5 Adjustments Denver Broncos Must Make in Week 2 Matchup with Kansas City Chiefs

The Denver Broncos started off the 2015 regular season with a 19-13 win at home over the Baltimore Ravens in Week 1. The game was a defensive battle, and neither team scored an offensive touchdown. The victory may not have been pretty, but it counts in the “W” column—and it was an important game to win for potential future playoff-picture scenarios.

Head coach Gary Kubiak knows how playing a team such as Baltimore can wear a team down.

"We're beat up," he said. "That was a physical game yesterday. It's hard for guys to recover in this league. You don't practice for a couple days after you play and now we're playing very quickly. It's also something as a pro you've kind of got to get used to."

The team has a quick turnaround with a game coming up on Thursday night against the Kansas City Chiefs.

"Right now, it's about mentally getting them prepared to go into Kansas City and play," the coach said. "We know it's a tough place to play, but we've got to give them all the time we possibly can for their bodies to bounce back. Everybody played yesterday. Everybody contributed in the game. Like I said, [we] came out with a lot of nicks, but we'll get there.”

There are plenty of things the team needs to improve on if it wants to win in Week 2. Most of the changes need to be made offensively as the team struggled to move the ball against a tough Baltimore defense—and Denver could repeat that performance against a similarly tough Kansas City defense.

Here are five adjustments the Broncos must make in their Week 2 matchup with the Chiefs.

Protect Peyton Manning Better

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The Broncos had trouble keeping quarterback Peyton Manning upright in Week 1. He was sacked four times and hit five times. In addition, he was under duress on multiple plays that caused the offense to stall.

The offensive line played its first game together as a unit. Never had this combination played in a game together, and that lack of chemistry showed on Sunday.

On Monday, Kubiak talked about the play of the offensive line: “I see some growing pains I guess is what I see. There are three guys in there that never played a game for the Denver Broncos. We had some issues, and not just them three. As a group, we had some issues with a few things, but we did some good things, too.

"I think we understand that we're not even close to where we want to be or where we think we can get to be as an offensive front, but I think we played hard. I thought we played our best at the end. That was very encouraging to me.”

Against the Ravens in Week 1, Manning was sacked on 9.1 percent of his dropbacks. Compare that to his 2014 numbers, and one can see a huge difference in the quality of protection. In 2014, he was sacked on only 3.2 percent of his dropbacks.

The team’s success on offense depends on Manning. In order to perform at peak levels, the team must do a better job of protecting its future Hall of Fame quarterback.

Commit to Running the Ball Early

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The Broncos need to commit to running the ball early in the game—even if it doesn’t work. If you lean on the defense, those three-yard runs in the first half become 12-yard runs in the fourth quarter.

Denver didn't show much of a commitment to run the ball until its final offensive drive in the final quarter of the game. That drive was the Broncos' longest of the game, eating up 10 minutes and 56 seconds on the game clock. The 17-play drive went 81 yards, and the offense finally got on the right track.

Running back Ronnie Hillman led that drive. While starter C.J. Anderson got banged up with an ankle/toe injury, Hillman looked explosive when he had the rock.

Kubiak likes what he’s seen from Hillman—even as the team struggled to run the ball.

“We really struggled there late in the second quarter and the third quarter to find any running lanes at all," the coach said. "In the fourth quarter, we found a way. We did a few things differently, guys gave some cracks and Ronnie took advantage. Ronnie made some great runs on his own too.”

If Anderson is healthy enough to play in the game against the Chiefs, the team needs to get him jump-started early. By running the rock early, the Broncos can set the tone for the rest of the game. They can impose their will on a tough Chiefs defense, and they need to do what they can in order to wear down their opponent.

If Hillman has to take on a larger role, then the team still needs to go to the rushing attack frequently to start the game. His speed can be a great asset in a zone-blocking system. With an offense that is struggling to move the ball, the Broncos could benefit from Hillman's ability to create explosive plays.

