![\"Broncos](\"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-2245421346-e1762518512291.jpg\")
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The Denver Broncos might have one of the greatest defenses of all time in 2025. That\u2019s not hyperbole. They have the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year in cornerback Patrick Surtain II and the likely next NFL Defensive Player of the Year in edge rusher Nik Bonitto. The Broncos also have a real chance of breaking the NFL\u2019s single season record for team sacks set by the 1984 Chicago Bears.<\/p>\n
Winners of 7 consecutive games, the Broncos are now 8-2 with both of their losses coming in the last second of games in the first 3 weeks of the regular season.<\/p>\n
The reason the Broncos aren\u2019t undefeated falls almost squarely on the shoulders of second year quarterback\u00a0Bo Nix, who has seen his sophomore campaign\u00a0picked apart in the national media.<\/p>\n
The Athletic\u2019s Mike Sando\u00a0put Nix in the category of \u201cToo early to say, but there\u2019s been good with the bad\u201d in his NFL QB tiers alongside\u00a0Chicago Bears\u00a0quarterback\u00a0Caleb Williams\u00a0and\u00a0New York Giants\u00a0quarterback\u00a0Jaxson Dart.<\/p>\n
Sando also points out that the Broncos might have a limited ceiling with Nix under center.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Broncos have won seven consecutive games with a mixture of defense and fourth-quarter heroics from Nix and the offense,\u201d Sando wrote on Thursday, November 13.\u201dIt\u2019s an unsustainable formula that is temporarily tabling more consequential discussions regarding Nix\u2019s trajectory. The quarterback\u2019s year-over-year efficiency has declined by almost every measure except for sack rate, which was already low. It\u2019s looking like next season will be defining for Nix\u2019s trajectory with the Broncos.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nix\u2019s play at the end of his rookie year in 2024 encouraged the Broncos and their fans he could take the momentum of leading the team to the playoffs for the first time in 9 years and spin it forward to 2025. That just hasn\u2019t happened.<\/p>\n
While Nix has been spectacular at times \u2014\u00a0mostly late in games\u00a0\u2014 he\u2019s been a frustrating player to watch the rest of the time.<\/p>\n
The biggest problem, if we\u2019re going to single one thing out, has been deep, downfield throws. Nix seems to be lacking the accuracy we\u2019ve seen from other 2024 first round picks like\u00a0New England Patriots\u00a0quarterback\u00a0Drake Maye\u00a0and\u00a0Washington Commanders\u00a0quarterback\u00a0Jayden Daniels.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s too bad, because his struggles start to reflect poorly on what\u2019s probably an underrated group of wide receivers led by\u00a0Courtland Sutton\u00a0and with young talent like second year wide receiver\u00a0Troy Franklin\u00a0and rookie\u00a0Pat Bryant\u00a0trailing not far behind.<\/p>\n
Nix will be\u00a0playing for big money in 2026, if he isn\u2019t already. That\u2019s when he\u2019s eligible for his first big-time contract extension. Depending on how he plays over the rest of the year and next year, there could be a wild variation to what that amount ends up being.<\/p>\n
Right now, Nix would probably be in line for a deal that would probably pay him in the range of $50 million to $60 million per year.<\/p>\n
If he continues his current path of regression, it\u2019s not hard to see the Broncos lowballing him along the lines of $30 million to $40 million per year, if not just outright parting ways with him after 2027.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, the\u00a0Detroit Red Wings\u00a0look to rebound after losing four of their last five games with a matchup against one of the hottest teams in the league to start the season with the Anaheim Ducks. GM Pat Verbeek told everyone before the start of the off-season that he was going to be aggressive in getting his Ducks back to the playoffs and with a couple free agent adds and breakouts from young prospects, the Ducks are back and an 11-4-1 record.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It’ll be one of the season’s biggest tests yet for the\u00a0Red Wings\u00a0this season as they look to respond after losing 5-2 to the Ducks when on the road during their California road trip, two weeks ago. It’ll be the 99th meeting between these two clubs and it should be a good one as the\u00a0Detroit\u00a0faithful will bring their manic energy that they are known for to help prevent their team from losing their fourth straight.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Red Wings\u00a0had depth scoring carrying them through the early part of the season but over this recent stretch, the team has been far more reliant on it’s star players. Early season breakout Emmitt Finnie was stellar to start the season with eight points in his first nine career games but since the 20-year-old winger has gone seven straight without a point. To be fair to the youngster, he shouldn’t be so heavily relied upon to score at such a young age.