Getty Caden Sterns #30 of the Denver Broncos celebrates his interception with teammates against the New York Jets in the fourth quarter of the game at Empower Field At Mile High on September 26, 2021 in Denver, Colorado.
Fox Sports broadcast host Colin Cowherd has been high on the Denver Broncos in recent weeks, but now after the team’s beatdown of the New York Jets, he’s gone even bigger.
The men from Mile High have been dominant against their relatively lackluster opponents through three weeks of the NFL season. Denver has scored 76 points and conceded only 26 in what has been an incredible start to their 2021 campaign. Unsurprisingly Vic Fangio’s defense are the league leaders in points against, giving up an average of just 8 points.
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Cowherd: Denver Are NFL’s 4th Best
Pro Football Focus has the Broncos ranked third overall as a team, which isn’t too far from Cowherd’s rankings after Week 3 on the NFL season. During his weekly segment “The Herd Hierarchy,” Cowherd placed the Broncos as the fourth-best team in the NFL, only behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Buffalo Bills and the Los Angeles Rams.
Almost sensing immediate backlash for the Broncos’ positioning, Cowherd exclaimed “I know I’m totally overrating the Broncos, I’m going to admit it, they’ve beaten garbage teams. The teams they’ve beaten are 0-9.”
It wasn’t long before the polarizing sportscaster got back to signing the praises of Fangio’s squad. “I have a soft spot for Teddy Bridgewater, I have a soft spot for quarterbacks that don’t make a mistake and understand via self-awareness, ‘I don’t have to win the games,'” Cowherd said on September 28.
“This defense is fantastic, they solved their corner issues getting Kyle Fuller from the Bears and drafting Patrick Surtain II. We knew they had a pass rush! They’re also overcoming injuries at the wide receiver spot but I’ve been saying this for a year, ‘I love this roster! They just make too many mistakes with Drew Lock.’
“I know I’m overvaluing them but I think in a one-game situational moment against everybody in the league, if you had to go to Denver and play today, you would be in a game for the final 30 seconds. I think they’ve got a lot of things going for them.”
Broncos: Greatest Show on Grass?
Cowherd isn’t the only media figure who believes the Broncos have it going on across the field. Admittedly, they’re still ranked 32nd in special teams, as they have been every week of the season, but the offense is shocking many so far. They may not make the splash plays of an Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay but they are ranked 5th for overall offense according to PFF. Much has been made of their easy schedule but there are underlying positives which many people haven’t discussed, NBC Sports’ Mike Florio is an exception.
“These are still NFL teams, they have not been relegated to some lower level of the sport. Yes, it’s the Giants, Jaguars and Jets but still, card-carrying members of the National Football League,” Florio said on Pro Football Talk on September 27.
Referencing the 1999 St. Louis Rams, often known as The Greatest Show on Turf, Florio made parallels between the Kurt Warner-led Super Bowl team and the current day Broncos outfit. “They had relatively speaking, a cupcake schedule and what did they do? They went out and started winning and winning, and winning, and winning, and got more, and more confidence in that offense and it snowballed,” Florio said.
“So it’s good for the Broncos to have these three cupcakes early. You get them late, “Who cares?!’ You get them now [and] you have a chance to make guys believe in themselves and that can spill over and that can be the difference for those three of four plays…that determines victory or defeat. You guys believe now because you’re 3-0. That’s a huge than if you come out 0-3 or 1-2.”
Follow Patrick Djordjevic on Twitter: @Patdjordjevic
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Broncos Compared to Greatest Show on Turf, Placed Among AFC’s Top 2