The Denver Broncos have a great opportunity to get out to a 4-2 record. Riding high on the heels of their massive upset in Philadelphia, the Broncos immediately hopped on a plane last Sunday to cross the Atlantic to play the New York Jets in London.
The Jets are helmed by a head coach who springs off the Sean Payton coaching tree. Like Dan Campbell in Detroit, Aaron Glenn was an early Payton coaching hire, which means he knows how the Broncos’ sausage gets made.
Does Glenn have the horses, so to speak, to exploit that knowledge and use it as an advantage? The Broncos are one of the most talented teams in the NFL, while the Jets… well, they’re less so.
But as Payton himself said on Friday, the NFL talent level is very high, and all teams are governed by an equal salary cap. These factors create the conditions for the NFL maxim “Any given Sunday.”
The Broncos can’t afford to sleep on the Jets. And while Payton and company execute their game plan to head back to the Mile High City at 4-2, there are a few individual Broncos approaching milestones and records.
They could reach them in Week 6 in London. Let’s get to this week’s milestones.
The Broncos need 100 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown to become the second team in Broncos history (1977) to rush for 100 yards and one rushing score in each of the first six games of a season. A healthy dose of J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey could get them over the hump vs. New York’s 27th-ranked rushing defense.
Payton needs one victory to tie Mike McCarthy for the 13th-most regular-season wins in NFL history. Payton passed his mentor, Bill Parcells, with last week’s victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.
Bonitto needs 1.5 sacks to become the first Bronco in team history to record multiple sacks in four consecutive games. He leads the NFL in sacks (seven) and is among the NFL frontrunners for Defensive Player of the Year.
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Nix needs three passing scores to become the 11th player in NFL history to reach 40 passing touchdowns within his first 23 games. Payton will likely be aware of this potential milestone, and will act accordingly in the red zone.
Sutton needs 50 receiving yards to tie tight end Riley Odoms for the seventh-most receiving yards in team history. 51-plus yards would vault Sutton past Odoms, a member of the Broncos’ Ring of Fame, and a former three-time All-Pro and four-time Pro Bowl tight end who played from 1972-83.
Dobbins needs two rushing touchdowns to tie for the fourth-most rushing scores by a Bronco through six games of a season. He’s been a revelation thus far, but the Broncos need to keep him healthy.