Here’s where the Denver Broncos are showing up in this week’s power rankings around the NFL.
Coming into this post today after the Denver Broncos light up the highlight reels on Monday Night Football and on a three-game win streak, I was confident we’d see more consensus Top 10 rankings here. But no. They actually went down on the aggregate over last week. I’m actually convinced every one of these writers has these posts written Monday and only change their rankings if something drastic happens — like Denver losing to the Cleveland Browns for example.
Since they won and were expected to win, they bumped them down a bit because other teams also won. Just proves the national media may say they believe, but they don’t actually bo-lieve. More for these 2024 Broncos to prove down the stretch.
Here is where the Broncos are ranking around the NFL.
ESPN – 12th
Bonitto, the Broncos’ second-round pick in the 2022 draft, offered a preview in 2023 of where he was headed this campaign. Last season, he was one of the best players in first pressures created (third best in the NFL), but those pressures didn’t result in sacks. Now, they are, as his 11 sacks make him the Broncos’ first player with double-digit sacks since Von Miller in 2018. Bonitto is solid against the run too, so he’s getting more snaps overall in the best season of his career.
CBS Sports – 10th
It wasn’t pretty against the Browns, so the bye comes at a good time. The defense made big plays, but they gave up way too many passing yards. That can’t continue.
Yahoo Sports – 11th
The Broncos head into their bye week up two games on the Colts for the final wild-card spot. It’s looking pretty good. For a franchise that hasn’t been to the playoffs since the 2015 season, it would be a big step, especially with rookie quarterback Bo Nix playing as well as he has.
ProFootballTalk – 9th
The Broncos will be hard to beat in the postseason.
NFL.com – 10th
There were some big plays, but Bo Nix didn’t have a great game Monday night while Jameis Winston was carving up Denver’s very good defense. Nix’s 93-yard TD dart to Marvin Mims Jr. helped atone for some of his earlier mistakes, but he got greedy on the deep-shot pick later. Nix looked better when he played more within the confines of Sean Payton’s system. I don’t mind him coloring outside the lines, because he can, but this Broncos offense hums along smoother when Nix takes the easy gains more consistently. Thankfully, the Denver defense made the biggest plays of the game in the biggest spots. My man Nik Bonitto had his first career pick and pick-six on the same play, later adding a big sack and several key pressures. He’s been on a roll lately. The finishing move was Ja’Quan McMillian’s pick-six, although Cody Barton added another interception to completely slam the door shut. The coverage busts are concerning, but the Broncos have a few dudes on defense.
Sporting News – 12th
The Broncos won a third consecutive game since falling to .500, to close Week 13 in thrilling fashion vs. the Browns. They needed to keep rolling at home with a red-hot Bo Nix to secure the third and final AFC wild-card spot.
USA Today – 13th
Add another sack plus a 71-yard pick-six to OLB Nik Bonitto’s low-key (but growing) case for Defensive Player of the Year.
Bleacher Report – 11th
That defense was carved up for a jaw-dropping 552 yards Monday night and allowed 32 points. Yet it still may have been the hero of the game, thanks to three takeaways and a pair of pick-sixes.
On a night when Bo Nix and the offense were just OK and the defense was lit up for a number of big plays, the unit still found a way to get the win.
That’s what playoff teams do.
FOX Sports – 11th
The Broncos defense didn’t exactly cover itself in glory Monday night, but two pick-sixes made the difference against Cleveland. More importantly, Denver is now in prime position for a playoff spot. And the one benefit of an incredibly late Week 14 bye is they’ll be fresher than everyone else for the home stretch.
Where do you think the Broncos should be ranked? Share in the comments section below.