Sunday's loss by the Broncos was one of the worst losses in recent memory. I don't even think that this game would relate to a game in the Josh McDaniels-Kyle Orton era. This feels like a end of the career Mike Shanahan/Jay Cutler 2007/2008 loss. The Broncos were up 12-0 after the first half on the heels of four field goals, and the Denver defense held the Raiders to -14 total yards in the first half. The Raiders, with the help of the bumbling Broncos, came back in the second half and took a 15-12 lead early in the 4th quarter. More Denver miscues helped the Raiders finish them off, and the Broncos went quietly into the night in a stunning home loss that drops them to 10-3. The worst part of the game is that the Raiders didn't even earn this victory. The Broncos completely gagged it up, and it was about as ugly as you can imagine. This was definitely the most frustrating game in a long, long time for Broncos fans. Here are my thoughts and observations on the game...
1) The Broncos and Brock Osweiler started really well. They put together four really nice drives in the first half, and each drive Denver moved the ball inside the Raiders 25 yard line, but they only came away with field goals and a 12-0 lead instead of something like 24-0 or 20-0. You just know that if you settle for field goals, then it will come back to bite you at some point and naturally, that is what happened. The play calling was suspect at the end of each of those drives, but execution was lacking as well. Osweiler missed a wide open Virgil Green in the end zone that would have made it 16-0 before the half. Also, a key drop by Demaryius Thomas took another touchdown off the board. Just bad football all around.
2) You can't fault the defense in this game. They did their job once again. The Raiders has 126 yards of TOTAL OFFENSE FOR THE ENTIRE GAME!!!!! Think about that for a second. And the Raiders somehow won this fucking game!!! They were 3-15 on third down and they punted 10 times. The Broncos defense was sensational, and they only made two errors. Bradley Roby got beat for a touchdown for Oakland's first touchdown early in the third quarter, and the lack of depth in the secondary due to injuries hurt them on Oakland's game-winning score early in the fourth quarter. When you have Shiloh Keo playing meaningful snaps at safety because of injuries in the secondary, then you know you have problems. Other than that, the Broncos defense should be steaming because they played lights out. Just sad
3) Here is a list of the Broncos mistakes that they made in the second half alone: Demaryius Thomas fumbled after gaining a first down early in the second half. The Broncos defense held but it turned field position, backed the Broncos up, and it led to a safety after Khalil Mack sacked Osweiler in the end zone to make it 12-9 Denver. Next, the Broncos muffed a punt by Emmanuel Sanders early in the 4th quarter at the Broncos 10 that lead to the Raiders game-winning touchdown from Derek Carr to Michael Rivera to make it 15-12. Jack Del Rio went for two because they said his long snapper was hurt, but let's not buy too much into that for big old Jack. Then, the Broncos missed a field goal by Brandon McManus that would have tied the game midway through the fourth. Then, Thomas dropped a wide open pass on a 3rd down that would have kept a drive alive late it the fourth quarter. Finally, in what was the most awful of all of the mistakes, the Vernon Davis dropped a wide open pass on a 4th down with over four minutes to go in the game at the Raider 40 yard line with nothing but open field ahead of him. You can't get any worse than that in a second half performance. It was like watching a JV game. The Broncos simply gave it away. Incredible how awful this was to witness.
4) Brock Osweiler finished with his first 300 yard game of his career and he started the game 22-25, but I thought he really struggled in the second half. The problem with Osweiler is that he is holding onto the ball too long, and he is taking too many sacks as a result. This is expected of a rookie QB, but look at the numbers: This team hasn't scored an offensive touchdown since the first drive of the game at San Diego. That is almost eight full quarters without a touchdown. In Osweiler's four starts, his offense has score 17,17, and 12 in three of those games. That is just not good enough. I think Osweiler has some ability and can play pretty well, but in my opinion if/when Peyton Manning is healthy, then he should be the starter. The bottom line is that this offense has been really poor all year long. Their offensive line is weak, their running game is weak, and they drop so many balls and make so many mistakes. It is just a very below average offensive team.
5) Speaking of the offensive line, they couldn't get holes open for the Broncos running game, and they watched as Khalil Mack just destroyed them on the way to five sacks for him. It was a dominating performance, but the Broncos should have done a better job at containing him. Bad coaching and bad execution in that regard.
6) The Broncos fall to 10-3 and before we pour dirt on their season and push the apocalyptic button, let's take a step back and look at the big picture. This week they travel to Pittsburgh to take on the red-hot 8-5 Steelers. This will be a very tough spot for the Broncos and Osweiler will have to go on the road again and get a big win. If the Broncos win this week, they are big underdogs for the first time in four years, then they are in good shape. If they lose, there still is hope because they will host the Bengals, who will be without the injured Andy Dalton, in Week 16 on MNF, and then they host the 3-10 Chargers in Week 17. At 12-4, they would get a bye and the 2 seed. This week will be tough, but if they lose they can still rebound and get into the playoffs, win the division, and get a bye. Plus, Peyton Manning started practicing on a limited basis this week and you know his return could be on the horizon.
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