Predicting the first win for NFL’s 6 winless teams
By Lucas Schuh
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos defense was expected to be one of the better units in the NFL in 2019. The Broncos brought in former Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio to be their head coach. Additionally, an already-strong talent pool added former Bears cornerback Bryce Callahan to the mix, adding him to a group headlined by pass-rushers Von Miller and Bradley Chubb.
Though all of the pieces were seemingly in place for Denver to have an elite defense, the Broncos have fallen well short of expectations. The team’s play on that side of the ball has been average at best through four games, ranking 16th in scoring defense. Even worse, it took them until Week 4 to register a sack.
As mediocre as the defense has performed, though, the offense has been even worse. The Broncos are only averaging 17.5 points per game in 2019. Joe Flacco has been incredibly average (if that) this season. Now there are rumblings that the team could trade Emmanuel Sanders, which would weaken an already paltry offense.
It could be a long rest of the season for Denver. However, in Week 10, they head on the road to face the Minnesota Vikings, which could be their first win of the year. Even with Chubb out for the year with a torn ACL, the Broncos still have Miller. Meanwhile, Demarcus Walker should give Garrett Bradbury trouble on the interior.
Moreover, Mike Zimmer and the Vikings love to run the ball. However, Denver’s defense has been strong against the run and should slow down Dalvin Cook. Ultimately, this could be an ugly defensive battle but that’s the type of game the Broncos will need to notch their first win.
First Win: Week 10 at Minnesota Vikings
Washington Redskins
To put it nicely, the Washington Redskins have been rough to watch through four games, both on offense and defense. Quarterback Case Keenum has been fine overall statistically but, against the Chicago Bears, Keenum came back down to earth.
Sure, Keenum threw for 332 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions but the production is deceiving to how bad the veteran was. He constantly missed his receivers on overthrows, throwing behind them and just flat out missing them. His struggles continued in the beginning of the Week 4 matchup against the Giants, which paved the way for rookie Dwayne Haskins to make his NFL debut.
Haskins wasn’t much better than Keenum, however. The rookie finished the game with 107 yards, zero touchdowns and three interceptions. To be fair to Haskins, it was his first taste of NFL defenses and he was inserted mid-game. Nonetheless, it was still ugly. The lone bright spot in the Redskins offense has been Haskins’ Ohio State teammate, fellow rookie Terry McLaurin at wide receiver.
The Redskins are clearly one of the bottom-of-the-barrel teams in the NFL. Even compared to the other winless teams, Washington has still looked quite awful to the point that it’s hard to decipher when they’ll notch one in the win column. Their best hope, though, lies in Week 6 as they travel to Florida to face the also-winless Miami Dolphins.
This game will surely be one of the uglier games of the 2019 NFL season as both of these teams struggle to score on the whole. The one thing that the Redskins have over the Dolphins is a solid defense, at least in terms of talent. Washington’s defense should be good enough to slow down the Dolphins and allow their offense to pull away for the victory.
First Win: Week 6 at Miami Dolphins