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Broncos mailbag: Schedule makers arranged for two uniquely difficult assignments

Drew Lock jerseys and John Elway do-overs are other topics addressed.

DENVER — It’s a shorter-than-usual Broncos mailbag, but each letter has a powerful message or question.

Whoever makes those schedules has no clue, as you pointed out without saying as much. The two that get me are the Sunday to Thursday night situation and then going from Atlanta to Vegas. But I think it is better than last season. At least they are thinking of playing football.

 — Pen Gold, Plainfield, Ill.

Pen – There are two games within the first four weeks where the stressful combination of long travel and short rest will make it darn-near impossible for the Broncos to play at peak performance.

The first is week 2, when after playing the late game Monday night against the Titans at home, the Broncos five days later must make a 3-hour flight to Pittsburgh to play an early Sunday game against the Steelers.

The second is week 4, when after playing Sunday afternoon against Brady, Gronk and the Bucs in Denver, the Broncos three days later must make a 3 hour, 40-minute flight to Newark, N.J. for a Thursday night game against the Jets.

Credit: 9NEWS Sports
Denver Broncos 2020 schedule

“That usually doesn’t happen,’’ Broncos coach Vic Fangio said in a Zoom interview with 9NEWS last week. “That happened a couple times 10 or 11 years ago and the league supposedly wasn’t ever going to put somebody on a Thursday game travelling across country. But I guess since we’re Mountain time, they’re not considering that across the country.’’

Two time zones instead of three. Know this: The Steelers and Jets won’t feel sorry for the Broncos. Good teams win a game or two when they’re not playing at peak performance.

Yes, back-to-back road games at Atlanta and Las Vegas will be difficult, although Vegas is now tied with Phoenix for the Broncos’ second-shortest flight (1 hour, 50 minutes or so), behind only Kansas City (1 hour, 40 minutes).

Credit: AP Photo/John Locher
Construction cranes surround the new Allegiant Stadium football stadium under construction in Las Vegas on June 4, 2019.

I still wear my Knowshon Moreno jersey to all the games and let’s say it’s getting a bit snug. Is it safe for me to buy a Drew Lock jersey? :)

— Dave Lucero

Dave – A Lock No. 3 jersey should be safe for at least the next three years. And if all goes well, his  jerseys should be hanging in the Broncos' team stores for the next decade or so.

It’s remarkable how five games that were otherwise meaningless to the Broncos’ 2019 season changed the narrative about this team. Lock played well while going 4-1 with a team that was 3-8 before he became its quarterback.

Instead of a franchise in its worst slump in 50 years, the storyline has shifted to a team on the rise with legitimate hopes of a wild-card playoff spot.

I do believe expectations should be tempered because of the Broncos’ extreme youth at so many key offensive positions coupled with no offseason practices. There’s a reason why SuperBook at The Lodge put the Broncos over/under win total at 8 and the Chiefs at 11 ½.

Still, the oddsmakers listed the Broncos’ over/under win total at 7 last year, so they are predicting an improved club.

Credit: AP Photo/Jack Dempsey
Drew Lock throws against the Detroit Lions during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2019.

Mike, if Elway had 2 do-overs as GM, what do you think they would be?

— Todd Allerdings

Todd – I think most people would say, 1) Dak instead of Pax. In hindsight, Elway should have taken Dak Prescott, and not Paxton Lynch, in the first round of the 2016 draft. (Prescott didn’t go until a compensatory pick in the 4th round, so everyone missed on him. Christian Hackenberg, Cody Kessler and Connor Cook were among the QBs drafted ahead of Prescott).

And 2) Hire Kyle Shanahan as coach after Gary Kubiak was forced to surrender as head coach because of medical reasons following the 2016 season.

The two most important pieces to any NFL franchise are the head coach and quarterback. Then comes an owner and general manager.

In defense of Vance Joseph’s two-year head coaching term in Denver, it would have gone better had No. 1 been taken care of. Remember, the Broncos' slide began at the end of 2016, when they finished 2-4 under a fatigued Kubiak.

But I do believe Elway has it corrected as it appears he has a quality veteran head coach in Vic Fangio and quality young quarterback in Lock. We’ll see. Providing there is an arrest of the novel virus, we’ll see.  

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