Broncos Have Hands Full Against Rams Even Without Puka Nacua

The Denver Broncos were able to overcome their shallow performance against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 1 with a one-score victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 2, another team that projects to be a playoff contender.

Nothing was working well for the Broncos in the opener and the Chiefs were able to run through Kenneth Walker III to a dominant win on “Monday Night Football,” but that wasn’t the case against Jacksonville.

Denver did a great job of not allowing Jags quarterback Trevor Lawrence do what he did against them towards the end of last season (279 passing yards, four touchdowns), applying pressure and playing great coverage, while the offense found a groove.

QB Bo Nix, who had arguably one of his worst games as a pro in Week 1, bounced back in Week 2 and strengthened his connection with star wide receiver Jaylen Waddle – the pair linked up on eight of 10 targets for 138 yards, picking up six first-downs in the process.

Those two didn’t get much of a chance to build rapport in the offseason due to Nix’s injury recovery, but they were definitely on the same page last Sunday. And the Broncos will need them to be in sync again during battle with the Los Angeles Rams in Week 3.

The Rams are Super Bowl contenders seemingly every year at this point, especially with star defensive end Myles Garrett being traded to LA during the offseason and defensive legend Aaron Donald coming out of retirement in the best shape of his life.

But the Rams are expected to be without star WR Puka Nacua, who is dealing with a hip and groin issue, for the second straight week. That didn’t stop the Rams last week, though, as it was the Davante Adams show against the New York Giants.

Adams caught eight of 10 passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns en route to a 28-6 win, dominating New York’s secondary. LA’s firepower on both sides of the ball is hard to disrupt, so their opponents have to be nearly perfect to stop them (the San Francisco 49ers played them perfectly in Week 1).

If the Broncos can get to QB Matthew Stafford and make his life harder consistently, he may struggle to move the ball through the air, which will put more responsibility on running backs Kyren Williams and Blake Corum to get it done on the ground.

This will be a fun matchup and probably more of a defensive battle, but I think the Rams have the upper hand offensively and are close defensively, giving them the slight edge on “Sunday Night Football.”