Denver Broncos Weekly Release
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
DENVER BRONCOS WEEKLY RELEASE 3 World Championships • 8 Super Bowls • 10 AFC Title Games 15 AFC West Titles • 22 Playoff Berths • 29 Winning Seasons Denver Broncos Football Media Relations Staff: Patrick Smyth, Chief Communications Officer Erich Schubert, Senior Director of Communications & Content PRESEASON Nathan Edwards, Assistant Director of Public Relations Megan Boyle, Communications Strategist week Jordan Beasley, Public Relations Assistant #1 Denver Broncos (0-0) ON THE AIRWAVES: at TELEVISION (9News - KTVD-20) Minnesota Vikings (0-0) Play-by-Play: Steve Levy Analyst: Brian Griese Sideline: Rod Mackey Saturday, Aug. 14, 2021 • 3:00 p.m. CDT RADIO (KOA - 850 AM/94.1 FM & The Fox - 103.5 FM) U.S. Bank Stadium (66,860) • Minneapolis Play-by-Play: Dave Logan Analyst: Rick Lewis BRONCOS BEGIN 2021 SEASON ON SATURDAY QUICK HITS The Denver Broncos will embark Denver owns a 5-8 (.385) all-time record against the Vikings in the preseason, and is set to visit Minnesota for the first time in the preseason since 2010. See Page 3 on their 62nd season in the 2021 The weekend of Aug. 7-8, 2021 saw safety Steve Atwater (Class of 2020), preseason opener as they visit the safety John Lynch (Class of 2021) and quarterback Peyton Manning (Class Minnesota Vikings on Saturday at U.S. of 2021)enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. See Page 4 Bank Stadium. Kickoff is set for 3:00 Late Owner Pat Bowlen, who passed away at the age of 75 on June 13, p.m. CDT. 2019, was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Aug. 3, 2019. Bowlen was one of the most accomplished NFL owners in league history 2021 DENVER BRONCOS SCHEDULE and made significant contributions to the growth of the game. See Pages 5-7 PRESEASON General Manager George Paton, who enters his first year with the Broncos after 14 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, selected 10 players in his first Wk. Day Date Opponent Site Time TV NFL Draft with Denver. See Page 8 1 Sat. Aug. 14 at Minnesota U.S. Bank Stadium 3:00 p.m. CDT KTVD-20 With outside linebacker Bradley Chubb and safety Justin Simmons’ sele- 2 Sat. Aug. 21 at Seattle Lumen Field 7:00 p.m. PDT KTVD-20 tion to the 2021 Pro Bowl, President of Football Operations John Elway closed his tenure as general manager having drafted, signed or extended 3 Sat. Aug. 28 L.A. RAMS Empower Field at Mile High 7:05 p.m. MDT KTVD-20 21 players who combined for 42 Pro Bowl nods. See Page 9 REGULAR SEASON Head Coach Vic Fangio owns an 18-9 record as a defensive coordinator or Wk. Day Date Opponent Site Time TV head coach against rookie quarterbacks. See Pages 9-10 1 Sun. Sept. 12 at N.Y. Giants MetLife Stadium 4:25 p.m. EDT FOX Denver’s offense in 2020 received contributions from 15 first or sec- 2 Sun. Sept. 19 at Jacksonville TIAA Bank Field 1:00 p.m. MDT CBS ond-year offensive players who appeared in 5,556 snaps, which was nearly 900 snaps more than any other team in the NFL (Cin., 4,651). See Page 12 3 Sun. Sept. 26 N.Y. JETS Empower Field at Mile High 2:05 p.m. MDT CBS The Broncos acquired quarterback Teddy Bridgewater