The Good, Bad, & Ugly from Broncos' 34-13 Blowout Loss to Chargers
A depleted Denver Broncos team entered SoFi Stadium without the necessary horses to compete against a determined Los Angeles Chargers squad. The Broncos faltered in all three phases of the game and despite a change at quarterback due to injury, the offensive woes continued.
Along with that, the injury-riddled defense could not muster stops in key moments, and combined with the special teams playing dreadful, it was a tough game to watch. To be fair, the Broncos were crippled by the impact of the number of players who landed on the reserve/COVID list this week.
Even in the best of circumstances, Sunday’s contest would have been a battle. However, the Broncos' vulnerabilities that have been identified by opponents throughout the season were exploited against the Chargers, leaving fans with the feeling of consternation that the team still struggles with the ability to adapt to and learn from challenges.
Let's get to the postmortem in the form of the good, bad, and ugly from Denver's 34-13 loss to L.A.
The Good
Noah Fant | TE
The third-year tight end played his best game of the season. While Fant has been relatively muted during the 2021 season, it was good to see him play a predominant role in the offense.
It’s obvious that he and quarterback Drew Lock have a special connection. Fant caught six receptions for 92 yards and a touchdown. As importantly, he leveraged his speed after the catch to gain valuable additional yardage. It was the level of performance expected of a former first-round selection.
Jonas Griffith & Micah Kiser | ILBs
Although they are backups, Griffith and Kiser showed they belong in the NFL. Both linebackers were tacking machines under some difficult circumstances.
Without the services of nose tackle Mike Purcell, the determined linebackers found themselves having to defend their turf against offensive linemen immediately in their face. To their credit, Griffith and Kiser were responsible for a combined 24 tackles, 10 being solo.
While the duo played strongly, both can improve in their ability to cover running backs out of the backfield — something to hone in on in the offseason. To their credit, the Chargers took advantage of their back's speed to exploit Denver’s linebacker coverage liabilities.
The Bad
The Offense
Studying the Broncos' offense is like watching paint dry. The lack of offensive imagination combined with inconsistent execution makes for a long game.
In the NFL, scoring more than 13 points is crucial in order to win. Against the Chargers, the Orange and Blue offensive line allowed interior pressure to control the run game, preventing running backs Melvin Gordon and Javonte Williams from making an impact.
The Broncos' offense did finally take a few shots down the field, however, in critical red-zone situations, it floundered, including on a key fourth down that would have kept the game competitive. Broncos Country must feel frustrated by hearing each week from coaches and players that they have a handle on the lack of offensive firepower, while not much seems to change come gameday.
The reality is the offense is broken and needs an overhaul of concepts and imagination.
Special Teams
In a game that could potentially keep the Broncos' playoff hopes on life support, the special team unit pulled the plug. The unit allowed a kick return for a touchdown, fumbled a punt return, and gave the Chargers terrific field position due to coverage blunders.
In fairness to special teams coordinator Tom McMahon, he had to work with a patch lineup. Based on the unit’s performance, perhaps it would have been better to kick the ball out of bounds at every opportunity, the outcome would have been better and would have been less detrimental to the team.
The Ugly
Not Making the Playoffs
It’s been a long six years since the Broncos made the playoffs. Over those years, Denver fans have endured multiple coaches, quarterbacks, and broken promises. To their credit, fans have kept faith in the Broncos organization and the team’s ability to compete.
Although the loss to the Chargers challenges everyone’s hope for the future, comfort can be found in the fact that the roster is the strongest since the 2015 Super Bowl team. The Broncos have a foundation of players to build upon.
Now, we need to see what hard decision GM George Paton makes to get the team to reach its potential.
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