Hi all, Broncos fan here- I come in peace!
I don't actually know anything about Green Bay, except that they have the best QB in the league this year and are undefeated. So I'll talk about Denver.
Special teams: Great clutch kicker, nothing special (no pun intended) about the return game. There's no real returner threat, but also no big goofs (yet, knock on wood). Lots of fair catches and touchbacks and 5-10 yard punt return sort of thing.
Defense: This unit looks historically good. The amount of big plays, turnover, sacks, and overall disruption rivals any unit in many years. The pass rush is phenomenal, they have fast/active linebackers, and pro bowlers sprinkled all over the secondary. Of course, Rodgers is Rodgers, and no one is under any illusion that he won't make plays.
Offense: This is where things get interesting, and where you'll find nothing but bickering if you visit a Broncos message board. It's no secret that, statistically, this is one of the worst offenses in the NFL. And despite Aaron Rodgers, I'm sure if you polled a message board you'd find a lot of people worried about this game because of the Broncos offense vs. the Broncos offense. To really understand this offense and its problems though, the statistics become irrelevant and the stories unfolding after every game are what counts when trying to make a future outlook.
There's lots of hype about Peyton Manning. It's true this is maybe his worst pro season ever, but it's also true that the struggles go way beyond any sound bytes about his arm or age. The fact is he is still making a lot of impressive throws down the field, the "go" routes deep, deep comebacks, sideline passes, backshoulder throws, or just placement right outside the reach of a defender are still there....and the "ducks" are not much duckier than what he threw earlier last year or the year before. His physical condition is like 10th on the list of things that are the problem.
Yet we're still seeing an unusual amount of mental errors, a lot of "wtf" interceptions that have little to do with his arm and more to do with him just getting fooled or forcing something that isn't there. Some of the offensive struggles have been due to dropped passes and penalties at very bad times, bad luck on tipped balls, and just overall poor execution in the red zone once we've driven down the field.
You'll find all sorts of opinions on why that is, ranging from the absurd to "he's uncomfortable with his o-line and there's no run game" to "he cannot work in Kubiak's system." I have my own opinions on this, but what's really relevant for this game is that this offense hasn't done much to prove that they are threatening (yet), but have the potential to be, and if you put Peyton in a "must score" situation (you know, two minute drill down before the half, or down 4 points late in the fourth quarter) you can be sure they will go no huddle and let Peyton do his thing, and he's had a lot of success in these moments. The o-line is improving every week and they are pretty solid now in pass protection, not so much run blocking.
This is a losing game for Denver if the coaches don't treat some of the real offensive problems that have haunted us all year.
