The Broncos have lost 3 games in a row and 7 of their last 8 games.  That cost Josh McDaniels his job as Eric Studesville will be making his head coaching debut in this game.  The Cardinals have lost seven games in a row and they will be starting rookie 5th round pick John Skelton at QB.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Broncos have the ball:  With Studesville calling the shots, I see the Broncos running the ball more.  Knowshon Moreno will be targeting a Cardinals’ D that is allowing 144.3 yards rushing per game and 4.3 yards per carry so far this year.  That doesn’t mean that the Broncos are going to pass a lot less.  Kyle Orton and his WRs (Brandon Lloyd, Jabar Gaffney and Eddie Royal) should have success against a Cardinals’ D that is allowing 242.6 yards passing per game.

When the Cardinals have the ball:  The Cardinals have to think about running the ball way more often than usual in this game.  The Broncos are giving up 145.3 yards rushing per game and 4.3 yards per carry so far this year.  With the Cardinals starting a rookie QB (John Skelton) the Broncos need to amp up the pass rush.  The Broncos can’t afford to give the kid time to throw the ball as Larry Fitzgerald and Steve Breaston are still good WRs.

PREDICTION:  BRONCOS 27, CARDINALS 23

The Broncos have lost 2 in a row and 6 of their last 7 games but the lone win was against these Chiefs, 49-29 three weeks ago at Ivesco Field.  Chiefs’ head coach Todd Haley refused to shake Josh McDaniels’ hand after the game accusing him of running up the score which will bring added heat to the field this Sunday.  The Chiefs have won two games in a row since the loss to the Broncos, outscoring their opponents 73-37!  The Chiefs are a much different team at Arrowhead Stadium where they are 5-0 on the year.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Broncos have the ball:  The Broncos should come out winging the football all over the place in this game.  Kyle Orton has been outstanding this season and if he has time to throw the ball he’s going to have another good game as the Chiefs are allowing 246.5 yards passing per game.  Brandon Lloyd, Jabar Gaffney and Eddie Royal will cause matchup issues for the Chiefs’ secondary this Sunday. 

When the Chiefs have the ball:  The Chiefs are very tough to defend as they are averaging 174.3 yards rushing per game and 200.9 yards passing.  That means the defense is going to have to step up or the Chiefs are going to light up the scoreboard.  Jamaal Charles and Dwayne Bowe are the players the Broncos have to stop if they want to win this game.  Matt Cassel is also playing at a high level right now just like Kyle Orton is.

PREDICTION:  CHIEFS 34, BRONCOS 26

The Broncos are only 2-3 at Ivesco Field this season but the Rams are 0-4 on the road this year.  That would seem to give the Broncos a big advantage right?  Not so fast my friend, as the Rams’ last two losses on the road came at San Francisco in OT (by 3 points) and they lost by 1 point at Tampa Bay.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Broncos have the ball:  The Broncos might have to run the ball a little more than usual to keep the Rams’ D honest as they already have 28 sacks so far this year.  That means that Knowshon Moreno will get some carries against a Rams’ D that is allowing 101.8 yards rushing per game and 4.2 yards per carry.  Kyle Orton will be taking aim at a Rams’ D that is allowing 230.5 yards passing per game.  Brandon Lloyd, Eddie Royal & Jabar Gaffney are all likely to be busy this Sunday.

When the Rams have the ball:  The Rams will probably unleash RB Steven Jackson on the Broncos in this game as they are allowing 143.5 yards rushing per game and 4.4 yards per carry.  The Broncos better put some pressure on rookie QB Sam Bradford or he’s going to have a good game as the Broncos’ are giving up 232.1 yards passing per game this year. 

