First Glance at the Denver Broncos

A quick, early week preview of the Carolina Panthers' week 14 opponent

Football is back in the Queen City! The Panthers are coming off their bye week fresh and well rested as they prepare to host the Denver Broncos (4-8) of the AFC West. With it being Tuesday, we take a small peek ahead to the Broncos and what to expect from them this Sunday. 

Here's your week 14 first glance at the Carolina Panthers' opponent:

Broncos' Offense

Denver has gone through a lot this year on this side of the ball, particularly at the quarterback position. Earlier in the season, starter Drew Lock suffered a right shoulder injury vs Pittsburgh and missed a few games because of it. Then, just a couple of weeks ago, the Broncos' entire quarterback room was forced to sit out of their home game vs New Orleans due to positive COVID tests and contact tracing that made them ineligible to play. Instead of the NFL pushing the game back, they kept the game right where it was and had to call up practice squad wide receiver Kendall Hinton to run the show at QB. 

The strength of Denver's offense lies within the run game - Melvin Gordon and Phillip Lindsay who form a formidable one-two punch. The two combined have rushed for 1,125 yards and seven touchdowns. Having two solid backs like this takes a ton of pressure off the young quarterback who is still trying to develop into a reliable starter. 

Over the last couple of weeks, the Panthers have done a much better job in stopping the run. They allowed just 61 yards in their last outing to Dalvin Cook, and in the week prior they only allowed 40 total rushing yards to the Detroit Lions. With that said, this is going to be a much bigger test for Carolina, having to face a running back tandem like Lindsay and Gordon.

Broncos' Defense

The Broncos defense has been up and down all season long. Considering that they have been without one of the best pass rushers in the game, Von Miller, it's not surprising to see that the unit has had its fair share of struggles.

With Miller being out of the lineup, you would think that it would be the Broncos' pass defense that would be suffering. Instead, it's actually the run game that has given the Broncos fits. Denver ranks 26th in the NFL in rushing yards allowed per game (131.5), while they sit 8th in passing yards allowed per game (218.7).

With the Panthers expecting Christian McCaffrey to be back this week, you can expect offensive coordinator Joe Brady to lean heavily on both he and Mike Davis. Doing so will allow Teddy Bridgewater to settle into the game after being rusty in his first game back after suffering a knee injury vs Tampa Bay.

Can the Panthers win?

Absolutely. This is probably one of the two winnable games left on the Panthers schedule, with the other being the Washington Football Team, who just handed the Pittsburgh Steelers their first loss of the season. Denver and Carolina are both looking ahead to next season, but still have plenty to play for down the stretch. Each of these teams wants to get hot during these final four games and ride some momentum into the 2021 season.

Although this is a winnable game for the Panthers, it's a game they can also lose. Denver's strengths and weaknesses pretty much align with that of Carolina's. Honestly, when you look at these two teams on paper, they’re fairly even across the board. Regardless of the result, we should get a pretty good football game this Sunday.

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