Taking Stock of Denver Broncos Ahead of Week 7 Bye

The Denver Broncos are undefeated as they head into their bye in Week 7. They are one of five teams left in the NFL with an unblemished record. With this start, the Broncos have a good chance of winning the AFC West for the fifth year in a row. There’s also a realistic possibility that this team could be playing for home-field advantage through the playoffs.

The offense is a work in progress, to say the least. The passing game hasn’t been on point, and the rushing attack has been nearly non-existent in many games. The Broncos are turning the ball over too much due to interceptions, and they generally look out of sync.

It's a good thing the defense looks like the best in the league.

The Broncos are getting a ton of turnovers from the defense, and that unit has scored four touchdowns this year. The pass-rushers are going nuts in the new defensive scheme, and this helps the secondary take advantage of opposing quarterbacks who are constantly under duress.

Now the team gets a break before it returns to prepare for a game at home against the Green Bay Packers in Week 8.

Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak had a message for the team before they left for their bye on Tuesday.

“Be smart," he said. "They deserve time, they need time. They've been working hard. It will be good for them and I just basically told them that I think everybody is smart enough to know what type of game we're in when we come back. We need to get some guys healthy. We have a lot of guys staying around here that need to be in the training room all week, but just be smart and enjoy your time off.”

In this article, we take stock of the Broncos ahead of their Week 7 bye.

Peyton Manning Struggling

David Richard/Associated Press

Age catches up with everyone, and it seems to have happened to quarterback Peyton Manning at last. His passes have not been crisp this year, and he is not throwing with much velocity when he doesn’t get a chance to set his feet. This causes his passes to be off the mark from time to time, and it can also lead to passes that easily get picked off.

Manning has 10 interceptions through six games. This is the most he’s had in the first six games of a season since his rookie season (1998) when he threw 14 interceptions in six games.

Simply put, this just doesn’t look like the Manning of old—and by old I mean about 12 months ago.

The Kubiak offense is supposed to be set up under center, but the Broncos quickly realized after two games that such a formation wouldn’t work with Manning. He’s not fleet afoot, so the Broncos transitioned to a pistol formation instead. They’ll utilize that look to try to run the ball, but the Broncos will also use the Manning-approved shotgun formation when they need to go into pass-happy mode. So far, the Manning/Kubiak mix has not gone as smoothly as some had hoped.

Manning talked about the transition: “It has by no means been easy, but Coach Kubiak and I continue to talk and we are committed to trying to get on the same page and get where he and I have a good feel for each other. We are both committed to the cause.

“I think this bye week comes at a good time where we can study some things we have done in the first six weeks and see what has worked and maybe what is not working as well and that is what the bye week—as much as you use it for rest, you kind of do a little self-scout and see what things are working for us and what things we can build on. That is what we will do during this time I think.”

Only time will tell if these two professionals can find the proper mix of what Kubiak likes to do and what makes Manning comfortable.

Rushing Attack Fixed?

David Richard/Associated Press

The Broncos have been struggling to run the ball effectively this year. They rank near the bottom in the league in terms of rushing yards, rushing attempts and yards per carry. C.J. Anderson was a breakout star last year for the Broncos, but a toe/ankle injury and a poor offensive line have prevented him from playing up to his potential in 2015.

Instead, change-of-pace back Ronnie Hillman has been the most productive back for the Broncos.

Hillman played in a zone-blocking system in college, and he has the speed to get to and through the holes before they close. His speed also comes in handy when he hits the open field, as he can run away from defenders who are chasing him. This was evident in the Week 4 game against the Minnesota Vikings when Hillman broke off a 72-yard run for a touchdown.

He finished that game with more than 100 yards rushing and was able to eclipse the century mark again in Week 6 against the Cleveland Browns. He played a season-high 44 snaps for the Broncos and had a career-high 111 yards rushing to help spark the team.

Kubiak likes what the team was able to do on the ground against the Browns.

“We committed to it, I think," the coach said. "We stayed fairly committed to it from a balance standpoint. Ronnie just keeps plugging. He's got some speed, when we're right and things are right, to get the ball to the edge and do some good things. I think it was a little bit of a commitment and a lot better play up front.”

Coming back from the bye week, don’t be surprised to see Hillman as the starter. The team will still use a running back by committee, but Hillman may be the answer Denver has been looking for on the ground.

Little Help from the Tight Ends

Aaron Josefczyk/Associated Press

When Gary Kubiak was named as the new head coach, many thought the tight end position would be featured in this offense. The team followed that thought process during the offseason as it retained Virgil Green on a new contract, signed Owen Daniels in free agency and spent a third-round pick on Jeff Heuerman.

