How these Broncos and their 'play-dough' QB can halt the Kansas City Chiefs' reign.
Former Buffalo Bills assistant coach an analyst serves as a football expert and plays for the UK's national squad.
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NFL 2025 season: Week six
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We're in the sixth week of the football calendar and after recent discussion about the Buffalo Bills and Philadelphia Eagles being a potential Super Bowl match-up, they both surrendered their unbeaten records.
Notable in those games were the amount of infractions both conceded. Philadelphia committed them in key moments so they kind of defeated themselves having led 17-3 going into the final quarter against the Denver Broncos, who play overseas this weekend.
But it was good to observe how Denver's QB Bo Nix was able to have that deficit before direct three scoring drives on three possessions in the fourth quarter, to win the victory by four points.
The Broncos have the top defender with CB their star corner. They rank number one in red zone defence, whereas the Eagles are number one in scoring near the end zone, yet Denver won that battle.
They executed effective strategies in terms of disguised blitzes. They did not always rushing more than four pass rushers but they might plug two LBs in the 'A' gap before drop them out and dispatch a nickel from the outside.
Early on in the campaign, it was noted during a show that the Broncos could be the current year's dark horses. They ended the previous year strongly then did a good job in continuing that momentum.
Could Denver be this season's underdog story?
New tight end their tight end has excelled big while new running back their rusher is a player the team trusts. He's currently fifth in the NFL for rushing yards (402) as well as tied-fourth for rushing touchdowns (four).
I love that the coach the Broncos' leader has "RUSH!" prominently of his playcall sheet.
That shows that Denver represent a squad that wants to run first, because one can achieve much off the back of that. It slows down the pass rush and maintains in positive down and distances.
It's also helped quarterback Bo Nix, who entered into the league as the 12th overall draft pick in the prior draft, passing for 29 touchdown passes – second only to a star QB for the rookie record (31 in 2020).
Josh Allen and Herbert have the arm strength to pass anywhere, but they don't move in the same way that Nix has. He has exceptional arm talent, which is different, and he is highly agile.
His assets include his mobility, the capacity to throw on the run, and using different arm angles to make throws as he moves out of the pocket, on rollouts. He can deliver precision throws across the middle and past defenders.
As a rookie QB, aged 25, he's got great poise under pressure and is not really fazed by extra rushers. He tries to avoid being tackled as much as possible and can throw in tight spots. He has a high football IQ and is very decisive.
When you constantly rush it consumes time and forces the opponent to be in play for longer, and if you've got a mobile QB the defense must cover the area downfield and horizontally. It can be exhausting.
The quarterback has pushed back at Payton on the sideline at times and I think the coach likes that attitude, that he's such a competitor. I think it's fun for the coach to have a young quarterback that is similar to moldable clay. He can really develop him the way he wants to build it. I believe it's a unique opportunity for him.
Payton owns a championship and now passed a legend for career NFL wins (173, tying for 14th). He's seen it all. In my opinion the achievements the Broncos are having offensively is mostly down to his leadership, his schemes, his situational awareness – and the pairing with Nix aids make him into who he is.
You wouldn't want a more qualified person guiding you, to assist you through difficult moments and boost confidence.
I believe in the Broncos' defense, in Bo Nix's tenacity and composure. But are they good enough to go against a top squad at its best? Because that wasn't a Super Bowl performance by the Eagles in their last game.
Right now, I don't think the Broncos are elite. They're performing better than most, which is a good place to hold the AFC West. All they need is is maintain this path.
They're really good at embracing their strength, which is the ground game, and this is exactly what they must do versus the Jets in London. It will likely be the JK Dobbins show, essentially.
New York have allowed 140 yards on the ground each contest (sixth worst), five rushing touchdowns this season (in the bottom ten), and they're the sole squad without a win a game.
Ever since the NFL began tracking takeaways in 1933, the Jets are the first team to go without any turnovers in five outings, this is kind of shocking considering that their new coach Aaron Glenn a defensive coach with another team.
The Chiefs' QB stated the Chiefs have 'already lost too many games' following a recent loss to Jacksonville.
After this Sunday's game, Denver have a smooth-ish schedule until their bye (in week 12) - the Giants, the Cowboys, the Texans and Las Vegas Raiders before the Chiefs.
In their division, the Chiefs are 2-3 and the Broncos are even with the Chargers at 3-2 meaning they could make a run for the top of the division.
This hinges upon which form of the Chiefs they face because Denver {beat|def
