5 Broncos who Need to Step Their Game Up Down the Stretch

The Denver Broncos are sitting at 3-6 the bye. The players have had the week off, spending time with family and friends, licking their wounds in an effort to recharge the batteries.

Meanwhile, Vic Fangio and his coaching staff have kept at it at Dove Valley, studying the tape of the first nine games, self-scouting in order to iron out the kinks of where the Broncos have fallen short through the first half of the season.

Sitting at three games below .500 with just seven games to go and a stiff remaining schedule. we know the playoffs are a dim possibility for the Broncos. But stranger things have happened.

These ensuing seven games will likely be more about player development and seeing what the team has in its personnel for the future. But if the Broncos are going to win more contests than they lose down the stretch, a handful of guys really need to step up their game.

Here are the four players and one coach who need to turn the ship around in the second half of the 2019 season and help this Broncos squad finish on a positive note.

Von Miller

Let's get the most obvious one out of the way. Some fans will rage against the notion that Miller hasn't been the same player in 2019 but the truth of that premise is laid bare not just in the box score stats but also on tape.

The seven-time Pro Bowler simply has not affected games in the same positive way for the Broncos this year. He's off to the slowest start of his career, having posted just four sacks through nine games.

Chalk it up to a different responsibility in Fangio's new scheme, or perhaps even a less-than-ideal fit in the scheme, or to Father Time — or maybe even to the cumulative result of three-plus years of losing. Whatever's been eating at Miller, he hasn't been the same player for the Broncos, let's face it.

After two years of almost never playing with a lead, Miller has been in position now in three of the Broncos' six losses to make a game-changing play late in a contest, while protecting a single-score lead, only to fall short. The story of Miller's season has been 'a day late and a dollar short'.

Miller has been close, as evidenced by his near sack-for-a-safety on Jacoby Brissett in Week 8 that would have iced the game, but no cigar. Here's to hoping that it all clicks for the former Super Bowl 50 MVP down the stretch and he gets back to playing at the form fans have come to love and expect.

At this rate, Miller isn't making the Pro Bowl, which would be the first time he's played an entire season without making it to the NFL's all-star game. A whirlwind performance in the second half of the season could change that, though.

Garett Bolles

What more can be said about the Broncos' beleaguered left tackle? Instead of taking a quantum leap forward in year three under prized O-line Coach Mike Munchak, Bolles has arguably regressed.

Through nine games, the former first-round pick has been penalized a whopping 11 times (10 holding, one false start), but only five have been accepted. The next most-penalized NFL player had nine heading into Week 10. He's been atrocious and the penalties have been an ongoing issue for the Broncos since Bolles was drafted in 2017.

With Brandon Allen poised to start for at least the next two games, and Drew Lock expected to get an opportunity at some point in the final quarter of the season, Bolles needs to step his play up. It's not just the penalties. His lapses in pass protection have been a constant thorn in the side of whichever QB the Broncos trot out there dating back to Trevor Siemian.

Considering the almost three-year NFL sample size, fans shouldn't get their hopes up that Bolles will finally turn it around and play at a competent level. Although past behavior might be the 'best' predictor of future behavior, it's not an absolute. We must always leave the door open for the possibility of change even if in the case of Bolles, it's extremely unlikely.

Shelby Harris

Harris was christened a starter for the first time to open this season and hopes were high that he would shine as the nose tackle in Fangio's defense. Alas, Harris struggled mightily to anchor at the point of attack and was a liability on first and second down throughout the first quarter of the season.

Fangio got wise to what was holding Harris and the defense back and made a change in Week 5 on the road. Harris was kicked outside to defensive end, his more natural position, and his performance has since stabilized. Mike Purcell stepped in at nose tackle and Adam Gotsis was sent to the bench.

But the Broncos need more. Opposite of Harris at defensive end, Derek Wolfe leads the team with five sacks. Harris finished 2017 second on the team with 5.5 sacks but has managed just one through nine games this season. We know he has the wherewithal to penetrate and pressure the QB.

Meanwhile, rotational pieces like DeMarcus Walker are nipping at Harris' heels. If Shelby wants to keep his starting job and give himself the best possible chance to capitalize on the free-agent market next spring, he needs to find a way to be more productive as a pass rusher. He's got it in him.

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DaeSean Hamilton

I wrote more in-depth about Hamilton on Saturday and the need for him to snap out of his slump, so I'd be remiss not to mention him here. The second-year pro has been targeted 23 times this year with 11 receptions for just 106 yards.

That's a pretty atrocious target-to-catch ratio. When targeted, Hamilton is only catching 47.8% of his passes, but only two of those incompletions have been drops.

Hamilton isn't struggling to get open, but he's not garnering targets for whatever reason. Last week vs. Cleveland, Courtland Sutton was the only Broncos wide receiver to catch a pass.

Whether Hamilton needs to be more vocal about wanting the ball, or whether he needs to spend more time working on his chemistry with Allen, something's got to give because eventually, an opponent will make the Broncos pay for having just one receiving threat on the outside.

Rich Scangarello

Far be it from me to dump on Scangarello, who was the recipient of a groundswell of criticism in the first half of the season. The truth is, not only was the Broncos' offensive coordinator calling plays for the first time in the NFL, getting his beak wet as it were, but his quarterback was betraying him with his terrible play on the field. It wasn't a recipe for success.

However, Scangarello showed clear improvement as a play-caller in Week 9 with Brandon Allen operating the offense. The Broncos showed a more creative attack offensively, took explosive shots and hammered on the opponent's vulnerabilities.

It worked and the Broncos got their third win of the season. Hopefully, that game with Allen allowed Scangarello to exorcise the Joe Flacco demons and kind of reset as a coordinator.

My bet is that we'll see a product on the field in the second half of the season more indicative of Week 9 and it should lead to a more balanced and potent attack. Make no mistake, though. This offense is not meant to be the 2013 Broncos.

This offense is meant to control the game on the ground, get the defense moving laterally and take strategic shots throughout when the opponent is on its heels. The best-case version is the brand of football the San Francisco 49ers are playing right now.

But in order for the Broncos to play at a Niners level offensively, the team needs a dynamic quarterback as the triggerman. Flacco wasn't it. Allen probably isn't it. But there's a chance Drew Lock could be it in the future. Stay tuned.

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.