Broncos' Blueprint to Beating the Falcons: Two Absolute Musts

The Denver Broncos have two key points of emphasis this week vs. the Atlanta Falcons.

Oct 6, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton (center) looks on in the second quarter against the Las Vegas Raiders at Empower Field at Mile High. / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

After a two-game skid that has dropped them to 5-5, the Denver Broncos are hoping to get back to a winning record with a win at home against the Atlanta Falcons. The Broncos' playoff chances are still alive, but they must win this game.

If the Broncos lose to the Falcons, their chances for the playoffs become extremely thin, and they will need help. It may be weird to say this with eight games left, but if the Broncos want to make the playoffs, this is a must-win. 

Let's examine the points of emphasis in this matchup.

Stay Aggressive

In each of their last two games, the Broncos stopped being an aggressive team. Denver's aggressive-natured offense eased up to close out the game against the Kansas City Chiefs and walked out with a loss due to a blocked field goal.

The week prior, the Broncos defense went passive and had its third-lowest blitz percentage of the season, which helped lead to their third-worst pressure percentage. On top of that, Denver's aggressive man-coverage scheme was switched to more zones. 

Now, both of those make sense on paper. You don't want to leave Patrick Mahomes with time on the clock, and Lamar Jackson can be challenging to handle with a heavy blitzing man defens.

However, if you live by the sword, you die by the sword. Even if the results don’t change, it would’ve been better for this young Broncos team to play aggressively, as it has all season. It's better than being something they aren’t. 

So, one point of emphasis for the Broncos against the Falcons is to stay true to who they are as a team. Stay aggressive.

Stick with the type of defense that has been highly successful this season. Live and die by that aggressive nature that has fueled this team this season. 

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Resilience

The other emphasis for this young team is to continue being resilient, which goes hand in hand with aggressiveness. The Broncos are an aggressive team, and there will be hiccups, but this season, the team has shown resilience. They fight until the final whistle, and they have all season long. 

The Broncos need to continue to be who they are as a young team. While I'm not overly concerned about this happening, this young team could take these last two losses hard and lead less of a sustained fight from them.

After all, the Broncos haven’t beaten a team with a winning record; they got blown out by an AFC favorite two weeks ago and lost a heartbreaker against their division-leading rival. It would be easy for Denver to step back, especially if things don’t start well against the Falcons. 

It's on Sean Payton, the rest of the Broncos' coaches, and the locker room leaders to keep this team focused. That hasn’t been an issue this season, even after Denver's 0-2 start, and I doubt it will be now. However, you never know, and the last two weeks could have damaged the team's psyche. 

Bottom Line

So, if you boil it down, I guess there's only one point of emphasis this week. The Broncos must stay true to who they are as a team.

For this young Broncos team, that means staying aggressive from start to finish and never giving up on the fight. The game isn’t over until the final whistle, and this team needs to know that a win against these Falcons will keep its playoff dreams alive and well. 

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