New York Giants Week 1 Opponent Breakdown: Denver Broncos

Nick Falato gives you everything you need to know about the Denver Broncos, the New York Giants' Week 1 opponent.

Author:
Nick Falato
Publish date:
Sep 8, 2021 1:41 PM EDT

The long-awaited NFL season is upon us, as we eagerly anticipate this week one matchup against the Denver Broncos. The Giants poured offseason resources into their skilled position players to surround Daniel Jones with better playmakers--this was a point of emphasis for the Giants' general manager Dave Gettleman.

New York's week one foe had plenty of skilled position players surrounding their 2019 second-round quarterback Drew Lock. The young quarterback out of Missouri couldn't maximize the talent of these players, and he led Pat Shurmur's offense to 26th in passing yards, 24th in total yards, and 28th in points scored during the 2020 season. The Broncos finished the season 5-11.

In that same offense under Shurmur, with worse personnel, a rookie Daniel Jones helped lead the Giants to the 17th passing offense, the 23rd ranked unit in total yards, and the 19th scoring offense. Like Jones, Lock turned the football over far too often, which prompted Broncos' team president John Elway to pursue other options.

Denver traded a sixth-round pick for Carolina Panthers' quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. Lock and Bridgewater are the antitheses of each other. Lock has a big arm, throws with a lot of velocity, and is a bit careless with the ball at times. Although the 2020 stats don't fully support this notion, Bridgewater is more conservative and careful with the football.

It's no shock that a defensive coach like Vic Fangio, who is ostensibly on the hot seat, would want to ride with Bridgewater, a quarterback who will keep the offense on script. Personally, I would have rather seen Lock against this Patrick Graham defense. Let's see what the Giants are up against come Sunday.

Denver Offense

Last year for the Panthers, Bridgewater completed 340 pass attempts out of 492 tries - a completion percentage of 69.1. He three for 3,733 yards for 15 touchdowns and 11 interceptions while fumbling the football six times and adding five rushing touchdowns.

He's not a significant threat with his legs, but he had 276 yards rushing to go with those five touchdowns on the ground. It was more of an outlier than anything else; he had four total rushing touchdowns in his previous six seasons.

Giants' fans know Shurmur's offense well. However, according to Pro Football Focus, the offense with Mike Munchak as the offensive line coach had more GAP runs than zone runs in 2020.

The offense did go through other transitions as well. Shurmur opened up the offense for Lock more than than the preceding offensive play-caller Rich Scangarello. Shurmur incorporated more single-back formations--that number jumped from 67 percent to 88 percent while also employing more shotgun/pistol formation.

Shurmur continued his attempt to upgrade the offense by implementing more motion--the offense went from 39 percent motion to 47 percent in 2020, according to Football Outsiders. Denver's offense last season was in 11 personnel 68 percent of the time, shotgun 66 percent of the time, and utilized heavier personnel packages 28 percent of the time. (In 2019 with New York, the offense was in 11 personnel 74 percent of the time, for reference.)

The rushing attack was led by Melvin Gordon III and Phillip Lindsay last season. The team ranked 13th in rushing yards per game (119 rushing yards), and they were 12th in rushing attempts per game (27). They only ran RPOs 5 percent of the time, and their run-on-first-down percentage was at 49 percent, ranking 15th in the league.

Gordon III had 986 yards on 215 attempts (4.6 YPC) with nine touchdowns and four fumbles. He led the team by a wide margin; Lindsay had 502 yards on 118 attempts, a 4.2 yards per carry clip. Lindsay is now on the Houston Texans, and the Broncos spent a second-round pick on UNC running back Javonte Williams.

I expect Gordon III to remain heavily involved in this rushing attack, but the future lies with Williams. The UNC star is one of the more physical backs to come out of college in a long while.

He's a 5'10" and a 212-pound bruiser who had 19 touchdowns to go along with 1,140 yards, rushing for seven yards a pop. Williams will quickly become a name in fantasy football circles, and he'll work his way into being a household name if he stays healthy with his running style.