In rookie minicamp, the team lost Heuerman to a season-ending knee injury. Green is a backup and limited to being mostly a blocker even though he has good ability as a receiver and the athleticism to challenge a defense. Daniels is the starting tight end for the Broncos, and he’s had some flashes here and there. However, he has only four receptions over the last three games as Manning is struggling to get the ball to him.

The team misses the 24 touchdown catches that former tight end Julius Thomas had over the previous two seasons. The Broncos struggle in the red zone, and not having an impact tight end is a big reason why.

Kubiak didn’t mention the tight end position when talking about the team’s red-zone struggles.

“I think we've got to do better as coaches right now, me looking scheme-wise, getting our guys in the best positions to make some plays. We can run the ball better. That will sure help us. That's what we're going to take a hard look at this week.”

Kubiak summarized, “We've just got to do things better.”

The Broncos need to find a blocking tight end so they can try to use Green more as a receiver. Daniels looks like his best days are long gone, so the team has to try something different. Getting the tight ends more involved could certainly help the struggling passing game.

Banged-Up Offensive Line Getting Better

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The Broncos offensive line was going to be a work in progress from day one. Entering this offseason, the Broncos were replacing three of the five starters from the 2014 offensive line. Only left tackle Ryan Clady and right guard Louis Vasquez were holdovers from last year’s starting group. The team made some moves in the draft to add talent, but when Clady went down in minicamp with a season-ending knee injury, that altered plans.

Ty Sambrailo, a second-round pick in the 2015 NFL draft, was supposed to compete to be the starting right tackle. After the Clady injury, he was locked in as the starter at left tackle. Sambrailo began the season as the starting left tackle, but a shoulder injury knocked him out of the last two games.

Denver brought back Ryan Harris for his third stint with the team earlier this year. He won the starting right tackle position in training camp, but the seasoned veteran moved to the left side to fill in for Sambrailo. With Harris out of the right tackle spot, the Broncos started second-year tackle Michael Schofield with mixed results.

Max Garcia, the rookie from Maryland/Florida, spent most of training camp as the starting left guard. However, when Denver added veteran free agent Evan Mathis in late August, Garcia moved to a reserve role. Mathis has been battling a nagging hamstring injury for a few games, so Garcia has been getting in the mix over the last two games.

Matt Paradis is a second-year player who starts at center. He spent last year on the practice squad and entered this season with zero starting experience. He originally struggled with delayed zero-gap blitzes, but the young center seems to be improving each week.

In fact, the offensive line did a pretty good job against the Browns on Sunday. Manning wasn’t sacked once, and the rushing attack looked better than it had in any game this season.

Kubiak likes the development of the offensive line.

“We improved last week. That's important. It can be very big. If we can get [G] Evan [Mathis] on the field full time and [G Louis] Lou [Vasquez] on the field full time, which we seem to think that we can when we come back. Time will tell.”

Kubiak revealed on Monday: “Ty was a participant today in practice. He took team [reps] and did everything, so it looks like we're heading toward him being back when we do come back. That would be a nice problem to have. Let's see what happens, but the key is, right now, getting Ty back to where we need him.”

There’s a lot going wrong with the Broncos offense, but the sign of better offensive line play is an important positive to note.

Broncos Defense as Good—If Not Better—Than Advertised

Jack Dempsey/Associated Press

There’s no question the strength of this team is on the defensive side of the ball. When Wade Phillips was hired as the new defensive coordinator, many expected the defense to be aggressive. Looking at this defense now, calling it aggressive might be an understatement.

The Broncos swarm to the quarterback, and they lead the league with 26 sacks. Linebackers Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware lead the way for the pass-rushers, but the team is also getting strong play from the likes of linebacker Shaquil Barrett and defensive end Malik Jackson.

That pressure forces quarterbacks into bad decisions. Those bad decisions lead into good plays for the Broncos secondary. The team is second in the league with nine interceptions this year. Three of those interceptions have been returned for touchdowns.

Cornerback Chris Harris knows what makes this defense special.

“Just the way that we're causing turnovers," he said. "We've never really caused this many turnovers off of the jump in the first six games since I've been here. Being able to do that and get as many sacks as we have, that's really what's changed the game.”

Even with all their success, the Broncos self-scouted their defense, looking for improvements. Miller had a succinct answer when talking about his takeaways from that process.

“Penalties," he said. "Mainly just penalties and then penalties again and then penalties. Penalties—the timing of them is just bad. After a quarterback—to be third down, we get a roughing the passer and then boom, 15 yards, and then they use that momentum to go down and score. That's really the only way that we're getting beat right now.”

Miller continued, “If we can knock that down—it sounds easier than what it really is—but if we can knock that down, we should see everything else get a little bit better.”

An improved Broncos defense is a scary thought for opponents left on the schedule.

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.