Are the Broncos in Trouble?

Written by:  John Edward Betancourt

It's amazing how many issues my beloved Denver Broncos continue to discover week in and week out.  First the drunk driving incidents, followed by Von Miller's suspension and then the one thing that had me worried just as it does every year...the dreaded injury bug.  Last year the Broncos completely escaped it, but this year it arrived in full force.  

Center J.D. Walton's ankle wasn't quite healed enough for him to play so Center Dan Koppen returned to fill the void, before tearing his ACL.  Thankfully Manny Ramirez has stepped in and saved the day.  But the injury woes didn't end there.  We all watched Cornerback Champ Bailey hobble off the field in the preseason and Tight End Joel Dreessen has been missing in action with a bum knee.   

But with this red hot start to the season, it seemed like the worst injuries were behind the Broncos, until the last few minutes of the New York Giants game.  In a matter of minutes, Strong Safety Duke Ihenacho, Defensive End Robert Ayers and Left Tackle Ryan Clady all had to head to the sidelines with grimaces on their faces and worry came over the good people of Denver.  

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Thankfully Duke and Robert were fine, but not Ryan Clady.  The bad news has finally been delivered and Clady has been placed on season ending Injured Reserve with a lisfranc tear in his foot that will require surgery.   Any football fan knows that Clady is by far one of, if not the finest Left Tackles in all of the league, so to see him leave the field is certainly cause for concern and brings forth the question as to whether or not the Broncos are truly in trouble now.  

I don't think they are in the slightest. Will the offensive line be as flawless as before with Clady out of the mix?  Of course not, but there is something special happening in Denver and because so far this season the Broncos have proven that adversity and major personnel changes are of little concern because of the "Next Man Up" edict on the team.

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It's been around since John Fox began to coach the team but the idea is simple, if the top guy goes down or is out for whatever reason, it is the job of the next man up to step up and do the same job as the man he is replacing.  We saw this come to life during the season opener against the Ravens with Von Miller and Champ Bailey out, the next men up did an amazing job in the lineup and provided some stifling defense.

I think the same thing will happen here.  Chris Clark will step up, do his absolute best at Left Tackle and protect Peyton Manning.  In fact I think Manning is one of the reasons the Next Man Up idea works so well on this team.  It's obvious Peyton's teammates want to see #18 hoist the Lombardi Trophy and letting him down or not playing to his standard will rob him and the team of that dream.  There's something very special happening with this team and the way they've played continues to show this.   We'll be just fine and if the wins keep coming like they have so far, those Lombardi Trophy dreams will most certainly come true.  

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