in a trade with the 4 Sun. Oct. 3 BALTIMORE Empower Field at Mile High 2:25 p.m. MDT CBS Carolina Panthers. An eight-year pro, Bridgewater ranks fourth in com- 5 Sun. Oct. 10 at Pittsburgh Heinz Field 1 p.m. EDT FOX* pletion percentage (66.5%) among active quarterbacks with at least 1,000 passing attempts since 2014. See Page 13 6 Sun. Oct. 17 LAS VEGAS Empower Field at Mile High 2:25 p.m. MDT CBS* 7 Thu. Oct. 21 at Cleveland FirstEnergy Stadium 8:20 p.m. EDT FOX/NFLN Quarterback Drew Lock owns an 8-10 record to start his career, which is the third-best by a Broncos QB through a player’s first two seasons. See Page 14 8 Sun. Oct. 31 WASHINGTON Empower Field at Mile High 2:25 p.m. MDT FOX* Running back Melvin Gordon III finished the 2020 season with 1,144 9 Sun. Nov. 7 at Dallas AT&T Stadium 12 p.m. CST FOX* scrimmage yards (986 rush / 158 rec.) to give him more than 1,000 offen- 10 Sun. Nov. 14 PHILADELPHIA Empower Field at Mile High 2:25 p.m. MST CBS* sive yards for the fourth time in his career. See Page 15 11 Sun. Nov. 21 BYE Third-year tight end Noah Fant recorded the eighth-most receptions (62) by a Broncos tight end in a single season in 2020. See Page 16 12 Sun. Nov. 28 L.A. CHARGERS Empower Field at Mile High 2:05 p.m. MST CBS* In his first NFL season in 2020, wide receiver Jerry Jeudy totaled the 13 Sun. Dec. 5 at Kansas City GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium 12 p.m. CST CBS* second-most receptions (52) and receiving yards (856) ever by a Broncos 14 Sun. Dec. 12 DETROIT Empower Field at Mile High 2:05 p.m. MST FOX* rookie. See Page 16 15 Sun. Dec. 19 CINCINNATI Empower Field at Mile High 2:05 p.m. MST CBS* The Broncos are the first team since red zone statistics began being tracked 16 Sun. Dec. 26 at Las Vegas Allegiant Stadium 1:25 p.m. PST CBS* in 1995 to lead the league in red zone defense in consecutive seasons (2019- 20). Under Fangio the last two years, Denver has allowed a touchdown on 17 Sun. Jan. 2 at L.A. Chargers SoFi Stadium 1:05 p.m. PST CBS* only 47 of 107 (43.9%) opponent red zone trips. See Page 18 18 Sun. Jan. 9 KANSAS CITY Empower Field at Mile High 2:25 p.m. MST CBS* After missing all of 2020 with an injury, outside linebacker Von Miller looks * - All NFL games scheduled Sundays from Weeks 5-18 are eligible to be moved due to the to regain the form that made him the seventh-fastest player to reach 100 regular season sacks in NFL history. See Page 19 league’s flexible scheduling format. Simmons, who played all 1,085 of Denver’s defensive snaps in 2020, owns the longest active streak of consecutive snaps played (3,211) among NFL defensive players See Page 21 BRONCOS/VIKINGS TEAM COMPARISON (2020) BRONCOS/VIKINGS INDIVIDUAL COMPARISON (2020) NFL Top 10 BRONCOS VIKINGS NFL Bottom 10 PASSING YARDS 5-11 7-9 Lock ...............2,933 Cousins ..........4,265 Driskel* ..............432 GENERAL Rypien ...............295 -16 (32nd) Turnover Margin (Rk) -1 (20th) RUSHING YARDS 28:59 (21st) Time of Possession Avg. (Rk) 29:47 (18th) Gordon ..............986 Cook .............1,557 OFFENSE Lindsay* .............502 Mattison ............434 Freeman ..............170 Cousins ............156 