Broncos Week 5 Preview: Tampa Bay at Denver

VS

Last week Denver laid an egg against the Chiefs and lost 33 – 19 to put them at 3 – 1 for the year.  Will this be a statement game?  Whether it is or not, it will certainly tell us a lot as fans.  Tampa Bay visits Mile High Stadium (I refuse to call it the other thing) this week, marking the return of former quarter back Brian Griese to Denver.

Offense

At quarterback I don’t really think there is much of a contest.  I know I am biased, but Cutler is just a better quarter back and overall athlete who can make plays versus Griese who is a textbook system guy.  He is not bad, but all things must be working for him to excel.

I think the running game is actually fairly equal although Tampa Bay tends to rely on it more.  Young, Hall and Pittman are doing well but are not being used as much as they should in my opinion.  On the other side, Dunn and Graham are solid runners as well.

On the line I will give the advantage to Denver.  2 sacks allowed versus 4 for Tampa Bay.  This Denver unit plays as one, and is really giving Cutler time in the pocket.

At receiver, much like quarterback, it is not really that close in terms of talent.  Denver has the better receivers although Hilliard is playing well and Dunn out of the backfield is always a threat in the passing game.  Then again, who knows…against our defense the teams with fewer options seem to do ok.  I still give the positional edge to Denver.

Overall the offensive advantage goes to Denver.

Defense

I am not even breaking this down, advantage Tampa Bay.  Their Tampa 2 defense is very good, and they get to the passer quite a lot.  Their defensive line and linebackers against our offensive line will determine this game.

Until Denver proves otherwise, they are behind in this area against most teams.

Special Teams

Both teams are pretty equal here although I give an edge to Denver’s Matt Prater who is better from long distance than Tampa Bay’s Matt Bryant so far.  Punting is pretty equal, as is the overall return game.  Denver has been giving up large returns all year and that concerns me.

Special Teams are Even as far as I see it.

Prediction

I am worried about this game.  Cutler really needs to be on, and make good decisions against a  very deceptive Tampa 2 defense.  i think Denver’s defense will be equally important. I predicted a win in my season prediction and I am again sticking with it.  The Broncos will go 4 – 1 with a final score of 31 – 20.