Wolverine247 Board

If Peyton Manning is healthy, they could be very good. Super Bowl contender? Not sure yet, all depends on if they can keep up the good defense and if Peyton has a running game to work with so he isn't the sole focus of the defensive game planning.

Maybe I'm a little bias because I'm a Bronco fan and I'm from Denver but you have to think they do with Peyton Manning there. They obviously have a great defense already and if Peyton is back to his old self, than I think the Broncos can go very far into the playoffs if not the Super Bowl. I think Manning also has plenty of talent around him (Eric Decker, Demaryius Thomas, Jacob Tamme, Willis McGahee, Knowshown Moreno) to make plays down the stretch.

Just wanted to chime in here. The biggest issue is whether or not Manning is completely healthy, and if he is healthy, then whether or not he's rusty from not playing last year. If he's at least close to the Manning we're used to, I do think they're serious Super Bowl contenders.

If you look at the rosters with which he won in Indy - and while he did win a Super Bowl, they also had some other great teams that fell short - the Broncos have arguably more talent than most of those Colts teams did.

That being said, there are a lot of very good teams out there, and I think you could label 8-10 teams as legit Super Bowl contenders. If Manning is healthy, I think Denver is one of them.

Want to make a bet?

Wait, you make a prediction, someone calls you out on it, and then you ask for odds? Maybe it is just me, but either you believe what you originally stated or you don't.

Wtf. I believe its possible. I'm not a sooth sayer. And I wasn't asking to make bets on my prediction. It's the frickin NFL... for all I know the Bengals win the super bowl this year. Also possible. Not going to bet on it though.

I don't believe it's possible that's why I was saying lets bet ha... I was just thinking like a free month subscription or something, nothing too major.

Nice! I still think Heyward-Bey is going to really break out at some point. I like all of your other receivers, especially Julio.

Absolutely. I think they will be there, conference finals or in the game. Great running game, outstanding defense, and Peyton Manning. I think they win the west by mid season.

Lot of questions with the Broncos

1. Will Peyton be healthy/the same Peyton? Obvious. Also, even if Manning is healthy/the same guy in Week One can his 36 year old, recently repaired body handle the punishment of an NFL season?
2. How will Peyton fare without top-flight receivers? Let's not forget that in his Super Bowl appearances, Manning's targets were Harrison/Wayne/Clark and Wayne/Clark/Garcon/Collie. These are much better receiving corps than Thomas/Decker/Stokley.
3. Which defense will we see? The Broncos D last year was very good at times, as when they carried the team during Tebowmania, but godawful at other times, giving up 49 points to the Packers, 45 to the Lions, 32 to the Vikings, 41 to the Patriots, 40 to the Bills, and of course 45 in the playoff loss to the Patriots. Can they fix what was wrong in those games, or will the league pick up on where those teams were successful and take Denver apart?
4. How will the loss of Tebow affect the offense? I'm a huge Tebow detractor, but one thing that's undeniable is teams had to account for his running ability on every single play. Peyton is obviously Tebow's polar opposite from a style/skills perspective, so how will that paradigm shift affect the team? Can Thomas and the other WRs get open as easily when teams aren't worried about a mobile QB? What affect on the running game when teams no longer have to consider the QB power from the shotgun or account for Tebow as a potential blocker? Can the threat of Manning's aerial attack overcome these considerations?

I really think the Broncos have just about the highest gap between ceiling and floor of any team in the league...I can easily imagine them having a deep playoff run, and I can just as easily imagine them finishing like 4-12.

I dunno about how much better Manning made those guys...I mean obviously a good QB makes his receivers better and Manning is a great QB, but Garcon put up the best numbers of his career last year even with the clown brigade throwing to him...I think he and Clark are studs regardless (or maybe "were" in Clark's case, given his chronic injuries the past two years).

I personally don't see it.