The Denver Broncos struggled to defeat the Tennessee Titans last week and the Indianapolis Colts earned a 25-point win over the Miami Dolphins behind great play from quarterback Daniel Jones.
All of that together has many people picking the Colts, playing at home, to defeat the Broncos on Sunday. Many Broncos fans counted this game as a win when the schedule was put out, but there have been warnings against that.
One of the bold predictions made by Garett Podell of CBS Sports this week is that Jones will continue his level of play and the Colts will defeat the Broncos. Here was his analysis:
"Almost no one except perhaps Daniel Jones himself thought the New York Giants castoff would play well, let alone dominate like he did as the Indianapolis Colts' starting quarterback in their 33-8 demolition of the Miami Dolphins in Week 1.
Jones went off for 272 yards passing and a touchdown on 22 of 29 passing in addition to two rushing touchdowns. That effort helped the Colts become the first team in the Super Bowl era (since 1966) to score on every offensive possession of a game. Now, it's one thing to do all that against a Miami Dolphins team with plenty of uncertainty.
It would be another for Jones to do that again in Week 2 against the Denver Broncos, a team that leads the NFL with six sacks. Well, Jones is going to ball out again and lead the Colts to a 2-0 start with an upset victory over the Broncos. Indianapolis will lean on Pro Bowl running back Jonathan Taylor early to set up the play-action pass for Jones and Co. He completed 8 of his 11 play-action throws for 121 yards (11 yards per pass attempt) in Week 1.
Offensively, the Broncos appear quite beatable following quarterback Bo Nix's struggles in Denver's 20-12 Week 1 win against the Tennessee Titans . Nix committed a career-high three turnovers (two interceptions and a lost fumble) while barely completing over 50% of his passes: 25 of 40 for 176 yards passing.
Jones and Taylor will drive the Colts offense to enough success over Denver, and Nix's struggles will continue as Indianapolis topples Denver's domineering defense."
Podell won't be the only one making this prediction after what we saw in Week 1, but this prediction gives no respect to Bo Nix or the Broncos, who may have come out a bit rusty against Tennessee. Jones has historically been a poor quarterback (though he is a better option than Anthony Richardson) and the Denver defense is going to be much better than what the Colts faced last week against Miami.
READ: Broncos studs and duds from Week 1 win over Titans
MORE BRONCOS CONTENT
Denver Broncos should stay far away from proposed trade idea with Dolphins
Denver Broncos get big news on the tight end front ahead of Week 2
Report card shows Broncos quarterback Bo Nix was as bad as anyone in Week 1
NFL Power Rankings: Where do Broncos land heading into Week 2 after surviving Titans?
Top 4 observations for Denver Broncos in Week 1 that are not overreactions