Broncos Pick 'Em: What is the biggest thing Denver must do to turn their season around?

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Just like that, the Denver Broncos 3-0 start has disappeared.

After three-straight losses, the Broncos are only one more loss away from being below .500 and at the bottom of the AFC West.

What needs to change in order for their season to turn around?

Will Denver be able to bounce back on a short week against the Browns in Cleveland?

The DNVR Crew breaks it down and dissects how Thursday’s game will unfold in the seventh installment of Broncos Pick ‘Em.

All odds below are courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.

What must the Broncos do to turn their season around?

Zac: Play damn-good defense — Unfortunately this is not a straight-forward, simple solution. I wish it were as easy as firing a coach or benching Teddy Bridgewater for Drew Lock, but it simply isn’t.

The truth is, Denver’s defense has let them down more than the offense has during their three-game losing streak. Vic Fangio can’t fire Ed Donatell to solve this problem as Vic, not Ed, is the leader and play caller of the defense. And he won’t.

Sure, George Paton could fire Fangio, but in reality, that likely wouldn’t have a major impact on the effectiveness of the defense, at least for the remainder of this season.

As the NFL’s highest-paid defense, with a defensive minded head coach, Denver simply must just play significantly better defense. The Broncos’ winning formula this year was elite defense coupled with a capable offense. In the past three weeks, Denver has allowed an average of 28 points per game. If that continues, not only will the Broncos continue their losing streak, but there will be significant changes to the team. But those changes won’t matter if the defense doesn’t play significantly better.

Mase: Find an identity — Through six games, the Broncos don’t have a bread-and-butter. They’ve proven that they can run the ball in spurts; Javonte Williams is good for roughly one dynamic carry a game. They’ve proven that they can get a steady passing rhythm, particularly when Bridgewater connects with Tim Patrick.

But they don’t have any particular aspect of the offense that is consistent enough to be the direction in which they turn when they need one play or one series to stop a slide. And on defense, the rush-and-cover combination from the pass rush and secondary hasn’t been consistent enough in its execution to be the bread-and-butter it was supposed to be — and now it must step up its collective game to make up for the loss of both starting inside linebackers to season-ending pectoral-muscle injuries.

What are the Broncos? What do they do best? Maybe those answers will reveal themselves once Jerry Jeudy and Bradley Chubb return, but for now, this remains a team in search of a core identity.

RK: Get more out of their stars — Everyone is mad at the coaches, and rightfully so, but in the end, we all know that Jimmys and Joes are more important than Xs and Os.

Here are the Broncos Top 10 salary cap hits this season: Von Miller, Graham Glasgow, Kyle Fuller, Melvin Gordon, Bryce Callahan, Justin Simmons, Garett Bolles, Teddy Bridgewater, Kareem Jackson, Ronald Darby. Who out of that group has looked like a star to you over the course of this three-game losing streak?

Heck, can you even point out which one of those guys has played the best during this stretch? I’d probably go with Melvin Gordon, who has amassed just 140 yards on 28 carries (5 YPC) against the Ravens, Steelers and Raiders and while it’s not his fault that he hasn’t produced more considering he’s averaging just over nine carries per game, it’s a big problem that he’s been the best player out of that group with those numbers.

If the Broncos are going anywhere this season, they need to get more out of the players who they are paying to be stars.

Picks Picks Picks

Teddy Bridgewater passing yards over/under 228.5

Zac: Under.

Mase: Over.

RK: Over.

Teddy Bridgewater interceptions over/under 0.5

Zac: Over.

Mase: Under.

RK: Over.

Case Keenum passing yards over/under 219.5

Zac: Under.

Mase: Over.

RK: Under.

Melvin Gordon’s rushing + receiving yards over/under 54.5

Zac: Over.

Mase: Over.

RK: Over.

Javonte Williams’ rushing + receiving yards over/under 65.5

Zac: Under.

Mase: Over.

RK: Under.

Javonte Williams receptions over/under 2.5

Zac: Under.

Mase: Under.

RK: Under.

D’Ernest Johnson rushing yards over/under 59.5

Zac: D’Over.

Mase: Over.

RK: Over.

Courtland Sutton receiving yards over/under 65.5

Zac: Under.

Mase: Under.

RK: Over.

Tim Patrick receptions over/under 3.5

Zac: Over.

Mase: Over.

RK: Over.

Noah Fant’s longest reception over/under 17.5 yards

Zac: Over.

Mase: Over.

RK: Under.

Brandon McManus kicking points over/under 6.5

Zac: Over.

Mase: Over.

RK: Over.

Will both teams score 20+ points?

Zac: No way.

Mase: Yes.

RK: No.

Broncos total points over/under 19.5

Zac: Over.

Mase: Over.

RK: Over.

Browns total points over/under 21.5

Zac: Under.

Mase: Over.

RK: Way under.

Broncos-Browns over/under 41

Zac: Under.

Mase: Over.

RK: Under.

Broncos @ Browns (-2)

Zac: Broncos.

Mase: Broncos.

RK: Broncos.

Chiefs (-5.5) @ Titans

Zac: Titans.

Mase: Chiefs.

RK: Titans.

Eagles @ Raiders (-3)

Zac: Raiders.

Mase: Raiders.

RK: Eagles.

Leaderboard

Last week

Mase: 11-7

Zac: 10-8

RK: 6-12

Overall

Zac: 37-42

Mase: 36-43

RK: 30-49