The Broncos are entering the bye week with a 3-1 record, good enough for second place in the AFC West division, only one game behind the Kansas City Chiefs. Despite a few bumps in the road defensively, wide receiver Demaryius Thomas is reminded of the 2015 Super Bowl winning defense.
“Exactly like them,” Thomas said in an interview with Eric Goodman and Les Shapiro on Mile High Sports Radio AM 1340 | FM 104.7. “They’re stopping the run, can’t really throw, and unless the team gets a short field on them, maybe they score then. Right now, they’re kind of lights-out.”
Through four weeks, the Broncos lead the league in overall defense, giving up only 1,043 yards. Miami, by comparison, is currently second with 1,050 yards, but a bye week helps pad their stats. The Broncos also have, far and away, the best rushing defense through four weeks, only giving up 203 total yards, 2.4 yards per attempt, and averaging 50.8 yards per game.
Offensively, Thomas is still confident in where the team stands. Referring back to the 2016 season, teammate Emmanuel Sanders said that the team needed to get them the ball more. Despite having what looks like a down year so far, Thomas doesn’t share that sentiment this season.
“We’re winning, so we’ll figure something out whenever we get over that bump or whatever it is,” Thomas said. “As long as we’re winning, right now, I don’t think it matters for us. All our main focus right now is that we keep winning, and give our quarterback options to hit us when we’re open. We got the weapons, we got the coaches to call the plays, we just got to get out and execute better.”
Thomas’ season has been off to a rocky start, with only 18 receptions through four games. Thomas has only collected 247 yards and zero touchdowns. Despite this, Thomas is contributing to keeping the offense on the field moving, having accounted for 13 first down plays.
Thomas does believe the offense can improve in a couple of aspects going forward from the bye week.
“Stop turning the ball over and converting in the red zone,” Thomas said, when asked where he’d like to see improvement. “Scoring touchdowns instead of field goals.”
Going into the bye week, Thomas emphasized that for a veteran, it’s important to rest both physically and mentally.
“Kind of both,” Thomas told Goodman and Shapiro. “On the way back with what we’re leading up to — for sure 12 weeks — depending on how we play and if we keep up what we’re doing, then we could add in more weeks for the season. So mentally, you can try to get away from it because it’s a long road for 12 weeks, plus. Physically, it’s trying to get your body back right and trying to get ready for next week.”
Thomas plans to spend the bye week back at his hometown with his family, resting on the couch.
Listen to the Sorry – this audio content is no longer available., including why the team is prepared to ‘boat race’ opponents every week, in the podcast below.
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Catch Afternoon Drive with Goodman and Shapiro every weekday from 4p-6p on Mile High Sports AM 1340 | FM 104.7 or stream live any time for the best local coverage of Colorado sports from Denver’s biggest sports talk lineup.
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