Use Passing Plays That Get Manning into a Rhythm

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Manning didn’t seem to get into a rhythm as a passer, even though he had 40 passing attempts on Sunday. The Broncos started the game in the shotgun formation, perhaps in an effort to make him comfortable.

The team never achieved that desired comfort level in Week 1.

Kubiak admitted there were problems getting into a rhythm offensively: “First thing you do is you look at yourself as a coach. How am I putting our guys in a situation? The thing that I struggled with offensively when we look at the film and our guys look at the film, they're going to be disappointed.”

The Broncos would have a play here or there with the passing game, but they couldn't sustain that little amount of success.

Kubiak explained: “We had about three big plays to make in the first half that could have been good things going on, but we didn't make those plays. A couple of times we had chances to make plays and we did not hold up protection wise. There's always a reason why you're not doing something right.”

Manning does not look good throwing on the run. With a different quarterback, bootlegs would be a fairly large part of the Kubiak system. The Broncos need to make adjustments for Manning such as rolling him out only to the edge of tackle box—not beyond that point to the outside.

Working from under center is not a strength for Manning either at this point in his career. Perhaps using the pistol formation would be the correct compromise for Kubiak and Manning.

No matter what the team does, it needs to get Manning comfortable as a passer.

Utilize the Tight Ends More

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A big part of the Kubiak offense is the tight end position, and we didn’t see enough from Owen Daniels and Virgil Green against the Ravens.

That should change going forward.

Daniels was only targeted twice in Week 1. He caught both passes for a whopping total of five yards receiving. When the Broncos added him earlier this year in free agency, it's safe to assume they projected a larger role for him as the primary pass-catching tight end.

The Broncos made a decision earlier this year to keep Green around with a contract extension. He is a fantastic blocker, but he's also an underrated receiver who has the athleticism to create mismatches over the middle of the field. Green was targeted only once and didn't come down with the catch.

Daniels explained how the team could get more touchdowns going forward.

“We have to have more than one play in the red zone," he said. "I think that always helps your scoring chances, to get down there and have a bunch of plays. I think that we had that in the preseason, but just weren't great in the red zone. Yesterday, the opportunities weren't there just because we simply weren't down there.

"We'll try to do a better job of getting down there and run some more plays.”

Not only when the team gets near paydirt—it would be best to use the tight ends more all over the field.

Manning didn't look good as a passer in Week 1. Perhaps using the tight ends more would help him get into a rhythm with his arm.

Get Safety T.J. Ward Involved Early

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In the opening game against the Ravens, the Broncos had to play without starting strong safety T.J. Ward. He was suspended for one game because of violating the league's personal conduct policy.

In his place, the Broncos used veteran David Bruton, who did a fine job as the starter. He is known mostly as a special teams ace, but he has plenty of starting experience from earlier in his career.

Ward is an intimidating player who can patrol the field from sideline to sideline. He can play close to the line of scrimmage to defend the run, but he is also better in coverage than some think.

Kubiak is excited to get a playmaker such as Ward back on the field.

“We're having to evaluate a lot of guys today," the coach said. "It was a very physical game. T.J.'s the leader. I'm very proud of [S] David [Bruton Jr.], how David went in and played. Good to get T.J. back after missing he and [DE] Derek [Wolfe] yesterday. Still played the way we did defensively says a lot about the group and the depth of the group. We look forward to getting him back.”

Ward was at home watching the NFL games on Sunday. One game he was focused on was the Chiefs' victory on the road over the Houston Texans. The veteran knows that getting a victory in Kansas City won’t be easy.

“They're a very good team," Ward said. "They had a good game last week. I got to watch a lot of games this weekend, so I watched them a little bit. They're a good team. They're playing well right now. It's going to be a challenge for us.”

The Broncos will first have to shut down (or at least slow down) running back Jamaal Charles. Having Ward on the field will strengthen that effort.

All quotes and injury/practice observations obtained firsthand. Record/statistical information provided via the Broncos' media department unless otherwise noted. Advanced stats via ESPN's employees-only database.

Contract and salary-cap information provided by Spotrac. Transaction history provided by Pro Sports Transactions.