Broncos can be Super Bowl contenders again if their offense shows more life

One year after lifting the Lombardi Trophy at Super Bowl 50, the Denver Broncos struggled in the 2016 season to recapture the magic. Following the retirement of Peyton Manning, Denver never quite reached the same heights and finished with a 9-7 record. The Broncos ended up just one game short of a wild card berth, and sitting home during the playoffs was certainly a bitter pill for this proud team to swallow.

Things were thrown into further disarray in January when head coach Gary Kubiak announced his retirement following several health scares. Now the Broncos are turning to first-timer Vance Joseph to right the ship and get back to the high standards GM John Elway established with this franchise.

There is a ton of talent left on this team, including many of the core players who helped win that Super Bowl. Von Miller is still on top of his game, while Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders continue to produce even while the offense stagnates. The Broncos’ contention window hasn’t come close to shutting. However, the team needs to find a spark on offense, and it’s questionable if Elway has done enough to fix the holes on that side of the ball.

Let’s first take a deeper look at the offense, specifically the position Elway knows best: the quarterback.

Despite teasing out his decision for months, Manning’s retirement after the 2015 season was widely expected. The Broncos had time to find his successor, but they’re sure taking a scenic route getting there.

Longtime backup Brock Osweiler took his (alleged) talents to Houston, leaving Denver thin on the depth chart. The Broncos did make a move for a quarterback of the future in the 2016 draft, trading up five spots to No. 26 and selecting Paxton Lynch. Even so, it was arguably a reach for a raw prospect from small-school Memphis. Lynch got thrown into a quarterback competition in training camp with Trevor Siemian and Mark Sanchez, with Siemian eventually winning the Week 1 job.

Siemian was a 2015 seventh-round pick from Northwestern who never threw a pass at the NFL level, so it was somewhat of a surprise that he got the start. Siemian was ... OK, for the most part. He completed 59.5 percent of his passes for 3,401 yards, 18 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions in 14 games while averaging 7 yards per attempt. Given the low expectations, those were perfectly acceptable numbers. But Siemian didn’t elevate the team like you would expect from a true franchise quarterback.

When Siemian suffered a shoulder injury early in the year and later missed Week 13 with a sprained foot, Lynch filled in and looked like a rookie thrown to the wolves. In 83 pass attempts, he had just two touchdowns to one interception, averaging 6 yards per attempt and eating nine sacks in just three game appearances. Lynch could be better in his sophomore year, and he has the right offensive coordinator to learn from.

Following Kubiak’s retirement, Joseph brought in Mike McCoy as the new offensive coordinator. McCoy is one of the better offensive minds in football, serving as the Broncos OC from 2010-12 before taking the head coaching job for the San Diego Chargers. Although his Chargers tenure wasn’t too successful, McCoy had consistently good offenses and maximized the strengths of Philip Rivers. He’s a good hire and potentially strong mentor for Lynch, who should get a fresh start and opportunity to push Siemian for the starting job.

With a roster that’s otherwise ready to win now, the Broncos were one of the favorites to land Tony Romo in free agency. But Romo’s retirement threw a wrench into that fantasy, and Denver barely addressed the position in the offseason. The team’s only new name is Mr. Irrelevant draft pick Chad Kelly, who’s recovering from multiple surgeries and probably won’t be a factor in 2017.

So the Broncos entered the offseason with questions at quarterback and ended it with the exact same questions. We shall see if this is a bold vote of confidence from Elway or a foolish oversight that will cost his team another playoff appearance.

In fairness, Denver’s quarterbacks had little to work with. Other than Thomas and Sanders, the Broncos just didn’t have enough firepower on offense to get back into the postseason.

The running game was a black hole for most of the year. C.J. Anderson’s season was derailed by injuries — he played just seven games, rushing for 437 yards and averaging 4 yards per carry. 2016 rookie Devontae Booker got plenty of chances to shine but was overall a disappointment, with just 3.5 yards per carry and four fumbles on 174 attempts. Booker did finish the season on a strong note, putting up 180 total yards and two touchdowns in the final two games, so it’s possible he’s not a lost cause yet.

