2015 Denver Broncos: Peyton’s Last Rodeo

2015 Denver Broncos: Peyton’s Last Rodeo

2015 Denver Broncos: Peyton’s Last Rodeo

After losing in the Divisional round against his former team, the Indianapolis Colts, questions surfaced about Peyton Manning’s future. After shattering passing records the year before, Manning didn’t look like he could physically handle playing a full regular season plus the playoffs. The 2015 NFL season started, the questions continued, and more questions were added.

The Broncos coaching staff was turned over. Head coach John Fox and defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio were replaced by Gary Kubiak and Wade Phillips. Manning had to learn a new offensive scheme while dealing with questions about his career’s mortality.

Even with all of the questions, the Broncos started the season 7-0. Their wins included wins on the road against their division rival, Kansas City Chiefs, and perennial contender, Green Bay Packers. The Broncos lost to the Colts in Week 9 and lost again to the Chiefs in Week 10. In the loss to the Chiefs, Manning injured his foot. Nine games into the 2015 season, Manning wasn’t playing like himself. Manning threw for 2249 yards, 9 touchdowns and a ghastly 17 interceptions. 25-year-old Brock Osweiler stepped in for the injured Manning and played well. In eight games, Osweiler threw for 1967 yards, 10 touchdowns and only 6 interceptions. Osweiler wasn’t a revelation, but he was seen as a better option than Manning.

,p>The Broncos’ offense wasn’t the record-breaking unit from 2013, but they had many weapons at the quarterback’s disposal. Demaryius Thomas led the team with 1304 receiving yards and 6 touchdowns. Emmanuel Sanders had an efficient 1135 receiving yards on 76 catches and added 6 touchdowns. Gary Kubiak’s running game and zone blocking scheme didn’t pay off for fantasy owners, but still saw respectable output from Ronnie HIllman and C.J. Anderson. Hillman led the team with 207 carries, 863 rushing yards and 7 touchdowns. C.J. Anderson struggled to build on his strong finish the previous season, and only accumulated 720 yards and 5 touchdowns in 2015.

The Broncos’ world class defense propped up their offense. Wade Phillips brought his high intensity attacking defensive philosophy to a talented defensive unit. Pro Bowlers Von Miller and Demarcus Ware were first and second on the team in sacks. Miller sacked the quarterback 11.5 times while Ware got to the quarterback 7.5 times. Together they helped the Broncos to a league lead in sacks with 52. Their prolific pass rush was aided by excellent play from their secondary led by Pro Bowlers Aqib Talib and Chris Harris.

The Broncos finished the season with a 12-4 record. Osweiler was 5-2 as a starter down the stretch, but when the playoffs began, Peyton Manning returned to his post as the Broncos’ starting quarterback.

The Broncos won the AFC West and earned a bye before facing the Pittsburgh Steelers at home. The Steelers’ offense led by Ben Roethlisberger was kept in check without their most explosive weapon, Antonio Brown. Roethlisberger still threw for over 300 yards, but he was sacked three times and failed to find the end zone. By the end of the game, Roethlisberger had more passing yards than the Broncos offense had total yards. Manning threw for 224 yards and zero touchdowns, but he didn’t throw an interception. C.J. Anderson scored the only touchdown for the Broncos as Brandon McManus was a perfect 5 for 5 on his field goals. The Broncos won 23-16 to set up a matchup against Manning’s long-time nemesis, the New England Patriots.

The Broncos defense was relentless in their pursuit of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. Von Miller and company sacked Brady four times and forced him to throw two interceptions. The Broncos held a 17-9 lead at halftime thanks to two Manning touchdown passes to Owen Daniels. With less than a minute remaining in the game, the Patriots trailed 20-12 but they were deep in Broncos territory. With 12 seconds left to play, Tom Brady found tight end Rob Gronkowski in the end zone for a touchdown. The Patriots needed a two-point conversion to tie the game, but failed in their attempt. The Broncos won the AFC championship and earned the right to redeem their 43-8 humiliation in Super Bowl XLVIII.

The Carolina Panthers finished with a league best 15-1 record and rolled through their opponents in the NFC playoffs. The Broncos pass rush was the story once again as they forced a fumble and recovered the ball in the end zone for the touchdown. Demarcus Ware, Von Miller and the rest of the Broncos defense harassed league MVP Cam Newton to the tune of seven sacks. They also forced four fumbles and an interception. The Broncos held a slim 16-10 lead heading into the 4th quarter but a C.J. Anderson rushing touchdown with three minutes remaining sealed the game. The Broncos won 24-10, redeemed their last Super Bowl loss and helped Peyton Manning ride off into the sunset a champion.