PREDICTION:  RAMS 26, BRONCOS 23

The Broncos are coming off a 49-29 win over the Chiefs which broke a 4-game winning streak.  The Chargers have won two games in a row and they had two weeks to get ready Broncos as they are coming off a bye.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Broncos have the ball:  The Broncos are going to have to stay balanced offensively in this game.  They need to run the ball half of the time in an attempt to keep their defense off the field.  That means Konwshon Moreno needs to have a good game against a Chargers’ D that is allowing only 89.4 yards rushing per game and 3.6 yards per carry.  Kyle Orton has been sacked 21 times this year and the Chargers have 27 sacks this year so he’s going to have to get rid of the ball quickly.  That means Brandon Lloyd, Jabar Gaffney, Eddie Royal and Demaryius Thomas are going to have to be willing to catch short passes and take some hits.

When the Chargers have the ball:  The Chargers are going to be more balanced in this game due to the fact that the Broncos are giving up 143.1 yards rushing per game and 4.4 yards per carry.  They will likely rotate their backs in this game instead of riding one back.  Philip Rivers is likely going to have time to throw the ball and he’s going to shred the Broncos’ secondary even if Antonio Gates can’t go.

PREDICTION:  CHARGERS 30, BRONCOS 21

The Broncos have lost four games in a row and the last time they played at Invesco Field they were getting trounced 59-14 by the Raiders.  The Chiefs are only 1-3 on the road this year so maybe the Broncos have a chance tomorrow.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Broncos have the football:  The Broncos are going to come out of the locker room throwing the ball.  They need to get a quick lead to get the Chiefs away from their running game on offense.  To do this the O-Line must protect Kyle Orton which has been a issue this season as he has been sacked 21 times already this year.  If Orton has time to throw the ball he has the weapons to get the offense on a roll.

When the Chiefs have the ball:  The Chiefs are going to give the rock to Jamaal Charles & Thomas Jones early and often in this game as the Broncos are giving up 154.6 yards rushing per game and 4.6 yards per carry.  If the Chiefs get the running game going they will likely be deadly on play action passing which Matt Cassel excels at.  TE Tony Moeaki and WR Dwayne Bowe are the guys he targets the most.

PREDICTION:  CHIEFS 31, BRONCOS 23

Both of these teams are coming off of very disappointing losses.  The Broncos got shocked 59-14 at home against the Raiders and the Niners lost 23-20 against the Panthers at Carolina.  The 49ers left for London after last Sunday’s game while the Broncos preferred to get ready at home.  This is a Niners’ “home game”.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Broncos have the ball:  The Broncos are going to come out passing in this game.  The Niners are allowing 215.7 yards passing per game and the Broncos are averaging 290.1 yards per game through the air.  Eddie Royal, Demaryius Thomas & Jabar Gaffney will likely handle the short stuff while Brandon Lloyd goes deep.  Kyle Orton has a lot of quality targets and the Niners are going to have a hard time covering all of them. 

When the Niners have the ball:  The Niners are going to come out feeding the ball to Frank Gore against a Broncos’ D that is allowing 156.3 yards rushing and 4.8 yards per carry.  The 49ers will also likely get Anthony Dixon & Brian Westbrook out of mothballs this week when Gore needs a breather.  With Troy Smith starting at QB the 49ers will likely roll the pocket more than usual.  Other than that I don’t see much changing as Vernon Davis will still be his top target in the passing game.

PREDICTION:  49ERS 27, BRONCOS 24

Throw the records out the window when these two hated rivals play each other.  The Raiders are 0-3 on the road this season but the Broncos are only 1-2 at home.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Broncos have the ball:  The Broncos will likely try to be more balanced in this game as the Raiders are giving up 149.5 yards rushing per game and 5.0 yards per carry so far this year.  Knowshon Moreno will likely have a much heavier workload than he had last weekend.  I also look for Tim Tebow to get under center for a few plays in this game.  But, don’t think for a minute that Kyle Orton won’t continue his air raid against a Raiders’ secondary that has allowed 12 TD passes and they only have 2 interceptions.

When the Raiders have the ball:  With Darren McFadden back I look for the Raiders to run the ball a lot against a Broncos’ D that is allowing 127.7 yards rushing and 4.4 yards per carry.  The utter lack of a pass rush (the Broncos have 7 sacks this year) will probably give Raiders’ QB Jason Campbell the time he needs to try to make some plays in the passing game.  The Raiders like to throw the TE Zach Miller a lot so the Broncos’ safeties will be challenged tomorrow.