The Broncos added more weapons in the running game by signing Jamaal Charles and drafting De’Angelo Henderson in the sixth round. Charles faces major health concerns after knee injuries wiped out most of his 2015 and 2016 seasons, but the 30-year-old could be a steal if he has anything left in the tank. Henderson had a fine college career at FCS Coastal Carolina, scoring 58 touchdowns in four seasons. He’s undersized at 5’7, 208 pounds but could easily carve out an early role on the offense.

Nevertheless, the backfield is shaping up as another muddled committee that probably won’t be settled until deep into training camp.

The offensive line was also a major weakness last season. This unit allowed a total of 40 sacks, ninth-most in the league. It gave up a lot of pressure in general, allowing 100 quarterback hits. The line also did a poor job opening up holes for Anderson and Booker, contributing to their poor numbers.

To their credit, the Broncos addressed their glaring offensive line weakness in the offseason, signing Ronald Leary and Menelik Watson in free agency while drafting Garett Bolles in the first round. These are all positive developments, as long as the revamped offensive line jells this year.

Even if the offense struggles again, though, the Broncos still have a huge trump card.

Although tit didn’t quite reach its brilliant heights of the Super Bowl-winning campaign, the Broncos defense remains incredibly good. In 2016, it was fourth-best in points and yards allowed per game, third-best in sacks, tied for seventh-best in takeaways, and boasted the best defensive DVOA of the year. Aside from the retired DeMarcus Ware, most of the band is back together for 2017.

Miller, the Super Bowl 50 MVP, picked up where he left off and totaled 13.5 sacks last year. He’s nowhere close to resting on his laurels, telling the Broncos’ official website that he believes he can be better than ever:

“I feel like this Von coming up is going to be my best Von that I put forward,” he said.

”I have a full offseason. Full OTAs. I’m going to be here every single day training. It’s not all the noise on the outside from the contract and this and that, and doing all this stuff — not that it wasn’t a big deal for me.

“Now it’s just all football. I’m here. I’m settled in, and it’s time to go play.”

Miller already has 73.5 sacks in six seasons and is still just 28 years old. It’s downright scary to think of what he can accomplish if we haven’t seen his best yet. Miller is well on his way to a Hall of Fame career if he keeps this up.

It’s not just Miller who makes the Broncos defense great. Shane Ray, a 2015 first-rounder, enjoyed a breakout year with eight sacks. Aqib Talib, Chris Harris Jr., and Bradley Roby combined to form the “No Fly Zone,” arguably the best cornerback trio in football.

If there’s one flaw on this unit, it’s that it was suspect against the run. The Broncos gave up 130.3 rushing yards per game, fifth-worst in the league. Drafting second-round defensive end DeMarcus Walker should help shore up that weakness, but it’s something to watch in the early going next season.

But it’s losing a crucial piece: defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, who went to the Los Angeles Rams after Kubiak’s retirement. Replacing him is Joe Woods, who gets an in-house promotion after being the Broncos’ defensive backs coach from 2015-16. Woods is already familiar with the players, which should help, but he’s never been a coordinator at the NFL level. Perhaps it will be more of a collaborative effort with Joseph, who has a traditional defensive background. Either way, an adjustment period is in order.

Despite those concerns, we shouldn’t expect too much of a drop-off. This defense is mean, opportunistic, and right in the middle of its prime. There’s a lot to work with on this side of the ball.

In all honesty, the Broncos don’t have to be that much better to make the playoffs again. They got close last year, the defense is there, and Joseph appears to be a bright coaching mind. And let’s not forget: This team won the Super Bowl with Peyton Manning’s dead arm. They don’t need a world-beater under center — just someone competent enough to keep the offense on schedule. Siemian and/or Lynch have the potential to do just that.

On the other hand, the AFC West has quietly become a murderer’s row. If the offense doesn’t step up and start pulling its weight, the Broncos are in danger of falling behind in an intensely competitive division.

The Oakland Raiders went 12-4 and boast a young, exceptionally talented squad that could easily develop into a Super Bowl contender. The Kansas City Chiefs also went 12-4 and show no signs of fading away soon. The Chargers are facing an identity crisis as they move to Los Angeles, but they still have enough pieces to make a run with the right luck.

By all rights, the Broncos’ down 2016 should be just a blip. Elway remains one of the sharpest GMs in the game, and as long as the defense is elite, this team can’t be counted out in any given week.