In a game that the Broncos had to win and one in which most people thought they would win, they went out to San Francisco and lost to the 2-10 49ers 20-14 in Santa Clara on Sunday. The Broncos fell to 6-7 and now are going to need to win out and get a lot of help to get into the playoffs. Denver trailed 20-0 at halftime, and they rallied in the second half, but they fell short and suffered a very devastating loss. It was about as frustrating of a loss as they have had all season, and it might have major ramifications down the road. Here are my thoughts and observations on the game....
1) The Broncos trailed 20-0 at the half mainly because they couldn't stop TE George Kittle. Kittle had 210 receiving yards before halftime. How can you not have a plan for Kittle? The Broncos struggle at stopping TEs and yet they had no answer for Kittle. How come the Broncos always seem to be outschemed by the opposing coaches-especially on defense? Kyle Shanahan against Vance Joseph and Joe Woods is a major mismatch and it showed.
2) The key in the first half was the fact that Kittle scored on a 85 yard reception from Nick Mullens to make it 13-0, and they scored another touchdown with only 8 seconds left in the half. They went 72 yards in 59 seconds. The Broncos had 5 penalties on the drive to help the 49ers move the ball down the field. That was inexcusable.
3) The Broncos back into the game with a Philip Lindsay TD run to make it 20-7 with 6:05 left to go in the third. They turned the ball over on downs the next two possessions. I hated the 4th and 3 call to Lindsay at the Denver 44 with 12:41 to go in the game. I don't mind going for it there, but the playcall was bad. After a Darian Stewart interception, the Broncos got the ball back and moved it to the SF 22 when Lindsay was stopped short again on a pass from Keenum with 8:37 to go in the game. They had to go for it in that spot because a FG does them no good at 20-7.
4) Keenum hit DaeSean Hamilton for a 1 yard TD with 3:53 left in the game to make it 20-14. The Broncos gave the ball back to the 49ers needing only one stop with 3:46 to go and all three timeouts and the 49ers were starting at their own 20. On 3rd and 7, Mullens hit Dante Pettis for 31 yards. With 2:28 seconds left, the 49ers faced another 3rd and 3 from the Denver 39 and once again Mullens completed the pass and the first down and that ended the game. The Denver defense has to get off the field in that spot. You can't let Nick Mullens beat you in those situations and it happened twice!
5) This is about as bad of a loss that you can have at this point in the season. Denver was 6-6 with the easiest remaining schedule in the league, and they lost to a 2-10 team. I know they are banged up with injuries. I know they just lost Chris Harris and Emmanuel Sanders to injuries, but they have to win this game. That's the bottom line. This definitely falls on the coaches as well. What this loss means for the future is for another time. The immediate impact is that they are now 6-7 with the Browns coming to Mile High on Saturday night, and they need to win out and get major help to get into the playoffs. It will be hard for them to beat the Browns on Saturday anyway. I wouldn't be surprised if they lost the last three games this year. Instead of being 7-6, riding a four-game winning streak and coming home to a pumped-up fanbase in Mile High this week, the Broncos are 6-7 and wondering what might have been.
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