The Denver Broncos played two games they should have comfortably won to begin the season against two of the NFL’s lower-level teams.
Denver underperformed against the Seattle Seahawks and Houston Texans, though, and they are now 1-1 after squeaking by Houston at home. Starting this week, the Broncos won’t be able to squeak by anymore.
Up next are the San Francisco 49ers, who reached the NFC Championship game last year. Denver can’t afford to play a sloppy, undisciplined game against San Francisco like the team did last week.
“They are a very, very good football team,” Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett said of the 49ers on Wednesday. “They’re unbelievably physical. They have some unbelievable playmakers on both sides of the ball. They are simple on defense, but they are almost perfect in their execution. They’ve been in the system for I think it’s five or six years now with Kyle [Shanahan] on defense.”
San Francisco has a good offense, too, now led again by veteran quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo following Trey Lance’s season-ending ankle injury.
“He’s played a lot of big games,” Hackett said of Jimmy G. “He’s been very successful. All the way back to 2017, when I was at Jacksonville, I remember going when he was there. I think that was his first year when he came in and won those games at the end. He’s a real good football player, gets the ball out quick, and they are a good football team.”
Sunday’s game at Empower Field at Mile High will be nationally televised on NBC. The Broncos are considered 1.5-point home underdogs.
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