There are no moral victories in the NFL, but the Broncos did show up on Sunday Night Football and played the Chiefs very tough in Arrowhead in 22-16 loss. The loss sends Denver to 4-8 and all but eliminates any playoff hopes. It also ensures Denver will not have a winning season for the fourth consecutive season. The Broncos led at halftime 10-9 and they lead late in the 3rd quarter 16-12, but they just couldn't pull out the game. Their defense played really well, and the offense had its moments. It is tough loss for Denver, but maybe they are closing the gap a little on the Chiefs. At least, we know that their defense matches up with the Chiefs about as good as anyone else in the AFC West. Here are my thoughts and observations about the game....
1) Vic Fangio's defensive gameplan was really, really good once again against the Chiefs and Pat Mahomes. They weren't going to get beat deep, they gave KC the yards in the middle and then they stopped in the red zone. It was the second time this year that Fangio's defense played Mahomes and KC tough. That is a positive to take into next year.
2) The offense played well for a long stretch. They ran the ball well and Melvin Gordon had over 100 yards and popped a big run. The play action game worked well like it did in the Miami game. Drew Lock made some nice plays. He had some big completions and made a big-time throw to Tim Patrick on a fade route that gave Denver a 16-12 lead late in the 3rd quarter. The Broncos did a nice job of revolving the gameplan around the running game and play action. That is what they need to do with him the last four games.
3) Lock needs to get better at protecting the football and stop making ill-advised throws. It is his biggest problem right now. The first drive was a perfect example. He makes a big throw to Noah Fant for a first down, and they are in field goal range and on 2nd and 9, he scrambles and throws up a pass to Troy Fumagali that gets picked down the sideline. Just a bad throw and bad decision. He has to fix that going forward.
4) A lot of people are going to criticize Fangio's decision to punt on 4th and 3 from near midfield with six minutes to go and down 19-16. KJ Hamler dropped a pass over the middle on 3rd down that would have given them a first down and in field goal range. It is debatable if Fangio went for it there. If he does, and the Broncos don't get it, then KC has a short field and a TD there ices it. Mahomes took 5 minutes off the clock and got a field goal to extend the lead to 22-16 with a minute to play. It is one of those "damned if you do and damned if you don't" situations. I'm not going to kill Vic for that.
5) There are no moral victories in the NFL but to hold the best team in the league to 22 points on the road and be in this game late is a sign of progress. The Broncos are without Von Miller, Bryce Callahan, Jurell Casey, and Mike Purcell on their defensive unit. Their defense played gutty and really well. Tip your cap to Shelby Harris, who played a really good game coming back from Covid. You add more pieces to this defense, and hope that Drew Lock can evolve as a QB and the Broncos can close this gap even more on KC next year.
5) To me, the last four games are important to this franchise. Lock needs to improve and evolve as a QB and show he can be the guy next year. Plus, it would be great to win the last four and finish 8-8 and avoid another losing season. There is still a lot of watch these last four games.
No comments:
Post a Comment