Stick here for live updates and analysis as Denver takes on the Colts at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.
Live updates
Pre-game updates
Scouting report (2 p.m.): Check out how the Broncos match up with the Bengals in Luca Evans’ scouting report.
Game predictions
Parker Gabriel, Broncos beat writer: Broncos 28, Bengals 13.
Wins and losses are all that matter in the NFL. But early in the season, that measuring stick can be a noisy one. Cincinnati is 2-1, but is also quite bad by almost every metric. The Broncos are 1-2, and while their warts are obvious, they’re also in many ways a pretty good team. If Joe Burrow were playing, this could have shaped up to be a barnburner a la December along the Ohio River. Instead, this lines up well for Sean Payton’s team to get in rhythm offensively and take the ball away defensively.
Luca Evans, Broncos beat writer: Broncos 31, Bengals 10.
This Cincinnati team is bad right now — just look at the tale of the tape above. They can’t run well. They can’t pass well. They don’t rush the passer well, or much at all. In a primetime game at home, this is the perfect environment for Sean Payton’s group to round into form and for quarterback Bo Nix to quiet an increasingly loud group of doubters. Expecting a blowout.
Troy Renck, columnist: Broncos 30, Bengals 18.
The Broncos offense doesn’t do anything particularly well. And the Bengals are just unwell. The health of Joe Burrow has again jeopardized a season because the Bengals refuse to invest in a line to protect him. So, the Broncos get a get-right game. Their frothing defense is ready to show it can finish against Jake Browning. Only Akili Smith would have been a better matchup. This sets up as a night for the Broncos to figure out who they are offensively — feed J.K. Dobbins — while sacking Browning repeatedly.
Sean Keeler, columnist: Broncos 27, Bengals 17.
The Burrow Bowl is now The Burro Bowl, as both QB1s in this game have played like donkeys as of late. (So much for Monday Night Football marketing.) At least Cincy’s bringing old pals Dalton Risner, Noah Fant and Samaje Perine back to town, so that’s fun. Watching this secondary try to cover Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins won’t be. Fortunately, the Bengals rank sixth among NFL offenses in sack rate allowed, which means a lovely night of watching Nik Bonitto turning Empower Field into Casa Bonitto again.
Broncos-Bengals NFL Week 4: Must-reads
After last year’s shredding, Broncos CB Riley Moss has Monday’s Bengals rematch ‘circled’
The 25-year-old Moss doesn’t shy away from much in life. Long after that Purdue raid, he’s crafted a distinct identity as Denver’s CB2: Someone who puts his every fiber into every rep and then immediately forgets about the result. He is a goldfish.
This week, though, Moss remembers. Teammates in Denver’s locker room haven’t seen his brand of quick-twitch chaos change much in the lead-up to Monday Night Football against the Bengals. But last year’s Cincinnati game is “still in his craw,” as his mother told The Post.
“I know he’s preparing for each game, and that’s what he should be doing,” his mother Beth said in early September. “But I know in the back of his mind — that’s the game he’s got circled.” Read Luca Evans’ full story.
Broncos’ Mike McGlinchey on cleaning up mistakes: ‘It has to be this week’
Broncos right tackle Mike McGlinchey knows two things can be true at the same time.
First, there are 13 games left in the season, starting with Denver’s Monday night matchup against Cincinnati at Empower Field. That’s a lot of time for teams’ fortunes to change, identities to develop, strengths to show through or weaknesses to get exposed.
Also, though, there are already three games in the rearview mirror, and the Broncos have lost two of them despite never trailing a second in the fourth quarter.
So, there’s time to find fixes. But also, the time is now. Read Parker Gabriel’s full story.
Renck: What do Broncos do well offensively? Nothing on early downs. That’s on Sean Payton.
If the Broncos let go of who they think they are, they will become who they should be.
As another forgettable September fades into memory, the Broncos rank as a disappointment. When they got walked off for the second straight week last Sunday, the frustration was blended with a lingering question: What is their offensive identity?
Three games into the season, nobody seems to know what the Broncos do well, and it places pressure squarely on coach Sean Payton to figure it out. Especially as it relates to the run game and wide zone blocking scheme. Read Troy Renck’s column.