The receiving corps is dangerous. Second-year star in the making Jerry Jeudy has all the skills in the world, but he significantly struggled to corral the football last season. He had 12 drops and a dismal 46 percent catch rate.

Jeudy caught 52 of his 113 targets for 856 yards and three touchdowns. A third of Jeudy's snaps came in the slot last year; with the return of Courtland Sutton, expect Shurmur to try and pit Jeudy against Darnay Holmes in the slot.

Sutton, who missed almost all last season with a knee injury, has returned and looked good in preseason. At only 25-years-old, he'll look to bounce back alongside Jeudy.

Tim Patrick is a quiet contributor to this group. He doesn't get the fanfare, but he caught 51 of his 79 targets for 742 yards and six touchdowns last season. Shurmur will mix and match his 11 personnel packages with Patrick and second-year speedy wideout from Penn State K.J. Hamler.

Hamler is dangerous near the line of scrimmage, and he's dangerous when moving vertically. He has all the speed in the world. I expect a shot play or two in Hamler's direction. He had three catches for 107 yards and two touchdowns in the preseason.

The Broncos, tight end group, features two incredibly athletic options in Noah Fant and Albert Okwuegbunam:

Fant was dinged up a lot last season; he saw 93 targets and caught 62 of them for 673 yards and three touchdowns. He left several games with nagging injuries.

Okwuegbunam tore his ACL and missed most of the season. Both of these players can stretch the seams, and the Giants' defense must be conscious of their speed, contested catch ability, and strength with the football in their hands.

The Broncos' offensive line took a significant step forwards with Mike Munchak as their coach. In 2019, the unit surrendered 41 sacks with a 32.2 percent pressure rate while averaging a solid 4.2 yards per carry. Last season, the yards per carry went up to 4.46, the pressure rate dropped to 29.4 percent, and the sacks dropped to 32.

Left tackle Garrett Bolles was pegged as a bust, but Munchak allowed him to actualize his potential. He was penalized 13 times in 2018 and 17 times in 2019 - which are insane penalty numbers.

Last year under Munchak, Bolles was penalized four times. He didn't surrender a sack last season in 622 dropbacks and only gave up 13 pressures, which was more than half the number he surrendered in the previous season (31).

The right tackle in 2021 looks like it will be either Bobby Massie or Cam Fleming, with the former having the edge over the 2020 Giant. Massie is a competent tackle that these Giants' EDGEs can beat a few times a game.

Last season at center, second-year player Lloyd Cushenberry struggled; he ranked fourth in pressures allowed with 29 and gave up five sacks. Cushenberry will look to bounce back after a tough rookie season.

The guards will be Dalton Risner on the left side and Graham Glasgow on the right. According to PFF, Risner didn't surrender any sacks, but he gave up 27 pressures while grading marginally in as a run blocker.

Glasgow was a bit more stable in both phases of blocking. This line is solid, but the Giants' defensive line can win these matchups up front. Bolles is a challenging task if he maintains his 2020 play, but Leonard Williams, Dexter Lawrence, and a healthy Lorenzo Carter should be able to apply pressure.

Broncos Defense

Head coach Vic Fangio has been one of the greatest defensive minds in football for quite some time. It took him a while to land a head coaching gig; in more recent memory, he maximized the Jim Harbaugh 49ers defense and then took his talents to Chicago before landing a head coaching job in Denver.

The Denver offense didn't do the defense any favors, nor did the significant injury to EDGE rusher Von Miller. Still, the team finished 20th in yards allowed (367.9), 25th in points allowed per game (27.9), and 25th in rushing yards allowed per game (130), and 15th in passing yards allowed per game (237.9).

Denver also added star Alabama cornerback Patrick Surtain II to their ranks and versatile but raw Ohio State linebacker Baron Browning. The defense dealt with a variety of injuries last year.

