ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — So far Klis Notes have been as effective for the Broncos as Cliff Notes were for my English Lit exam on The Great Gatsby. (I know what you’re thinking. Cliff Notes on one of the shortest novels ever? Murray State wasn’t known as the Harvard of Calloway County for nothing).
Point is, the Broncos have a perfect record since this segment started up last week. Follow these steps and the Broncos can win again, this time against the Tennessee Titans on Ring of Fame Sunday at Mile High:
Begin by stopping Derrick Henry
The Titans running back weighs nearly 20 pounds more than Leonard Fournette. Need I say more? Henry had back-to-back rushing games of 238 yards vs. Jacksonville and 170 yards against the Giants last year and he had a 100-yard game two weeks again in a win at Atlanta.
Broncos head coach Vic Fangio made three huge personnel changes after Fournette trampled his Denver D for 190 second-half yards two weeks ago. He moved beefy Mike Purcell to nose tackle and kicked Shelby Harris out to right end. The big-bodied Alexander Johnson replaced the undersized Corey Nelson (whose forte is coverage) at inside linebacker in place of Josey Jewell, who returns from his hamstring injury this week. And, perhaps most importantly, Fangio made sure Kareem Jackson was a strong safety and nothing but after the veteran, who didn’t play against Fournette’s Jaguars, returned from his hamstring injury last week.
Sack Marcus Mariotta at least 4 times
Tennessee’s quarterback has been sacked more than any other, an average of 4.4 per game. He is a terrific runner and he can make plays off-script. But that also means he hangs on to the ball longer than most so no excuses for Von and the gang.
Throw the ball
Hey, everybody loves running back Phillip Lindsay. But it’s time to get Emmanuel Sanders going and Courtland Sutton is starting to break out into a No. 1-type receiver.
Protect Flacco
Tennessee coach Mike Vrabel has two good edge rushers in Harold Landry and Cameron Wake. And he blitzes cornerback Logan Ryan. The Broncos might have to keep their tight ends in for this game.
And finally McManus over Parkey
The Titans just signed Cody Parkey to be their new kicker. He clanked Vic Fangio’s Bears out of the playoffs last year. Brandon McManus has to win the field goal game.
There’s your Klis Notes on how the Broncos can beat Tennessee. Now let’s see if they can win one for Champ and Mr. B.
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