Denver Broncos
Offense
The NFL’s top-ranked offense a season ago, the Broncos have re-tooled for this year and perhaps will be even better. Knowshon Moreno is gone, but in his place is the younger Montee Ball, a 2013 first-round pick who is more of a downhill runner. Eric Decker is now in New York, and in his place the team signed Emmanuel Sanders from Pittsburgh and drafted highly touted Cody Latimer in the second round of the draft.
More importantly, the offensive line is healthy again, meaning the Broncos could rely more on a balanced attack — not that Peyton Manning isn’t capable of single-handedly directing this offense. With so many ways to beat you, there are few defenses that’ll actually force Manning and Co. to sweat this year.
Defense
While the Denver offense steals most of the attention, the defense is arguably tops in the AFC. The unit added DeMarcus Ware opposite a healthy Von Miller, and Aqib Talib and T.J. Ward improve the secondary.
With young talent like Derek Wolfe, Sylvester Williams and Terrance Knighton, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better front seven in football. The loss of Danny Trevathan hurts, but he’ll be back sooner rather than later, and the team’s depth eases the loss.
If Talib continues to be as solid as he was in New England, the Broncos should have the best unit in the conference.
Outlook
The Broncos aren’t just preparing for the playoffs, their sights are set on the Super Bowl. The team actually improved on both sides of the ball, making the offense more balanced and the defense deeper and more talented.
The window for Manning and the veteran-laden Broncos is small, so the time to strike to now. It’s Super Bowl or bust at this point, but there’s little doubt that those expectations are realistic.