335.6 (23rd) Net Yards Per Game (Rk) 393.3 (4th) 5.2 (25th) Yards Per Play (Rk) 6.1 (5th) RECEIVING YARDS 20.2 (28th) Points Per Game (Rk) 26.9 (11th) Jeudy ................856 Jefferson .........1,400 Patrick ...............742 Thielen .............925 119.9 (13th) Net Rushing YPG (Rk) 142.7 (5th) Fant .................673 Smith Jr. ...........365 215.7 (26th) Net Passing YPG (Rk) 250.6 (14th) POINTS SCORED 23 (32nd) Had Intercepted (Rk) 13 (T-17th) McManus .............108 Cook ...............108 9 (T-18th) Fumbles Lost (Rk) 10 (23rd) Gordon ...............60 Thielen ..............86 32 (32nd) Giveaways (Rk) 23 (23rd) Patrick ................36 Bailey ...............82 32 (T-13th) Sacks Allowed (Rk) 39 (T-20th) Jeudy/Fant .............20 Jefferson ............46 36.6% (26th) Third Down Pct. (Rk) 40.8% (16th) INTERCEPTIONS 53.3% (27th) Red Zone Pct. (Rk) 71.1% (6th) Simmons ...............5 H. Smith ..............5 Callahan. ...............2 Wilson/Kendricks .......3 DEFENSE Three Players. ...........1 Dantzler ..............2 367.9 (21st) Net Yards Per Game (Rk) 393.3 (27th) SACKS 5.6 (20th) Yards Per Play (Rk) 6.0 (27th) Reed ................8.0 Ngakoue ............5.0 27.9 (25th) Points Per Game (Rk) 29.7 (29th) Chubb ...............7.5 Odenigbo ...........3.5 130.0 (25th) Net Rushing YPG (Rk) 134.4 (27th) Jones ................6.5 Wilson/Wonnum .....3.0 237.9 (T-16th) Net Passing YPG (Rk) 258.8 (25th) DEFENSIVE TACKLES (PRESS BOX TOTALS) 10 (T-23rd) Interceptions (Rk) 15 (T-7th) Johnson ..............124 Wilson .............121 6 (T-25th) Fumble Recoveries (Rk) 7 (T-21st) Jewell ...............111 Kendricks ...........107 16 (29th) Takeaways (Rk) 22 (T-10th) Simmons ..............96 Harris ..............104 Jackson ...............89 H. Smith .............89 42 (9th) Sacks (Rk) 23 (28th) Ojemudia ..............62 Gladney* ............81 40.1% (15th) Third Down Pct. (Rk) 39.4% (T-10th) KICKOFF RETURNS (AVG.) 47.5% (1st) Red Zone Pct. (Rk) 58.6% (11th) Spencer ......... 15 (18.7) Abdullah .......15 (23.5) SPECIAL TEAMS Cleveland ........ 10 (23.4) Osborn ........14 (21.6) Hamler ........... 2 (21.0) Ham ...........2 (15.5) 46.1 (10th) Gross Punting Avg. (Rk) 43.5 (30th) 40.8 (T-13th) Net Punting Avg. (Rk) 35.4 (31st) PUNT RETURNS (AVG.) 13.4 (2nd) Punt Return Avg. (Rk) 4.3 (32nd) Spencer ......... 16 (15.8) Beebe ...........9 (4.7) Hamler ............ 3 (2.0) Osborn ..........7 (3.9) 8.1 (15th) Punt Return Avg. Against (Rk) 9.7 (23rd) 20.6 (23rd) Kickoff Return Avg. (Rk) 21.9 (16th) FIELD GOALS McManus ......28/34 (.823) Bailey .......15/22 (.682) 29.9 (31st) Kickoff Return Avg. Against (Rk) 24.8 (T-24th) 80.0% (T-20th) Field Goal Pct. (Rk) 68.1% (32nd) PUNTS (GROSS/NET AVG.) Martin ......65 (46.8/41.4) Colquitt ...54 (45.1/36.7) PENALTIES 81 (T-5th) Penalties Committed 82 (7th) * - Player no longer with team 106 (T-5th) Opponent Penalties Committed 83 (26th) 2 BRONCOS/VIKINGS SERIES BREAKDOWN BRONCOS/VIKINGS ALL-TIME RESULTS (PRESEASON) Preseason Meetings: 13 Season (Date) W/L Result Site Broncos Record: 5-8-0 (Home: 5-4-0 / Away: 0-4-0) 1967 (8/18) W at Denver 14, Minnesota 3 University of Denver Stadium First Game: at Den.