Vic Fangio Lauds 'More Efficient' Drew Lock for 'Big Plays' at Carolina
Of all the things to like about Drew Lock's career-best outing on Sunday, it boils down to just one for Denver Broncos head coach Vic Fangio.
Okay; maybe a few ...
“We were more efficient. 21-of-27 is a lot better than we've been doing. We hit some big plays, threw some touchdown passes. It was really good to see, and we spread the ball around," Fangio said after Denver's 32-27 win over the Panthers. "It was nice to see [WR] KJ [Hamler] come up with some big plays. We believe that he can add that to our offense. [WR] Jerry [Jeudy] had a 31-yarder, [WR] Tim [Patrick] had a 32-yarder. Big plays are huge, and we were able to run the ball well enough to keep running it—27 carries—that’s big too in making some first downs. It was a good game all the way through till we hit that stretch there where we couldn't slow them down in the passing game in particular, but we did answer the bell there late with the four and at the end of the game.”
The Broncos' Jekyll-and-Hyde signal-caller was the former in Carolina, throwing for a personal-high four touchdowns on a methodical 21-of-27 passing (77.7%) for 280 yards. He finished with a stellar 149.5 QB rating, not far from the NFL's perfect mark (158.3).
Two of his TD tosses went to rookie wide receiver K.J. Hamler, who led the team with 86 receiving yards. His latter score was particularly impressive as the offensive operation worked in (rare) perfect harmony.
Offensive Pat Shurmur dialed up an appropriately aggressive play-call — on first-down, no less — to extend the Broncos' lead when it appeared the Panthers could mount a comeback. Hamler dusted his man on a go route and correctly broke inside. Lock identified Hamler in single coverage and put it where the second-round pick could get it.
Six.
"I loved it. I loved it. It was an awesome call," Lock said after the game. "They're expecting run. They were showing kind of a zero look right from the snap, and in my head I'm thinking, 'Alright, which one-on-one am I going to take.' Then they kind of popped out of it late, so again like I said, I'm reading [WR] Jerry [Jeudy] and if the safety cuts to him I'm throwing over the top. It was a perfect look for us right there. Great call by Coach Shurmur and great execution by the guys up front blocking that. They obviously brought pressure. Great job by KJ to finish it."
The Broncos won on the strength of Lock's right arm, which did not toss an interception for the first time since Week 2. His offense totaled 365 yards, converted two-of-two red zone opportunities, and surrendered only one sack despite missing starting tackles Garett Bolles (illness) and Demar Dotson (undisclosed).
Most importantly, there was no Hero Ball from the ballyhooed 24-year-old, who identified that particular problem is rooted in wanting to win "so badly that you end up doing some things out of character." And might have discovered its solution in Charlotte.
"It's all about being calm and focused in those games," Lock said. "That's when you make the right decisions, and I've been getting preached that quite a bit here these last couple weeks."
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