The Denver Broncos have actually been playing decent football despite their 1-2 record on the year.  The Packers have been outstanding, as expected, so far this year.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Broncos have the ball:  The Broncos are probably going to come out trying to run the ball on the Packers with Willis McGahee.  I don’t think that it’s going to work out too well though as the Packers are only giving up 55.0 yards rushing per game and 3.1 yards per carry so far this year.  The Broncos are going to have to give Kyle Orton time to throw the ball, or this game could get really ugly, really fast.  Orton will likely try to keep the passing game of the shorter variety to negate the Packers’ pass rush (they have 10 sacks already this year).  Eric Decker and Brandon Lloyd will be the Broncos’ top targets in the passing game this week, but Orton will ahve to be careful as the Packers already have five sacks so far this year.

When the Packers have the ball:  Aaron Rodgers is going to take aim at the Broncos’ secondary as they are giving up 234.7 yards passing per game so far this year.  Rodgers is going to spread the field in the passing game and he’s going to move the ball around.  This makes it very difficult for teams to stop the Packers, because it’s useless to double anyone.  Ryan Grant (kidney injury) is out for this game, so James Starks will be the main ballcarrier in the running game for the Packers this weekend.

PREDICTION:  PACKERS 37, BRONCOS 16

22-year old rookie outside linebacker Von Miller is off to a solid start for the Broncos.  He has played in all 3 games for the Broncos so far this year and he has 12 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and 2 passes defensed.  Miller is giving the Broncos’ pass rush a huge boost which is also helping the secondary a lot as they don’t need to cover as long.  The Broncos hope that Miller keeps up the good work as the defense looks improved so far this year under new head coach John Fox.

The offense looked sluggish for the Broncos yesterday and it cost them this game.  Kyle Orton didn’t look too good in this game as he completed 24 of 39 passes for 173 yards with 2 TD passes and 2 INTs.  Willis McGahee had a rough time yesterday too as he carried the ball 22 times for 52 yards (2.4 ypc) and he also caught 3 passes for 2 yards (0.7 avg) with 1 TD grab.  WR Eric Decker led the way for the Broncos in this game with 7 grabs for 48 yards (6.9 avg).  TE Daniel Fells (2 rec, 42 yards), WR Brandon Lloyd (4 rec, 38 yards) and WR Matt Willis (2 rec, 16 yards, TD) also pitched in for the Broncos in the passing game.  The Broncos rushed for 59 yards on 23 carries (2.6 ypc) and they also completed 24 of 39 passes (61.5%) for 172 yards as they had possession of the ball for 29:06.

LB Wesley Woodyard led the Broncos on D yesterday with 10 tackles.  LB Joe Mays (6 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and 1 pass defensed), CB Jonathan Wilhite (6 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack, 1 pass defensed and 2 QB hits) and CB Cassius Vaughn (6 tackles and 1 tackle for a loss) also had solid games for the Broncos yesterday.  DEs Robert Ayers and Derrick Harvey each pitched in with 1 fumble recovery apiece in this game.  The Titans rushed for only 38 yards on 23 carries (1.7 ypc) and they also completed 27 of 36 passes (75%) for 295 yards.  The Broncos are now 1-2 on the year.

The Broncos have been efficient offensively but defensively they have been horrible so far this year.  With that in mind, look for the Broncos to try to play keep away from the Titans this weekend.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Broncos have the ball:  The Broncos are going to try to run the ball a lot this weekend against the Titans.  They will look to feed the ball to Willis McGahee and Knowshon Moreno (if he plays) against a Titans’ D that gives up 104.0 yards rushing per game and only 3.3 yards per carry.  That means that McGahee and maybe Moreno are going to have to fight for every yard they get.  At least Kyle Orton won’t have to worry about Titans’ fans yelling “We Want Tebow” this weeekend.  The Titans have a good pass rush and Orton has already been sacked 7 times this year.  He will need to get rid of the ball quickly this weekend.  The Broncos hope to have Brandon Lloyd back this weekend to team with Eric Decker, which will give Kyle Orton a fighting chance against a pretty good secondary.

When the Titans have the ball:  The Broncos are giving up 131.0 yards rushing per game and 4.4 yards per carry so far this year.  You have to think that the Titans are going to feed the rock to Chris Johnson in an effort to get him back on track.  The bad thing for the Broncos’ D is that they can’t afford to put extra players in the box, because Matt Hasselbeck has been deadly this year when throwing to WRs Kenny Britt and Nate Washington.  This is not a good matchup for the Broncos.

