The Cleveland Browns return to Denver to face the Broncos in Week 9. Both teams look quite different now than they did when Cleveland escaped with a one-point victory in Week 15 last December.

To help find out more about the new-look Broncos, I turned to Jon Heath for some intel. Heath is the managing editor for Broncos Wire and a level-headed colleague. He answered some questions about the sputtering Denver offense, an underrated defense and the new starting QB for the Broncos.

What can we expect from new starting QB Brandon Allen?

It’s hard to know what exactly to expect from Allen because he is yet to take a snap in a regular-season NFL game. But, based on his college numbers, it appears that he protects the football relatively well (30 TDs vs. 8 INTs as a senior at Arkansas) and isn’t exactly a mobile QB (2.0 YPC as a senior). Like any first-time starter, Allen will probably be prone to mistakes. Denver will undoubtedly try to establish the run to try to take some pressure off him.

Like the Browns, the Broncos have a rookie head coach. What’s the early word on Vic Fangio’s performance?

Broncos fans obviously aren’t pleased with the team’s record, but that doesn’t fall squarely on Fangio. The new coach wasn’t responsible for bringing in Joe Flacco or for making any of the team’s roster decisions. Fangio was known as a defensive guru when he arrived in Denver and he has lived up to that, with the Broncos’ defense allowing just 18.9 points per game. So far, Fangio seems to be up for the job.

Just how bad has the offensive line been, and is it the biggest problem with the sputtering offense?

We’ll find out on Sunday. If Allen looks just as good (or better) than Flacco, the line will be cut a little bit of slack. Garett Bolles, the left tackle, is a liability, and it’s a shame that right tackle Ja’Wuan James injured his knee again, because the Broncos were probably close to benching Bolles in favor of Elijah Wilkinson. Now Wilkinson will have to fill in for James on the right side. The line overall hasn’t been great, but it’s hard to gauge how much of the blame falls on them because Flacco held the ball for far too long on many of the plays he was sacked this year. Bolles is definitely one of the biggest problems on offense.

The defense ranks in the top 10 in several important categories. Is that legit?

Well, Denver played a bad Bears offense, a bad Jaguars offense and a bad Titans offense, so the team’s numbers are probably a bit inflated. But one week after Jacoby Brissett threw four TD passes and helped the Colts score 30 points, he was limited to zero TDs, was sacked four times and scored just 15 points against the Broncos’ defense. The numbers might be a little flattering, but Denver does have a talented defense.

What one area do you see the Broncos having an advantage against the Browns?

Denver’s secondary might have an advantage over Cleveland’s passing attack, as hard as that sounds to believe with the Browns offense featuring Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry. Baker Mayfield hasn’t looked great this year, though, throwing 12 interceptions and getting sacked 21 times.

Safeties Justin Simmons and Kareem Jackson are playing well, and the Broncos opted not to trade four-time Pro Bowl cornerback Chris Harris ahead of Tuesday’s deadline. Denver’s defense is coming off a great performance against Indianapolis and will look to get after Mayfield on Sunday.