KUSA – The Broncos are hot. The Bengals lost their starting quarterback.
The combination adds up to the 5-6 Broncos becoming a 5 ½-point road favorite to the 5-6 Bengals.
Let’s not get carries away. Personally, I think this should be listed as a pick ‘em game. Cincinnati quarterback Jeff Driskel looked good coming off the bench last week in relief of Andy Dalton, who suffered a season-ending thumb injury.
Driskel is considered the NFL’s second-fastest quarterback to Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson. He threw for a touchdown and ran for another in the second half against Cleveland last week.
After the Broncos snapped six-game winning streaks in back-to-back weeks against the Los Angeles Chargers and Pittsburgh Steelers, the playoffs are a possibility -- so long as they beat the Bengals on Sunday (11 a.m. kickoff MST) at Paul Brown Stadium. Lose and the Broncos are likely done from playoff contention.
It’s a must win game and here’s a Klis List of ways the Broncos can pull it off:
*Score 27 points
The Bengals have the NFL’s worst defense and they’re not close to next-to-last, allowing 439.6 yards and 31.5 points per game.
The Broncos are only scoring 22.9 points per game so it’s a little much to ask them to score 30. But three touchdowns and two field goals should be enough to beat a backup quarterback.
*Big game from Bradley Chubb
Not Von, but Chubb. The Bengals are without not one (Cordy Glenn) but two (Jake Fisher) left tackles. The Bengals are expected to start Cedric Ogbuehi, who has struggled since he was a first-round pick in 2015, and the team just signed back veteran Andre Smith as insurance.
Von Miller, by the way, will be lined up against right tackle Bobby Hart. Miller should have his way, too.
A pass rush from Chubb and Miller is a must because the Broncos’ secondary is thin with the loss of Tramaine Brock and has been struggling to cover, anyway.
*Mix up blitzes, coverages
Driskel might be the next Matt Schaub or Matt Flynn or Nick Mullens – a backup quarterback who can play. No matter how good Driskel may be, though, he doesn’t have experience. That means he hasn’t seen the unexpected.
*Contain A.J. Green
Don’t think the Broncos can completely shut down the Bengals’ star receiver. At 6-fooot-4, Green has six inches on the Broncos’ best cornerback, Chris Harris Jr.
The Bengals also have one of the league’s top No. 2 receivers in Tyler Boyd, who has 63 catches for 841 yards and six touchdowns. Broncos No. 2 corner Bradley Roby and rookie Isaac Yiadom will have to play the game of their lives.
The Denver defense was torched for a combined 865 passing yards by Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger the past two weeks. Driskel better not be the next Rivers or Roethlisberger.
*Protect Case
The Bengals have two good pass rushers in Carlos Dunlop and Geno Atkins, who each have 7.0 sacks. If quarterback Case Keenum has time, he should be able to pass efficiently against a porous Bengals’ secondary.
*Get Courtland Sutton going
The Broncos rely heavily on running back Phillip Lindsay and receiver Emmanuel Sanders. That duo should get their share of touches but there’s also a chance the Bengals’ defense zeroes in on the rookie runner and double-teams Sanders.
This might be the game to hit the rookie Sutton on the deep balls.
*Hang in through momentum swings
Just because the Broncos beat good teams in the Chargers and the Steelers the previous two weeks doesn’t mean the skidding Bengals won’t give them a game.
The Broncos were trailing in the second half before rallying in the fourth quarter against both the Chargers and Steelers and they may have to do the same against the Bengals.
The Broncos must continue to play with the energy and determination they’ve had since coming off their bye week.
