The Denver Broncos won their preseason finale against the Minnesota Vikings on Saturday evening. There could be a bunch of takeaways from this game, but we are only going to focus on the top three as the team wraps up preseason.
The Broncos have a harder choice at backup QB than they might have thought
After Week 1 of the preseason against the Cowboys, well-traveled veteran Josh Johnson seemed to have the backup role firmly locked up. After a poor showing against the AFC standard-bearers in the Buffalo Bills, Brett Rypien led the Broncos to their only touchdown that game. Rypien started against the Vikings, produced the Denver’s only offensive touchdown, although he also had his share of mistakes.
Going into the 53-man roster cuts, Broncos coaches seem to truly have a toss-up on the backup job. While it is true that either one could be serviceable in the absence of Russell Wilson, the QB2 battle could go either way.
The run game is alive!
That is a welcome relief! After only gaining 39 rushing yards against the Cowboys and 32 against the Bills, the run game was looking extremely bleak at the hands of Mike Boone and Co.
Against the Vikings, however, the running game finally found its footing (pun intended!). Boone himself rushed for 44 yards, with the most surprising contribution coming from Devine Ozigbo, who had 59 yards. With the duo of Melvin Gordon and Javonte Williams looking ahead to September 12’s game against Seattle, hopefully this was the jump start the rushing attack needed.
The atrocious two-minute drill
Both Josh Johnson and Brett Rypien had the opportunity to run the two-minute drill: Johnson to run out the clock at the end of the game, and Rypien to try to get points at the end of the first half. Rypien and Johnson underwhelmed.
Johnson had only 12 yards to go at one point for a touchdown. Through no fault of his own (costly penalties), the drive ended with 22 seconds left in the game and a Brandon McManus field goal to seal the victory.
Rypien, on the other hand, only had his drive go 23 yards and take less than a minute. Both quarterbacks’ lack of success is concerning: Denver was one of the worst teams in the entire NFL last season in the two-minute drill. While they are the backups and this is the preseason, the two-minute drill is going to play a crucial role in how the Broncos’ season shakes out. Let’s hope it looks better in the regular season.