PREDICTION:  BRONCOS 27, RAIDERS 16

The Broncos will have their hands full tomorrow afternoon at home against the Jets.  The Jets have won 4 games in a row as they look like one of the top teams in the AFC.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Broncos have the ball:  This game is all about Kyle Orton.  The Jets have a great run defense so I don’t see the Broncos running the ball unless they get a really good lead in this game.  If Orton has time to throw the ball he should have some success as the Jets are giving up 234.6 yards passing per game so far this year.  Orton will likely spread the field out with WRs Jabar Gaffney, Demaryius Thomas, Brandon Lloyd and Eddie Royal and get rid of the ball quickly.  Orton will need his receivers to make plays after the catch because the Jets love to blitz the QB.

When the Jets have the ball:  The Jets are going to come off the bus running the ball with LaDainian Tomlinson (435 yards rushing) and Shonn Greene (280 yards rushing) against a Broncos’ D that is allowing 127.4 yards rushing and 4.4 yards per carry.  After the Jets establish the running game look for them to take some shots down the field on playaction passes to guys like WR Santonio Holmes, TE Dustin Keller, WR Braylon Edwards and WR Jerricho Cotchery.

PREDICTION:  JETS 27, BRONCOS  20

Both of these teams are coming off huge road wins last week as the Broncos dumped the Titans and the Ravens dumped the Steelers.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Broncos have the ball:  Something has to give in this game as the Broncos throw for 339.5 yards per game and the Ravens only are allowing 119.0 yards passing per game.  I think the Broncos are going to spread the Ravens’ secondary out and throw the ball all over the place.  The Broncos will need to make sure that they give Kyle Orton time to throw the ball as he has been sacked 11 times already this year.  If he has time to throw though I think he will be rather effective as I think the Ravens’ secondary is very overrated.  It’s one thing to shut down Seneca Wallace & Charlie Batch but shutting down Kyle Orton is much, much harder to do.  Despite only averaging 2.2 yards per carry the Broncos force themselves to run the ball a bit with 25.3 runs per game.

When the Ravens have the ball:  This is the kind of game that I think the Ravens will want to run the ball more than they have so far this year.  Ray Rice is ready to go now and he could have a big game especially catching the ball out of the backfield.  The Broncos are giving up 221.8 yards passing per game so the Ravens might actually be doing them a favor if they run the ball a lot.  Joe Flacco doesn’t have impressive numbers this year but he does have a very talented receiving corps as Anquan Boldin, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Derrick Mason and Todd Heap all have potential to have big games.

PREDICTION:  RAVENS 23, BRONCOS 20

The Denver Broncos hope this time they play better on the road.  In the first road game of the year the Broncos lost to the Jaguars 24-17 and the Jags have stunk it up since then.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Broncos have the ball:  This looks like a very bad matchup for the Broncos on paper.  The Titans allow 116.3 yards rushing per game and 4.4 yards per carry so it would be smart to run the ball on them.  But, I’m not so sure that Laurence Maroney or Correll Buckhalter can get anything going on the ground.  The Titans have a really good pass defense with a lot of quality depth in the secondary to matchup with the Broncos’ WRs.  Still, if Kyle Orton gets time to throw the ball he might have some success.  The Titans have 10 sacks and 3 interceptions so far this year so Orton will need to be careful with the ball when he has time to throw it.

When the Titans have the ball:  The Titans are going to test the improved run D of the Broncos early and often with Chris Johnson and Vince Young.  The Titans don’t like to throw much but that could change a tad when they watch some game film of the Broncos’ D.  I don’t see Vince Young throwing deep a lot in this game as he will likely target shorter passes to Bo Scaife, Nate Washington, Justin Gage and Kenny Britt.

PREDICTION:  TITANS 20, BRONCOS 17