Broncos Rally Late, But Fall To Titans 13-10

The Broncos left Nashville with a very disappointing defeat at the hands of the Tennessee Titans 13-10. The Broncos trailed 13-0 at halftime, and rallied in the 4th quarter to get within three, but a late A.J. Derby fumble at the Broncos 40 yard line with under a minute to go sealed their fate. It was a bitter loss that dropped the Broncos to 8-5, and they are now in a mad scramble to try to make the playoffs with a schedule that finishes with the Patriots, Chiefs and Raiders. Here are my observations and thoughts about the game....

1) The game started exactly the way we didn't want it start. We go three and out on a terrible whiff of a block by Devontae Booker that gets Trevor Siemian sacked, and the Titans methodically march down the field and punch it in with Demarco Murray to take a 7-0 lead. After a Justin Forsett fumble, the Titans drive down and get a field goal to make it 10-0. They were controlling the ball on the ground with Murray and Marcus Mariota and making a couple plays in the air. The next thing you know we are in trouble and down 10.

2) We just can't run the ball, and if the running game isn't working in this offense, then everything else is screwed. We can get a first down on any short yardage situations and it hurt us once again early in the game on Sunday. Devontae Booker just can't break a tackle.

3) A key sequence in the first half was when the Broncos punted the Titans down at their own three yard line, but the Titans drove the length of the field a got a field goal right before the half. I thought that drive was more about the stamina of the Broncos defense and how gassed they were than anything else. It was a big three points and ended up being a big drive right before the half.

4) During that drive, Titans WR Harry Douglas went low and took out Chris Harris near the end of a running play that was away from the ball. It was a dirty, cheap hit, and Harris was out for a few plays but came back in the game later. On the next play, Aqib Talib and went after Douglas and basically manhandled him on the sideline and even though he got a 15 yard penalty, it was a bit of retaliation that Douglas deserved. I actually applaud Talib for this revenge tactic.

5) After being down 13-0 at the half, the Broncos defense settled in and played very well the rest of the way. They shut down Mariota completely and didn't give Murray much running room as well. The Broncos got key stops during the entire second half and got off the field when they needed to.

6) The Broncos offense finally came alive in the second half as well. This loss wasn't on Trevor Siemian at all. He nearly brought the Broncos all the way back. The series that was a killer was the series after Denver perfectly executed a fake punt from Riley Dixon to Cody Latimer for a first down. The Broncos drove all the way inside the 10 but couldn't finish off the drive with a touchdown as Siemian's 4th down pass was incomplete in the end zone. The Broncos scored a touchdown on their next drive on a Siemian to Emmanuel Sanders TD pass and then got a field goal on the next drive to  pull within three. Siemian finished 35-51 for 334 yards and 1 TD. Sanders had 11 receptions for 100 yards and Demaryius Thomas had 10 receptions for 126 yards. The problem is that the Broncos really don't want Siemian throwing 51 times in a game. That's just not going to work on the road.

7) A.J. Derby has been a nice find at TE since we traded for him in October, and his fumble late in the game with under a minute to go was a killer, but he has been a nice surprise for us this year. I fell bad for him because I really like him as a player and he has been good for us.

8) At 13-7, Bennie Fowler dropped a sure TD pass on a back shoulder throw by Siemian. It would have made it 14-13, but Fowler, who usually is very reliable, dropped the pass and the Broncos had to settle for a field goal. That might have been the play of the game right there.

9) The Broncos have now backed themselves into a corner to make the playoffs. They have to deal with NE at home, at KC on Christmas night, and host Oakland. They need Dolphins to start losing some games as well because they are tied at 8-5, and they need the Ravens or the Steelers to start losing as well. The Broncos have by far the hardest schedule remaining of all the AFC playoff contenders, so it will be very hard to see Denver winning two of these last three games. You never know what could happen and the Broncos are home for two of those games, but this will be about as difficult of a task that you could think of for this team to make it. Let's keep the faith and hope they defy the odds with these last three games. Go Broncos!