PREDICTION:  TITANS 27, BRONCOS 10

The Broncos have re-signed 26-year old TE Dante Rosario after releasing him right before the season started.  Rosario played in 2 games for the Dolphins this year but he didn’t catch any passes.  Rosario has played in 64 games in his first five yeras in the NFL and he has caught 82 passes for 894 yards (10.9 avg) with 5 TD grabs.  The Broncos released 23-year old rookie linebacker Mike Mohamed to make room on the roster for Rosario.  Mohamed played in the Broncos first two games this year but he didn’t have any tackles.

The Denver Broncos have signed 28-year old WR/PR/KR Quan Cosby.  Cosby played in all 16 games for the Bengals last year and he caught 2 passes for 16 yards (8.0 avg).  Cosby also returned 30 punts for 225 yards (7.5 avg) and 3 kickoffs for 44 yards (14.7 avg) last year.  With Eric Decker being more of a part of the offense, it’s possible that Cosby will return both kickoffs and punts for the Broncos going forward.  Cosby has now played in 32 games (0 starts) in his first two years in the NFL and he has caught 6 passes for 71 yards (11.8 avg).  Cosby has also returned 70 punts for 699 yards (10.0 avg) and 16 kickoffs for 283 yards (17.7 avg) in his NFL career so far.  The Broncos have waived 24-year old RB Jeremiah Johnson to make room on the roster for Cosby.  Johnson played in 1 game for the Broncos this year but he didn’t touch the ball.

25-year old linebacker Wesley Woodyard has stepped up for the Broncos as he has been starting in place of the injured D.J. Williams.  Woodyard has played in 2 games for the Broncos so far this year and he has 19 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and 1 pass defensed.  He has now played in 45 games in his first four years with the Broncos and he has 155 tackles, 7 tackles for a loss, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble, 4 passes defensed and 1 interception.  The Broncos need Woodyard to keep up the good work as the defense needs all the help it can get.

28-year old QB Kyle Orton isn’t the fan favorite for the Broncos (Tim Tebow is), but he has played pretty well for the Broncos so far this year.  Orton has played in both games for the Broncos so far this year and he has completed 39 of 71 passes (54.9%) for 499 yards with 3 TD passes and 1 INT (85.4 QB Rating).  Orton has also carried the ball 2 times for 11 yards (5.5 ypc) so far this year.  Coach Fox made the right choice in starting Orton at QB because he gives the Broncos the best chance to win right now.

The Broncos have lost starting WR Eddie Royal for the next 2-4 weeks due to a groin strain.  Royal played in both of the Broncos games this year and he has caught 4 passes for 51 yards (12.8 avg).  Eric Decker will replace Royal and he will now be starting instead of being the #3 receiver.  Decker should be more than up to the challenge as he has caught 8 passes for 166 yards (20.8 avg) with 2 TD grabs in his first 2 games with the Broncos this year.

The Broncos had to fight to get nice home win yesterday as the Bengals really came to play.  Kyle Orton completed 15 of 25 passes for 195 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 INTs, to help silence his critics a tad.  Willis McGahee got the full load in the running game as he carried the ball 28 times for 101 yards (3.6 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Lance Ball also ran the ball well with 28 yards rushing on 6 carries (4.7 ypc).  Fullback Spencer Larsen only carried the ball 1 time for 4 yards but he also caught 3 passes for 23 yards (7.7 avg) in this game.  WR Eric Decker had an outstanding game for the Broncos as he caught 5 passes for 113 yards (22.6 avg) with 2 TD grab yesterday.  The Broncos finished up with 131 yards rushing on 36 carries (3.6 ypc) and they also completed 15 of 25 passes (60%) for 187 yards as they had possession of the ball for 30:15.

The defense was solid against the run but not so good against the Bengals’ passing game yesterday.  LBs Wesley Woodyard (13 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and 1 pass defensed) and Joe Mays (8 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss) led the way for the Broncos in this game.  CBs Cassius Vaughn (5 tackles and 2 passes defensed) and Andre Goodman (5 tackles) pitched in for the Broncos.  The Bengals finished up with 72 yards on 20 carries (3.6 ypc) and they also completed 27 of 41 passes (65.9%) for 310 yards.  The Broncos are now 1-1 on the year.