NFL Predictions: Week 2 Picks and Hot Takes From Across the League

Indianapolis Colts at Denver Broncos, 4:25 p.m. ET on Sunday, CBS

A Colts/Broncos game without Peyton Manning involved seems to be a mistake, but here we are.

Luckily for Manning’s last team, the Broncos seem set to open up their season with two straight home victories after Indianapolis comes to town on Sunday. That assumption isn’t as much to knock on the Colts as it is to drive home a simple point: Denver is still very good, whether it’s Trevor Siemien, Paxton Lynch or anyone else who might suit up under center. It seems strange to say that a quarterback doesn’t mean much in today’s NFL, but does the caliber of the QB play weigh too heavily on the final results of Denver games these days? The Broncos are simply a well-coached, old-school football team who won’t give any opponent an easy matchup. It centers around the defense and simplicity of the offense, which has proven to be a potential championship recipe in years past.

In a game like this one, it’s often helpful to take a step back and look at the big picture on both sides. Can Indianapolis, traveling to high-altitude Denver after a devastating loss to the Lions, match a Broncos team that appears to be, for now, a premier threat to take the AFC? Sometimes, the answer is simply “no”. For Sunday’s game, that appears to be the case.

Sure, we’ve seen crazier things happen – heck, you could argue that before the season opener, Denver would have been a candidate to miss the playoffs altogether. But we quickly saw that concerns at the quarterback position aren’t always cause for total panic, even in our quarterback-obsessed football world.

Broncos beat up on Colts, dominate for a 27-17 win.

Next: Packers/Vikings