When the Denver Broncos announced they were going to be riding with Teddy Bridgewater at quarterback over Drew Lock there were some that disagreed, but it appears Denver was right. The Broncos are now 2-0 after beating the New York Giants in Week 1 and the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 2. Those two opponents might end up both picking top five in the draft, but one of the major keys to being a playoff team is beating the teams you're supposed to beat. Denver is doing that, and Bridgewater is leading the way.
1. Teddy Bridgewater is the perfect quarterback for the Broncos
The fit with Bridgewater on this team works so well and he seems to be the exact type of guy Denver needs. They remind me as a whole of the 2015 Minnesota Vikings team that Teddy Bridgewater led to the playoffs with the way they're built. The quarterback is Teddy Bridgewater, the offensive weapons are similar in terms of talent, but both teams are carried by their defense. The job on Bridgewater's shoulders is simple. Play conservative football that is good enough to win while the defense carries the Broncos. It's working excellently.
Both Week 1 and Week 2 saw Bridgewater perform pretty similarly, at least on the stat sheets. In Week 1 against the Giants, he completed 28 of 36 passes with 264 yards and two touchdowns. In Week 2 the stats were similar with him 26 of 34 passes for 328 yards and two touchdowns. Bridgewater isn't a top 10 quarterback in the league or anything like that, but he understands his role and does it pretty much to perfection. The Broncos could be headed in a good direction with Bridgewater under center this season.
2. Concerns about Courtland Sutton can be put aside
Courtland Sutton broke out as the potential top receiver for the Broncos in 2019 when he caught 72 passes for 1,112 yards and six touchdowns in 14 games. 2020 was set up for him to jump up to being a known number one receiver around the league, but he, unfortunately, suffered a season injury in Week 1 and is now working his way back. After Week 1 there were some concerns about his production but Sutton was able to pretty much put that aside and show he's back in Week 2.
Bridgewater threw the ball to Sutton 12 times in Week 2, nine more times than the first week, and he caught nine of the passes for 159 yards. The Bridgewater to Sutton connection may have just taken some time to build up but it looks to be good to go and could be one of the best in the league. The first two weeks may have shown the floor and ceiling minus touchdowns for Sutton and it's likely that he will have most of his performances in between these two games.
3. The Broncos are beating the teams they're supposed to
After two weeks the Broncos are 2-0 and have outscored their opponents 50-26 so far. Both of those numbers are absolutely perfect but Denver is yet to take on an opponent that won't be picking in the top five or ten of the upcoming draft. The New York Giants are led by Daniel Jones and a terrible organization around him so the Broncos did what they were supposed to. Their Week 2 opponent, the Jacksonville Jaguars, had higher hopes than last season but they still look like a terrible mess through two weeks.
Things will stay easy for the Broncos in Week 3 as they will be taking on the Jets led by rookie Zach Wilson and that team has been as bad as Jacksonville. The Broncos should, and probably will, beat the Jets by double digits and start the season 3-0. That's an excellent record but people will question how real it actually is until the Baltimore Ravens come to town in Week 4. If Denver can stay competitive throughout then they'll be in good shape but for now just keep beating the teams they're supposed to beat.
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