Keeler: Broncos remind ex-Denver RB C.J. Anderson of Super Bowl 50 champs, right down to disrespect

Want to be in the Super Bowl picture Slay Cheese This weekend is a big big competition former Broncos running back C J Anderson commented earlier this week when I solicited him about Denver - hosting the Green Bay Packers - - in a tussle of division leaders Sunday at Empower Field People say It s a test It s not really a test it s going to be a good competition Obviously I expect us to pull it out especially at home I do think it ll be absorbing seeing Denver s defense playing against Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love But our defense under coordinator Vance Joseph has been awesome against multiple QBs in this league and finding avenues to sack them That s winning football Like the rest of Broncos Country Anderson s a little well cheesed off at the national narratives getting slapped like Post-It notes on the backs of QB Bo Nix and his teammates The Broncos are fake contenders The Broncos offense stinks The Broncos QB isn t right for the system The Broncos passing contest hurts my eyes The Broncos are too one-sided too lop-sided to possibly win it all Anderson s heard this crap before About years ago now that you mention it If this defense feels very Broncos so does the national noise and setup disdain C J would also like to remind the talking heads on both coasts to go look up how that movie ended He ll wait We started hearing all about how the offense struggled Anderson laughed We heard how Peyton Manning doesn t fit in Gary Kubiak s system How Peyton was older How he couldn t move around Yada begat yada after yada after yada Then came the Packers Peyton Manning vs Aaron Rodgers Title fight vibes That was sort of the turning point Anderson recalled The start to seeing where we could be That Super Bowl season hopped up another level legitimacy hype when the Packers visited Denver on Nov Green Bay brought out the Cheeseheads The Broncos whipped out the sledgehammers Anderson ran for yards and a count Manning racked yards through the air while Demaryius Thomas posted receiving yards Rodgers was throttled to yards passing and the Broncos rolled - Suddenly the world knew what Broncomaniacs had already figured out The No-Fly Zone was for real Related Articles Renck vs Keeler Is Broncos underdog status at home vs Packers ultimate sign of disrespect Keeler Think Broncos are NFL playoff frauds Not when Sean Payton calls competition like he did vs Raiders Grading The Week Deion Sanders hire of Brennan Marion as CU Buffs OC reminds us of Sean Lewis That s a good thing Keeler Broncos fan asking Sean Payton Bo Nix not to give him second heart attack vs lousy Raiders Keeler While Broncos Nikola Jokic own Denver s eyeballs Avalanche s Nathan MacKinnon quietly putting up best season in Colorado history This unit for real I solicited Anderson They re likely better than we were on offense honestly C J now and the head football coach at Benicia Calif High School replied They take care of the football They move the ball They re scoring They re converting third downs They play great on defense That was our formula to winning the Super Bowl And that s the same thing from them now To his eyes the trust faith from Sean Payton s offense is the same as the ability to shrug away punts knowing that the defense could pin an opponent down for series after series Those Broncos were - in one-score contests during the regular season These Broncos are - in tilts decided by eight points or fewer thanks in part to a bizarre Raiders field goal as time expired last weekend The difference is Peyton would put us in the best play and I don t know of Bo has the same green light in Sean Payton s system Anderson reflected We were playing with a Hall-of-Fame QB so that if Kubiak called the wrong play or had us in the wrong look Peyton got us out of it The bones are the same even if selected of the meat has a different aftertaste The Broncos had an older Manning and a young ish Brock Osweiler at QB as opposed to s singular signal-caller in Nix Both teams dealt with key skill-position injuries Manning cowboyed through quad and foot problems Osweiler separated his non-throwing shoulder The Broncos MVP on offense for the first weeks was tailback J K Dobbins who went on Injured Reserve in mid-November with a foot injury Since then the Broncos have featured a true time-share led by second-round rookie RJ Harvey yards per carry with dashes of Jaleel McLaughlin per carry Tyler Badie per carry and grindy north-south fullback Adam Prentice a cult hero in the making after averaging touches for yards over his last three contests They re fun to watch Anderson noted So say Broncos meets Broncos at full strength I countered Who wins A pause That s a great question Anderson mused Obviously I would give us the edge The question is do Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper do those guys get to Peyton as fast as Peyton got the ball out And Pat Surtain II and Riley Moss could they cover our guys We re talking about DT and Emmanuel Sanders All-Pro-caliber players at wide receiver VJ is solid Wade Phillips was a great game-planner I think up front to be honest I think we supposedly had a little bit more depth than they have Of discipline I m going to invariably take us We won it all but I wouldn t mind seeing that match He wouldn t mind more respect for his beloved orange and blue either While Love s settled in as a top- QB in this league he s also good for at least one and sometimes two critical brain-cramps per contest The Packers QB threw for yards here in Yet down - with to go Love fired off a lollipop on third-and- at midfield into double coverage Broncos safety P J Locke secured the pick at the Broncos to ice the contest You can t control the teams on your schedule Anderson disclosed When I look at it was kind of the same We were winning all these one-score games and everybody else was trying to figure us out and noted Well they haven t really played anybody Then we had a big meeting against the Packers and revealed Here we go This is what it is ' Want more sports news Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver s teams