The Denver Broncos will compete against the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday. Here’s what the Broncos will need to do if they want to be playing in the Super Bowl on Feb. 8.
Dominate against Drake Maye and the Patriots offense
Even though the Patriots have won their last two games, the defenses of the Los Angeles Chargers and Houston Texans each sacked Drake Maye five times. It’s also worth noting that Maye has fumbled the ball six times, lost three of those fumbles, and has thrown two interceptions this postseason.
Denver’s defense must be great and even better at what they were able to do last week. If teams like the Chargers and Texans were able to reach Maye in the backfield, the Broncos should be able to as well. It’s also very important that they try to produce turnovers.
Nik Bonitto needs to be hungry just as he was against the Buffalo Bills, while there’s a good chance he will be able to force Maye to fumble and do what he did to Josh Allen last week. The secondary also needs to play well and limit the Patriots’ wide receivers, as no one on the Patriots has had more than 100 receiving yards in a game this postseason.
Despite not having a dominant receiver this postseason, Maye has thrown four touchdowns, with each of those touchdowns going to different players in Hunter Henry, Kayshon Boutte, Stefon Diggs, and DeMario Douglas, who are all players Denver will have to keep an eye on.
The Patriots have also rushed for over 100 yards in each postseason game. Denver is going to have to do a better job of stopping the run this week, as they struggled to stop James Cook. At the same time, Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson can cause problems if the Broncos aren’t able to stop the run game early on.
Run the ball more frequently and efficiently
The Broncos may have one of the best defenses in the NFL this season. Still, they certainly have not been doing as well at stopping the run game this postseason as the Patriots defense has. New England only allowed 87 rushing yards against the Chargers and 48 rushing yards against the Texans.
The run game against the Bills was ineffective, as Bo Nix had the most rushing yards, and Denver stopped using its running backs, as RJ Harvey and Jaleel McLaughlin combined for 10 carries.
Since Nix is out for the remainder of the season, Harvey and McLaughlin are going to have to step up big time and definitely rush for more than 20 yards each, while they are going to have to be very hungry running the ball, as Sean Payton may depend on them a lot more since J.K. Dobbins will also not be playing on Sunday.
Thrive in the passing game with Jarrett Stidham
New England’s secondary has done a great job of limiting how much opposing offenses involve their wide receivers. The Broncos are going to need all of their players available to step up in the passing game, not just Marvin Mims Jr.
As the team’s leader in receiving yards, Courtland Sutton definitely has to play a better game Sunday and try to avoid dropping catchable passes, especially in crucial moments. How Lil’Jordan Humphrey plays will also be important, as he dropped what could’ve been a touchdown early in last week’s game, but made up for it by scoring a deep ball touchdown.
Troy Franklin’s status is still questionable, but Pat Bryant will be back, which should also give Jarrett Stidham more options. Bryant was one of Nix’s favorite targets last week, catching three passes for 32 yards on the Broncos’ opening drive before going down with an injury early in the first quarter.
It wouldn’t be shocking if Evan Engram is one of Stidham’s main targets on Sunday, as he threw to Engram, who caught a pass from him for 58 yards, when the Broncos played the Arizona Cardinals in a preseason game on Aug. 16.
Franklin’s return would be great for the Broncos, as Stidham also threw two touchdowns to him in the preseason game against Arizona. With Franklin ready to go on Sunday, Denver’s passing game will become more of a threat. Stidham will have more options to rely on, especially if the Broncos have a hard time trying to get Sutton and Mims Jr. involved.