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It should be the veterans that should be bringing some timely scoring with James van Riemsdyk, J.T. Compher,\u00a0 Andrew Copp and Mason Appleton all needing to contribute more, as the four have a combined one goal and six assists over the last seven games. Not to mention, many were expecting a breakout out of forward Marco Kasper after his red hot finish to last season but the 21-year-old Austrian has seen a slower than expected start to this season with three goals and no assists through 16 games.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A similar start to the season was recently seen by the\u00a0Winnipeg Jets, where the team was heavily reliant on their top forward line of stars like Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor. In their most recent win on Tuesday, they saw a complete effort with four of the five goals in the 5-3 win coming from other sources besides the top forward unit. This needs to happen with the\u00a0Red Wings\u00a0as captain Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond as well as Alex DeBrincat need more help.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They may be able to finally put together a complete team effort Thursday when facing off against a very familiar face. The Ducks have been playing starting goaltender Lukas Dostal quite frequently with starts in eight of their last nine games and could mean he gets a night off as Anaheim goes to their backup in former\u00a0Detroit\u00a0goaltender Petr Mrazek.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The 33-year-old Czech backstop has a perfect 3-0-0 record this season but that has been mainly held up by his offense. Mrazek has a 4.57 goals against average and a .865 save percentage with 14 goals allowed in three games this season. If Mrazek does start, it should give the\u00a0Red Wings\u00a0a chance to finally spark some offense as they’ll likely need to if they want to keep up with the Ducks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Anahiem’s forward group has received elite level scoring from across their lineup with their top line of Chris Kreider, Leo Carlsson and Troy Terry combining for 25 goals in 16 games. They’ve also seen production out of young talents like\u00a0Detroit\u00a0but at a much higher rate with Cutter Gauthier ranking second on the team in points with 20 in 16 games while 2025 first round pick Beckett Sennecke has six goals and five assists for 11 points just months after being selected 3rd overall as a 19-year-old.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The resurgence of the Ducks has also helped some of their older players like Jacob Trouba rediscover their game as the former Rangers captain has been playing some of the best hockey of his career with a team-best +16 rating with four goals and seven assists for 11 points in 16 games. It\u2019s safe to say that if the Ducks\u2019 offense, ranked second-best in the NHL, finds its rhythm, the Red Wings could be in for a long night.<\/p>\n
DET ML (-139) | ANA ML (+115)<\/strong><\/p>\n DET -1.5 (+165) | ANA -1.5 (-200)<\/strong><\/p>\n O\/U 6.5 Goals<\/strong><\/p>\n It’s quite surprising after everything we just laid out, that the\u00a0Red Wings\u00a0are favorites in this game and that comes with the history between these two. The Ducks did beat the\u00a0Red Wings\u00a0just two weeks ago but prior to that,\u00a0Detroit\u00a0has won 16 of their last 23 home matchups versus Anaheim.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Ducks have won just twice in their eight trips to the Motor City and will need to bring their best if they want to end their losing skid. Not to mention, both teams are slated for a turnaround game in the opposite direction of their recent trends as the\u00a0Red Wings\u00a0have lost three in a row while the Ducks are due for a loss with wins in seven of their last eight games.\u00a0<\/p>\n The\u00a0Red Wings\u00a0will need to be mindful of Anaheim’s top scorer in Leo Carlsson, as the 20-year-old top line center has 26 points in 16 games, only trailing Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon for the league-lead. The Swedish export also has an dominant history in this matchup with points in all four of his career games versus\u00a0Detroit\u00a0with a goal and seven assists for eight points.\u00a0<\/p>\n Detroit\u00a0will look to respond with a healthy dose of Pat and Cat as the dynamic duo of Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat has been put on ice lately with Kane’s injury. Since his return, Kane has no points in two games and should respond versus a Ducks team that he has been able to excel against for years. The 36-year-old has 18 goals and 39 assists for 57 points in 53 career games versus Anaheim with a recent run of ten goals and 27 assists for 37 points over his last 25 games versus the Ducks.\u00a0<\/p>\n Detroit:<\/strong>\u00a0John Gibson (Season: 4-5-0 record, 3.15 GAA, .882 SV% | VS ANA: 27 Saves on 31 Shots, 4 Goals Allowed in One Start)<\/p>\n Anaheim:<\/strong>\u00a0Petr Mrazek\u00a0Expected\u00a0<\/em>(Season: 3-0-0 record, 4.57 GAA, .865 SV% | VS DET: 7-5-2 record, 3.26 GAA, .878 SV% in 16 games)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Denver Broncos might have one of the greatest defenses of all time in 2025. That\u2019s not hyperbole. They have the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year in cornerback Patrick Surtain…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7283,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t