Recently retired Jurrell Casey missed most of the season with a bicep tear, Von Miller dislocated the peroneal tendon in his ankle, resulting in a missed season, and stud run defending defensive lineman Mike Purcell missed most of the year with a foot injury.

The team ended up with 260 pressures (for reference, the Giants had 273), 56 of which came from star EDGE rusher Bradley Chubb. At only 25-years-old, Chubb is primed for a true double-digit sack season as he had in his rookie 2018 season.

The combination of Miller and Chubb hasn't always been healthy, but when they are, it's dangerous. Chubb figures to see more of Andrew Thomas, while Miller will see more Nate Solder/Matt Peart.

I am incredibly concerned about these matchups with the Giants; Thomas has struggled to stay square and comfortable with his pass sets. He has been indecisive and vulnerable too often, and these two pass rushers will expose young mistakes. Denver's 25-year-old EDGE rusher Malik Reed performed well in Miller's absence last season. His 36 pressures ranked second on the team behind Chubb.

Denver runs a traditional 3-4 type of look; the trio of Dre'Mont Jones, Mike Purcell, and Shelby Harris are competent upfront and sturdy against the run. This allows the linebackers to be more unrestrained when in pursuit, albeit they still need to be aware of their primary run responsibilities.

Purcell ranked seventh in rush yards per tackle in 2019. Both Jones and Harris can create pressure. They're both heavy-handed, pack a punch, and can string moves together from the 5-technique to the 3-technique position.

Denver's linebackers ranked well in coverage, according to Football Outsiders; they and the Saints were 60 percent or better in coverage. Alexander Johnson played very well last season for the Broncos. He had 58 STOPS, 93 solo tackles, and a missed tackle rate of less than 7 percent. Josey Jewell had 42 STOPS and 83 solo tackles. Jewell also had a missed tackle rate of less than 7 percent, and both players played in over 1,000 snaps.

The cornerbacks improved during the offseason when the Broncos signed Kyle Fuller and drafted Patrick Surtain II. Rookie Michael Ojemudia was forced into playing over 800 defensive snaps. Ojemudia has intriguing physical skills, but he's still raw.

The additions of Fuller and Surtain II will secure this secondary and bring back the No Fly Zone defensive vibes. The team still has Bryce Callahan, a versatile, underrated cornerback, and they brought in a familiar NFC East face, Ronald Darby.

Safety Justin Simmons is the most underrated player on this roster and arguably in the league. He has range, can drop in the box, and allows Fangio to utilize his skill-set in various ways. Simmons had 80 solo tackles, 28 STOPS, and picked off five balls last season. He's a player that Daniel Jones needs to be aware of when targeting the intermediate to deep portions of the field.

Veteran Kareem Jackson is the other starting safety for the Broncos. The former cornerback is known for his big hits, even though he's not the biggest guy. Jackson's 33-years-old, and he's not the athlete he used to be, but he still brings physicality and intelligence to the backend of the defense.

Final Thoughts

This is a home game against a team that had a bad record last season. It's a winnable game, but not one that I feel very comfortable about heading into the affair.

My main concern is the matchups between the Broncos' EDGE group and the Giants' tackles. I am very excited about the return of star-running back Saquon Barkley, even if it's in a limited capacity. The rumblings about Kenny Golladay's health and Kadarius Toney's availability are encouraging as well, albeit tight end Evan Engram's availability is a different story at the moment.

We should learn a lot on Sunday about the actual state of this Giants offense. The three things I am intently watching are Jason Garrett's play-calling/adaptability, Daniel Jones' overall processing, and the offensive line's effectiveness.

Defensive coordinator Patrick Graham's defense should be able to stifle the offensive attack of a Teddy Bridgewater-led team, but anything can happen. The range of outcomes with this team is vast.

It all starts on Sunday in a winnable game at home--let's hope the offensive line can hold up against a very potent pass-rushing group.