A surging Broncos team faces offensive uncertainty and penalty woes as key players return, potentially impacting their playoff aspirations.
The Denver Broncos are 9-2 and are in first place in the AFC West.
They just defeated the Kansas City Chiefs right before the bye week, and they are just behind the New England Patriots for the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
Whether or not the Broncos clinch home-field advantage remains to be seen. But, they are trending in the right direction.
Eric Edholm of NFL.com dropped his latest power rankings, and the Broncos are up to No. 3 after being No. 5 the week before.
However, he is very concerned about the injury to running back JK Dobbins.
"Even with the Chiefs winning Sunday, the Broncos still control their own fate when it comes to the division, and a first-round bye even remains a solid possibility. We'll see if Denver can spur the run game into activity with J.K. Dobbins done for the year. That might be my biggest concern for this team, along with the chronic penalties -- seven or more flags in eight of their 11 games so far. But with Patrick Surtain II due back shortly and Alex Singleton perhaps not far behind him, the defense should regain some of its strength. I think Riley Moss has played better than some fans want to give him credit for, but there's no doubt Denver's title chances are much better with Surtain shutting down half the field."
Dobbins was recently placed on Injured Reserve with a season-ending injury in a big blow to the offense.
The longtime Baltimore Ravens running back played with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2024 and had a resurgence, rushing for 905 yards with nine scores in 13 games.
In 2024, he had 772 yards and four scores in 10 games en route to possibly hitting the 1,000-yard mark before suffering the injury.
Rookie RJ Harvey has been handling the workload, but he has just 244 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and the only other Broncos RB on the active roster is Jaleel McLaughlin.
Whether or not the Broncos can sustain the injury to Dobbins remains to be seen, but this is a big concern for the offense going forward.