The Denver Broncos could be in the middle of the easiest games of the 2024 schedule. After completely dominating New Orleans Saints in the return of Sean Payton, after a 33-10 road win, Denver can now host the collapse. Carolina Panthers.

With Denver getting a “mini-pa” after they play Thursday night football Last week, the Broncos will likely be as healthy and rested as they will be at any point for the rest of the year.

The Broncos have fallen out of the NFL’s core teams and now sit at the table of “not championship caliber, but could be hot if they make playoff teams.” With a fantastic defense, a strong hitting game and a developing running game, Denver has the type of identity that tends to play well as the season progresses and the weather worsens.

Thanks in large part to the vision and internal culture established by Payton, a successful longtime head coach, Denver finally feels like it has some positive momentum as a team very much on the rise.

On the opposite side, on Sundays, the vibes are very different. The Panthers come to Denver with 9.5 points and are coming off a 40-7 loss to the team. Commanders from Washington and backup quarterback Marcus Mariota.

As if the Panthers weren’t already facing enough adversity, starting quarterback Andy Dalton was in the a minor car accident this week with his family. Fortunately, everyone walked away from the accident, but Dalton suffered a sprained thumb on his throwing hand. The Panthers will now turn to former No. 1 pick Bryce Young, who played some underwhelming football to start the season before being benched before Week 3.

This Panthers team is extremely lacking in talent and is near the bottom of the league in most metrics. Carolina is currently the worst team in football by the advanced metric, DVOA, with a bottom-five offense and bottom defense. The Broncos could help push the Panthers toward their 2025 destiny of once again earning the No. 1 pick. 1. They were so bad.

How could the Broncos lose to the Panthers this week? The first answer, obviously, is turnover.

Bo Nix and the Broncos have, more or less, done a much better job protecting the football late. Nix has yet to deflate the football and has an interception and a turnover-worthy pass (huge Saints safety Tyrann Mathieu) in his last four starts.

The Broncos have had some trouble holding onto the football with fumbles from Javonte Williams and Audric Estime the past two weeks, but on offense, even if they continue to field a bottom-10 unit that struggles to throw the football consistently, as long as their drives end in kicks (extra points, field goals or punts), they should be in a very good position to not only win on Sunday, but in convincing fashion.

Are there other areas Broncos Country should be worried about on Sunday? This is a pretty scary Panthers football team this season, but if there is one area where they are average or better, it is the combination of their offensive line with their running game.

The Panthers will come to Denver as the 14th EPA/Rush team in the NFL and ninth in rushing success rate in the NFL. The Panthers struggle to pass the ball and don’t have the benefit of a quarterback with rushing ability. Additionally, they have an awful defense that puts the offense in the hole early and often, so the opportunity to rush the football isn’t always available to the Panthers.

Still, the Panthers have a path to offensive competency by handing Hubbard the ball behind this offensive line. Hubbard has 537 rushing yards on the year and a solid 5.2 yards per carry. He’s put the ball on the ground twice this season and hasn’t been a huge factor in the passing game, but overall, the Panthers’ running game has been this team’s lone bright spot.

The Broncos defense has been extremely good this season, ranking second in EPA/Play, fourth in pass completion rate and third in DVOA. However, if this defense has a relative weakness, it would be her defense.

Denver is still pretty strong against the run, ranking 10th in EPA/Rush, but league average (15th) in rushing success rate. In juxtaposition, the Broncos rank second in EPA/Pass defense and third in defensive pass success rate.

The Broncos should win next Sunday as long as they protect the football and lean into the formula they’ve developed over the past seven weeks. However, to remove any doubt about the win, Denver should plan to shut down the Panthers’ rushing attack and make Young beat them.

By preventing the run on early downs, the Broncos would force Carolina into obvious passing situations. That could lead to them becoming the No. 1 defense by the end of the week in many key metrics.

Stopping the run this week can be used as a fine-tuning game for the toughest two-game stretch any team will face this season as Denver heads to Baltimore and then Kansas City.

Both Baltimore and Kansas City rank in the top five key metrics in terms of rushing, so how Denver is able to stop the run will be key to maintaining a playoff pace this season.

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