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Denver Broncos vs. Houston Texans Preview: The Return of Brock

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Brock Osweiler filled in admirably for the Denver Broncos in Peyton Manning’s absence on the way to Super Bowl 50.  Now he returns to face his former team.

Brock is back in the building.  The Denver Broncos host their former backup quarterback and the Houston Texans on Monday Night Football this week and nobody seems more hyped to see their former teammate than the Denver Broncos defense.

Disrespect is something that has fueled this Denver Broncos defense for two years.  Disrespect by the media, by the fans, and now by Brock Osweiler.  When Osweiler chose not to respond to his teammates and front office this offseason, it was clear that he was gone.  Osweiler went on to say that the Houston Texans offered him the best chance to win.  To the Denver Broncos, that is simply dis–re–spect–ful.  More on this later.

Quarterback Problems

The Denver Broncos have been absolutely abysmal on offense the past two games and that needs to change.  In week five, the Broncos used Paxton Lynch while starting quarterback Trevor Siemian rested a bum shoulder suffered in a week four win at Tampa Bay.  Lynch put up decent stats in the game, completing 65% of his passes for 223 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT.  He flashed the talent that made John Elway trade up to draft him, but overall he really struggled in the game.

In his return to the lineup in week six, Trevor Siemian struggled mightily.  His stats did not even come close to representing how poor of a game it was for the second year player out of Northwestern.  Siemian completed 60% of his passes for 230 yards and 1a TD, but was completely ineffective in throws longer than 10 yards.  Of the 50 passes Siemian attempted, only 9 went more than 10 yards down the field—and only one of those were completed.  Siemian held on to the ball far too long on multiple occasions leading to inaccurate throws and plenty of balls that he just threw away.

Offensive Line Woes

While neither quarterback has played well the past two weeks, it would be completely unfair to pin both of the losses on that position.  The reality of the situation is that the entire offense has been abysmal, especially along the offensive line.  In week five vs. the Falcons, the line was still missing starting RT Donald Stephenson and starting TE Virgil Green.  Paxton Lynch was pressured on 46% of his drop backs. He was sacked six times in total.  A couple of the sacks were due to the ball not coming out of his hand, but the majority of them the rush got to Lynch in 2.75 seconds or less; an awful performance for the line to say the least.

Both Stephenson and Green returned for the San Diego game.  While the

Oct 13, 2016; San Diego, CA, USA; Denver Broncos tight end Virgil Green (85) is defended by San Diego Chargers cornerback Casey Hayward (26) and cornerback Craig Mager (29) during the fourth quarter at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

results were slightly better, it wasn’t a huge improvement—not the type of improvement that would be encouraging for the Broncos.  While Siemian wasn’t under pressure nearly as much as Lynch just days before, penalties became the problem.  Every time C.J. Anderson cranked out a decent run, it was called back for a penalty.  Every lineman for the Broncos committed at least one penalty—a trend that simply cannot continue.

The biggest similarity on the line between the two games was the lack of a run game.  Too often the guards are getting blown off the ball, most notably Max Garcia.  This is typically a problem defined by attitude and intensity, something that has been sorely lacking for this line since week two, and has severely hurt the rushing attack.  Without a viable rushing attack, neither of these young quarterbacks are going to have an easy time having success the rest of the year.

Oct 9, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Houston Texans linebacker Jadeveon Clowney (90) against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Vikings defeated the Texans 31-13. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

The Texans Defense

The Denver Broncos offensive line is going to be up for a tough challenge going against the Texans defensive line.  2014 number one overall pick Jadaveon Clowney is finally healthy, and showing exactly why he was taken with the number one pick in the draft.  His bull rush is something that is simply other-worldly.  Clowney will rush from either side, so both Stephenson and Okung need to be prepared for a physical battle.  Clowney can use pure force to drive back even the best of tackles, and has been brilliant thus far sans J.J. Watt.

Whitney Mercilus is having himself a fine season from the outside linebacker position as he has already tallied 4.5 sacks on the year.  He will be another tough task to block in trying to keep Trevor Siemian upright, provided Siemian is healthy enough to play come Sunday.

Cornerback Jonathan Joseph will be available for the game, however Bill O’Brien stated that second year cornerback Kevin Johnson will likely miss the season with a foot injury that will likely require surgery.

It is a tough blow for the Texans, as Johnson is key for the Texans in nickel situations, playing as the third cornerback.  Look for the Broncos to pick on corner A.J. Bouye when the Texans go into their nickel defense.

Oct 13, 2016; San Diego, CA, USA; Denver Broncos outside linebacker Von Miller (58) works against San Diego Chargers tackle Joe Barksdale (72) during the first quarter at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

DEFWU

#DEFWU—The Broncos are serious about this.  Don’t mess with this defense, don’t disrespect this defense and certainly don’t leave this defense and say someone else can do it better.  That is what Brock Osweiler did to them in March when he turned down John Elway’s offer of $16 million per year and bolted town to join the Houston Texans.  On Monday Night, Osweiler may just wonder exactly what he was thinking last March.

Don’t think that this defense has forgotten Brock leaving town.  They are ready to inflict punishment on him, and when asked, they didn’t hold back.  “It is what it is.”  Chris Harris said when asked about the opportunity to face Osweiler.  ” We know that he left us. It’s going to be great. I’m pretty sure that he wants to win, we want to beat him bad and get a lot of interceptions.”  In six games thus far, he has already thrown eight interceptions—he had six in essentially seven full games last season.  He would figure to throw a couple more facing the No Fly Zone this week.

Brandon Marshall, on top of saying that they want to “kill” Osweiler said

Oct 9, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos defensive end Derek Wolfe (95) celebrates a sack by outside linebacker Von Miller (58) in the third quarter against the Atlanta Falcons at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The Falcons won 23-16. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

that this should be a good week for the Broncos defense to get right after a couple weeks of not being up to the normal shut down standard.  “We know that Brock likes to hold the ball so I feel that we can get a lot of good pressure on him. Just watching their offense, I think this can be a great week for us, I can say that.”  Marshall is absolutely correct—Brock loves to hold the ball.  This is something he did often times last season with the Broncos.  If he does that Monday night, Von Miller, Shane Ray and Derek Wolfe are going to have a field day with the Texans quarterback.

Still Dominant

The Broncos defense hasn’t quite played up to the standard that they set a year ago.  Perhaps they’ve become complacent after they were finally beginning to gain some national respect.  Now they are once again being told they still aren’t good enough.  They are being told that they have taken a step back and the offense hasn’t progressed enough.  They have now lost two straight games, and the quarterback that left them is back in the building.  If you don’t believe in #DEFWU, be sure to tune in Monday Night.  Come Tuesday morning, people will remember why this team won a Super Bowl a year ago.

Oct 9, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas (88) runs the ball in the first quarter against the Atlanta Falcons at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Key Matchups to Watch

Interesting Notes

Prediction

The Broncos defense will prove to be way to much for Brock Osweiler to handle in his return from Denver.  Osweiler is going to be sacked eight times, and throw two interceptions, and the Texans will fail to get the ball in the end zone.  In fact, they will only reach Denver territory three times on their way to two field goals.

The Broncos run game will be a point of emphasis. They will rebound in a positive way.  There is no way the Broncos were ever going to lose this game.

The Score:  Broncos 31  Texans 6

Game Information

Who: Houston Texans at Denver Broncos

Where: Sports Authority at Mile High

When: Monday, October 24, 2016

Time: 8:30 PM EST/6:30 PM MST

Network: ESPN

Announcers: Sean McDonough, Jon Gruden

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