2009 NFL season in review: Denver Broncos


Talk about feast or famine, the Denver Broncos opened the year with six straight wins, then lost four in a row, then one two straight, and lost four in a row down the stretch. An 8-8 record is good, but this team seemed capable of a whole lot more. Head Coach Josh McDaniels must now find a way to motivate his team when things are bad, and force this team to live up to their expectations. The big question that must be answered immediately is what to do with WR Brandon Marshall.

The Broncos offense scored 326 points or 20.4/game. That was good enough for the 20th best 2009 NFL offense, and even though QB Kyle Orton played well part of the Broncos struggles happened when he went down with an injury. Still he passed for over 3,800 yards, completed 62% of his passes, and threw for 21 TD’s. On the ground the team rushed for 1,836 yards yet featured no 1,000 yard rusher. Of course Brandon Marshall caught 101 passes, proving his worth to the team.

The Bronco defense gave up 324 points or 20.4/game. Which means essentially this team scored as many points as it gave up. That is a little troubling as the team had just the 8-8 record. Especially considering they were blown out of three games by more than 20 points. This seems to suggest that the team played well when things went right, yet played terrible when the chips were down. That speaks to the motivation of the coaching as much as it does to the level of talent on the team.

After deciding what to do with a partly disgruntled Marshall this team is going to have to add some playmakers first at DE, and then at center. They could also use an anchor to the middle of their defense in the form of a nose tackle. It seems like this team is close and if they can keep Marshall they are that much closer to being a contender.

Related Links:

Denver Broncos News and Notes
2010 NFL Draft News, Notes, and Rumors
•NFL Complete.com

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