Drew Lock's Red-Zone INT in L.A. a 'Microcosm' of his Season According to Vic Fangio
The Denver Broncos lost their final road game of the season in Week 16’s divisional matchup at the Los Angeles Chargers. The 10th loss of the year ensured that the Broncos will finish with a worse record than last season and for the third time in the last four years, the team will finish with double-digit losses.
A contributing factor to Sunday's loss in L.A. was Drew Lock's first-quarter interception thrown in the red zone that took a sure-fire three points off the board. For the 11th-straight game, Lock had at least one turnover and after the Broncos' 19-16 loss, head coach Vic Fangio's frustration over his second-year QB's lack of ball security was palpable.
“Yeah, I mean that's from day one you talk to him about that, not just lately,” Fangio said on Sunday. “You can't throw red zone interceptions, especially one that there really wasn't much there or throw it sloppily out there. If you try and hammer one in there and the defense makes a great play that's one thing, but if you make a bad choice, that's another thing.”
On the play in question, Lock drifted to the left side only to make an off-platform sidearm throw that was intended for DaeSean Hamilton but was off-target, deflected, and intercepted by Casey Hayward.
Lock went 24-of-47 for 264 yards, two interceptions, and scored a rushing touchdown. His second interception came during a last-ditch effort to win the game on a Hail Mary pass as time expired that fell into the hands of Chargers' wideout-turned-emergency-DB Mike Williams in the ultimate prevent defense.
During Fangio's post-game virtual presser, 9NEWS' Mike Klis described the Broncos' lackluster performance as a ‘microcosm’ of Lock’s sophomore season, asking for the head coach's evaluation on Lock’s ability to make big plays while also making mistakes that cost the team.
“I'd say it's still the same, just like you said. You said it was a 'microcosm' of the season—I kind of agree with you,” Fangio said. “There's a lot of good, and there's some that's got to get cleaned up and disappear.”
Just last week, Lock said, "I’m the guy here", declaring his belief that he is Denver’s long-searched for franchise quarterback and yet, the turnovers and inconsistencies glaringly revealed themselves once again on Sunday. While Lock may feel he’s improving, his clichés about turnovers and improvement are wearing thin to fans and directly correlate to losing football.
The second-year signal-caller now has 17 career starts under his belt, with two exceptional performances against the Houston Texans (2019) and Carolina Panthers (2020).
Denver has lost four of its last five games and has a Week 17 matchup at home against the Las Vegas Raiders to close out the season. This will be Lock’s last chance to show signs of maturity, improvement, ball security — and above all else — consistency.
“I haven’t lost my enthusiasm for Drew at all,” Fangio said on Monday’s following the game. “I think he can be a good QB. He’s shown flashes of it.”
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