Fangio's Defense Again Comes Up Small as Broncos Squander Late-Game Lead, Fall to Titans 16-14
The Denver Broncos had Week 1 on a plate. Triumph was within striking distance but once again, Vic Fangio and company snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in the closing minute of the game.
The Broncos fell to the Tennessee Titans 16-14.
The game started out on a positive note, with second-year QB Drew Lock moving the football by connecting early and often with tight end Noah Fant. The second-year duo connected for a touchdown in the first half and it felt like the Broncos had all the momentum.
It took a Melvin Gordon fumble in the second quarter for the Titans to wrest back some control. Veteran QB Ryan Tannehill made Gordon and the Broncos pay for that grievous error, scoring on the ensuing possession on a short field with a touchdown pass to tight end MyCole Pruit.
The two sides entered halftime tied 7-7 but the Broncos weren't unscathed. Denver would lose No. 1 cornerback A.J. Bouye to a separated shoulder and he would not return, while co-starting running back — and emotional firebrand — Phillip Lindsay suffered a foot injury late in the second quarter. He would not reemerge from the locker room following the half.
That put the onus squarely Lock and company, who were without No. 1 wideout Courtland Sutton. Initially, after a couple of ugly three-and-outs to start the second half, it didn't look so good.
But Lock led a nine-play, 75-yard scoring drive to regain the lead after the Titans had gone up 13-7. The drive culiminated on a 1-yard Gordon touchdown plunge, his first as a Bronco.
From there, Denver was in the driver's seat, playing with the house money as it were with the Titans buried deep in their own end zone. But after getting the ball back around the four-minute mark, nursing that one-point lead, the Broncos had the chance to put together a clock-consuming drive, but someone failed to get the memo to Fangio and offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur that it was time for the quintessential four-minute offense.
The Broncos would go three-and-out, failing to take more than one minute off the clock due to three passes, the final two of which would fall incomplete, stopping the clock. One of those incompletions was an unforgivable drop by rookie first-rounder Jerry Jeudy, who'd already dropped one pass earlier in the night.
The Titans took that new shot of life and ran with it. Tannehill orchestrated a masterful 12-play drive that would consume 2:48 and 83 yards, setting up the slumping kicker Stephen Gostkowski for a chip-shot field goal to take the lead with only 17 seconds left. After missing his first three kicks, one of which was blocked by Shelby Harris, Gostkowski connected, putting the Titans up 16-14.
A few more slap-dash passing plays later and the clock would run out. Game over.
Gleanings
In Tennessee's final drive, as Tannehill continued to work the middle of the field and Derrick Henry, who'd been mostly bottled up by the Broncos' defense on the night, pounded Fangio's unit into smithereens, Fangio totally botched the clock.
The Broncos sat on multiple timeouts as the Titans inched closer to chip-shot field-goal territory. As I watched, I thought that the only explanation for Fangio's reticence to manage the clock, so that Lock and company would have more than 17 ticks left to get into field goal range, was the old head coach banking on Gostkowski's slump.
But even the worst NFL kickers, when given the opportunity to chip from 25 yards out, are going to connect more often than not. After the game, Fangio confirmed from the Zoom podium that indeed, he chose to sit on his timeouts in hopes that he wouldn't need to use them offensively because he expected Gostkowski to miss his fourth-straight field goal attempt.
It was a gross miscalculation on Fangio's part. Combined with Shurmur's bizarre play-calling in that four-minute situation in the final period and failure to go back to Fant in the second half, it's hard to place the blame for the Broncos' loss on anyone's shoulders but the coaches.
Lock finished the night 22-of-33 for 216 yards and one touchdown with a QB rating of 95.0. Jeudy led all receivers with eight targets, hauling in four for 56 yards. Fant finished with five receptions on six targets for 81 yards and a touchdown, almost all of which came in the first half (if not all).
Only one sack was to be had on the night and it was Denver's Jeremiah Attaochu who got home. Bradley Chubb was a non-factor in the pass-rush department.
The Broncos played bend-don't-break defense but in the closing moments when the chips were down, they collapsed once again, echoing the three losses from 2019 in which Denver protected a lead only to lose it in the closing seconds.
Back to the drawing board for Fangio and Shurmur, but especially Fangio. Goodness, his gamble on Gostkowski's slumping mindset could haunt this team if the Broncos don't find a way to shake this one off early and re-galvanize themselves in time to play some inspired football on the road next week vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers.
For the second-straight year, Fangio's Broncos open the season 0-1. But hey, at least fans know it won't take until the fourth week of the season for this team to notch its first sack. Silver lining.
Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.
