As I write this, the Denver Broncos are tied with the Indianapolis Colts and the New England Patriots for the league lead in wins with 7. There is no NFC team with 7 or more wins.
Nov 2, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Denver Broncos place kicker Wil Lutz (3) celebrates with teammates after kicking a game-winning field goal during the fourth quarter against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-Imagn Images Thomas Shea-Imagn Images
The Broncos are currently 4th in points allowed per game.
The Bronco offense has now beaten the best scoring defense in the league after having played five of the six worst scoring defenses in the league. The only one of those that the Broncos have yet to face is the Bears – Denver does not play Chicago this year. The Broncos have two games remaining with the Chiefs (3rd), Raiders (23rd) and get to face the Commanders (22nd), and the Jaguars (17th). The also have to play the Chargers (11th) and the Packers (8th).
The Broncos were 1-6 in one score games last season and are 5-2 so far this season. Over the last two seasons they are still 6-8, but at least they are not the Giants who are now 2-10 in one score games over the last two seasons.
The Eagles and the Chiefs (who met in the slaughter of the Chiefs last Super Bowl) both have been great in one-score games over the last two seasons. The Jaguars have had the most one-score games 2024-2025 with 19. They are 7-12 in those games. That’s pretty crazy that 19 of the Jags 25 games have been one score.
The Bronco defense now has 40 sacks in 9 games. That’s 4.4 sacks per game which is not only the best per game season in Bronco history, but is also the second best rate in NFL history. The Broncos are on pace for 75 sacks, which would be three more than the 1984 Bears, but they did it in 16 games.
The defense really came up big when it was needed most, getting the ball back for the offense with the game tied late in the 4th quarter with a 3-and-out that only burned 15 seconds off the clock because of three incomplete passes. The defense did what good defenses do against backup QBs, they turned him into a check-down machine. Mills average 4.6 YPA on the day which is silly low. Dillon Gabriel is the worst among starting QBs and he is at 4.9. No other starting QB is below 5.0. Sam Darnold is leading at 9.6. Bo Nix is 29th at 6.1. League average is 7.1.
Jeremy Crawshaw is playing really well so far, despite the touchback last game. He’s near the top of the league in in10%, in20%, and FC%. The punt coverage team is below average allowing 11.5 per return. The Broncos moved to 3rd in KOR allowed. The Chargers are now the worst.
The blocked FG should have been leverage called on the Texans. 98 for the Texans holds down Quinn Meinerz so that 96 can leap (push off of him to get over him) and block the FG attempt. I’m still incensed that this rule was called against the Broncos, when it only gets called about twice a year even when it could probably be called on most FG or XP attempts. Ironically, the two teams that have been called for it this season are the Broncos and the Texans. It was called on Derek Barnett in the Texans loss at the Jaguars. It has now been called 52 times in the past 15+ seasons with four seasons seeing no leverage calls at all.
The snaps for the game are below – but I am only doing an abridged analysis this week, because of the short week.
PlayerPosNumPctNumPctNumPctLuke WattenbergC63100%00%39%Mike McGlincheyT63100%00%39%Quinn MeinerzG63100%00%39%Alex PalczewskiT63100%00%39%Garett BollesT63100%00%00%Bo NixQB63100%00%00%Courtland SuttonWR5892%00%00%Troy FranklinWR5079%00%00%Adam TrautmanTE4673%00%39%Pat BryantWR3657%00%39%Evan EngramTE3251%00%00%J.K. DobbinsRB2946%00%00%RJ HarveyRB2032%00%515%Tyler BadieRB1422%00%2061%Adam PrenticeFB1016%00%1752%Trent SherfieldWR813%00%1648%Michael BandyWR610%00%824%Marcedes LewisTE610%00%00%Riley MossCB00%73100%618%Talanoa HufangaS00%73100%618%Alex SingletonLB00%73100%00%Brandon JonesS00%7096%00%Ja’Quan McMillianCB00%5170%00%Zach AllenDL00%4866%618%Kris Abrams-DraineCB00%4359%824%Malcolm RoachDT00%4258%1030%Nik BonittoLB00%4156%00%John Franklin-MyersDL00%3649%618%Jahdae BarronCB00%3447%824%Justin StrnadLB00%3142%2164%D.J. JonesDT00%2940%618%Jonathon CooperLB00%2940%00%Dondrea TillmanLB00%2838%2473%Dre GreenlawLB00%2737%00%Eyioma UwazurikeDL00%2636%1030%Jonah EllissLB00%2332%1958%Quandarrius RobinsonLB00%2332%1236%JL SkinnerS00%34%1958%Devon KeyDB00%00%3091%Karene ReidLB00%00%2473%J.T. GrayDB00%00%2164%Jeremy CrawshawP00%00%1133%Mitchell FraboniLS00%00%1133%Frank CrumT00%00%927%Wil LutzK00%00%618%Alex ForsythC00%00%39%Calvin ThrockmortonG00%00%39%
This was the first time that the Broncos have used five OLBs on defense in a game this season. Nik Bonitto had the most snaps with 41, but Cooper (29), Tillman (28), Ellis and Robinson (23 each) all played D snaps. The total of 172 means that we didn’t ever have three on the field at the same time since we had 73 defensive snaps. The Texans did a good job of protecting their QBs, allowing only 7 QB pressures on 44ish dropbacks. The Texans came into the game allowing pressure on only one of six dropbacks, which is 9th best in the league as of now (16.7%). The Broncos moved up to 3rd at 13.8%.
On defense the Broncos are still in second place getting pressure on the opposing QB on 27.7% of dropbacks. The D will face some of the better OLs in the NFL in the remaining eight games. The Broncos face the Raiders and Chiefs twice along with the Packers. All are in the top 8 in pass blocking. The only remaining game against a poor pass blocking team is against the Chargers.
JL Skinner got three defensive snaps at safety. He is getting some PT now after being just a special teams guy earlier in the season.
Michael Bandy only played 6 offensive snaps with Marvin Mims still in concussion protocol. Marcedes Lewis also played 6 snaps. He was essentially our 6th OL this game since neither Crum nor Throckmorton got offensive snaps. We have used a 6th offensive lineman in every other game this season. Adam Trautman got the most TE snaps with 46.
Trent Sherfield only got 8 snaps as WR4, which means that we leaned heavily on Sutton, Franklin and Bryant.