Nice of Mike Shanahan to catch his breath long enough to address the media Sunday afternoon.
“Those type of games,” Shanahan said after the Broncos’ season-opener, “can drive you crazy.”
And he won the game. Imagine how the Bills feel.
So, what are we to take out of the opener? First, the Broncos showed a lot of guts and poise under pressure. Not only that, their defense showed signs it can be significantly improved over the second half of last season, when the Broncos fumbled away a near-certain playoff berth.
On the down side, the Broncos need to find a way to make plays when the field gets shorter. They can’t have drives stalling on their opponents’ side of the field. They can’t score 15 points on the road and expect to win.
The last time they scored 15 or fewer on the road and won a game? It would have been Sept. 29, 1996, when they won 14-10 at Cincinnati. After that, they had lost 16 road games in a row in which they scored 15 or fewer.
Moral to the story: Unless they score 20-plus points, it’s unrealistic to think the Broncos will win many games on the road. And if they’re going to challenge the San Diego Chargers in the AFC West, they need to win at least five away from Invesco Field at Mile High.
Not that that isn’t realistic. They’ve finished 5-3 on the road in each of the past two seasons.
Jim Armstrong issues regular reports throughout the day along with exclusive video interviews each week. Visit Jimmy’s Page with Jim Armstrong.
