Can Bears' talent advantage overcome Broncos' altitude advantage?

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That the Denver Broncos haven’t lost a home game in Week 1 or 2 since 2011, and are 22-2 at home in those early-season weeks since John Elway retired, may sound trivial. The Broncos have only had four losing seasons in that span, after all. 

But there is something relevant for the Bears in facing down Denver’s early-season success this Sunday. It’s difficult for opposing teams to travel to 5,280 feet and sustain a high level of play for four quarters early in the season, when players aren’t quite in peak football shape yet. 

When asked what the challenge is of competing in Denver, Khalil Mack — who played there four times during his time with the Oakland Raiders — pointed to one thing first: “The altitude, man.”

“The altitude and understanding what you’ve got to do hydration wise and knowing that you’re going to run out of wind a little faster than you would being in Chicago or anywhere else where it’s more flat,” he continued. “That’s just understanding what it is and knowing what it’s going to be this weekend, it’s going to be a good challenge.”

Matt Nagy is a former AFC West guy who coached yearly trips to Denver. Offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich spent three seasons as Colorado’s offensive coordinator up the road in Boulder, then coached a handful of road games there during his tenure with Oregon. And defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano lost two early-season games to the Broncos as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. The Bears' coaching brain trust has experience there, even if the franchise only travels to Denver in the regular season once every eight years. 

While Nagy admitted playing at altitude is an “advantage” for Denver, Pagano offered a glimpse into what the Bears’ Fight Club-like thinking on this trip will be: The first rule of playing at altitude is not talking about playing at altitude. 

“You can spend a lot of time harping all that stuff and then it kind of manifests itself,” Pagano said. “Hey, you can’t breathe and then you go out there and you find out, Wow, I can’t breathe and you talk yourself into that stuff.”

The Bears, too, aren’t making any pre-emptive excuses. While players are confident in their collective conditioning, it’s incumbent upon coaches to successfully manage rotating guys in and out — especially defensive lineman. That’s why Eddie Goldman’s status will be important to watch when inactives are announced 90 minutes before kickoff: Sunday will be an all-hands-on-deck afternoon for Jay Rodgers’ unit. 

“If you do your job and you get off the field then it shouldn’t be a factor,” Pagano said. “And then we have enough depth, and you stay healthy through the course of the game where we can roll guys in, and Jay and those guys do a great job of that, especially the big guys up front.”

That the temperature is forecasted to scrape 90 degrees Sunday afternoon won’t help matters. This won’t be the same kind of heat the Bears dealt with in that sloppy loss to the Miami Dolphins last year, though combined with the altitude it could be a factor. 

But the best way for the Bears to deal with the Broncos’ climate advantage is to assert their roster advantage. The Bears are the better team and have the talent on defense to smother the Broncos' offense and get off the field quickly. Stopping the run and forcing Denver into second- and third-and-long downs will be paramount; it’s also one of the things this defense does best. 

So the Bears should feel well-equipped to handle the challenge of this Week 2 trip to Denver. The Broncos haven’t lost a home game in Week 2 since 1979, but the thought here is this: Talent wins games, not altitude. 

“I've coached out there several times and seen guys where they needed the (oxygen) mask,” Nagy said. “The last thing we're ever going to do is use that as an excuse.”

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