him, stopping the run and trying to make him one-dimensional is going to be key and putting some pressure on him. If he has free access, he’s going to hit them. If they’re open seven times, he’s going to be 7-for-7, so we have to get on the bodies of these receivers and challenge the throws. Most rookies you’d think, ‘Well, let’s play zone and make him work through layers of coverage.’ Not this guy. He’s going to fit it in there. It’s definitely [about] having the right plan for this guy, because he’s talented.”