When Indianapolis Colts 3-10 meet the Denver Broncos 4-9 on Thursday evening, it’s no longer about the playoffs for both teams. Instead, other topics are coming to the fore. Topics that concern both teams with regard to the future. The focus is on both coaches. The duel between the Colts and the Broncos will take place on Friday night from 2.25 a. m. live on DAZN.
Since 1967, the Broncos had not lost eight games in a row. A negative series, which is mainly due to the serious problems in the offense. Sloppy quarterback playing behind a line that had big difficulties to protect it and a running game that didn’t deserve the name.
Denver therefore often opened up his formation and played a pass-filled offense, a flawed offense. The resulting turnovers forced one of the league’s better defenses to regularly defend a short field. A task that is also performed by Messrs. Von Miller and Co. can’t accomplish continuously.
Statistically, the Broncos’ elite unit is playing well again. The Defensive Line plays another dominant season and the Pass Rush reminds us of the times when the Defense in Mile High City could almost win matches on its own. The metrics of Football Outsiders rate Denvers Run-D as third best in the league. Only the Eagles (2.70) and Browns (3.23) allow for fewer adjusted line yards than Denvers Front (3.31). With an Adjusted Sack Rate of 8.3 percent, they are in fifth place in the league.
In the week before against the jets, they showed what is actually possible in a flawless game. Just one week after an embarrassing bankruptcy in Miami, the Broncos were betting on a power-run game, which still hadn’t caused euphoria, but could at least suggest that this offense was not necessarily a handicap.
On the other hand, they held New York’s offense, which had been surprisingly attractive this season so far and made for positive headlines throughout the season, at a meagre 100 yards. Coach Vance Joseph often explained that the team regularly hinted at the potential for such performance in practice, but then fell short of expectations during the games.
For Joseph, victory was particularly important. Never before has a trainer at the Broncos been dismissed after only one year of probation. However, some media companies in Denver claim that his term of office will end after such a disappointing season. Victories such as the one against the jets at least show that Joseph’s words are still well received in the changing room.
His statements to the press are those that presently disagree with Denver’s followers:”Siegen is a habit. It will be very important for our future to win the last three games,”Joseph said before the Colts game. This could be particularly important for his personal future. Many a fan, on the other hand, speculates about a less successful outcome and the prospect of a better draft placement.
The topic of head coach is also above the Colts’ season-end spurt. After the 7:13 defeat in Buffalo’s crazy snowstorm, Indy is now officially denied access to the playoffs for the third time in a row. Since the AFC Championship Game 2014, Pagano and the Colts have had a record of 19-26. A drastic change in comparison to Pagano’s first three years in Indy, when 11 victories in each of the playoffs made it into the play-offs.
“I’m the grandfather of the South,”the coach joked during the week about his many years of experience in AFC South. It is the good look to the evil play that drives Pagano. After all, the lack of success has also caused his job security to waver. Colts’ new managing director, Chris Ballard, evaluated the entire squad and its coaching staff during the season.
“You know what you’re getting involved with here,”Pagano explained in view of his future:”The life span in this profession is not exactly long. You have to use every opportunity, train hard, work hard and fight in the game. You don’t have time to worry about such things.”
Taking advantage of the Colts’ remaining opportunities and winning all three of their last three games, Pagano continues to end the season with the worst record of his tenure in Indianapolis. The prospects are not very good. That is what the grandfather of the South knows.
Indianapolis Colts (3-10) – Denver Broncos (4-9) (Fri, 2:25 a. m. live on DAZN)
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