Vic Fangio States the Obvious: 'We Have to be Able to Score More Points'
The Denver Broncos season of Jekyll and Hyde style of football continued on Sunday night with a frustrating 22-9 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on national television. The loss saw the Broncos' defense hold Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs' explosive offense to one touchdown drive.
But that one seven-point drive was all it took to stave off the Broncos' meager offense and drop the club down to .500 once again. It was frustrating to watch the Broncos get beaten by their own mistakes for what seems like the hundredth time over the past five seasons.
A muffed punt and a tipped pass that was picked off led to nine second-half points for the Chiefs. Some questionable coaching decisions and situational play-calling cost the Broncos points themselves following a 20-play, 88-yard drive that took over 11 minutes off the clock in the second quarter.
Sounds about right, doesn't it?
Once again, a solid defensive performance in Kansas City was let down by mistakes in the other two phases of the game. The Broncos have to play better as a whole.
Following the game, head coach Vic Fangio initially didn't want to single out the offense as the culprits for the loss.
“I don’t want to paint that narrative that we played well enough to win (on the defensive side of the football)," Fangio said. "We didn’t win. We have to get more takeaways. We gave up the score there early in the game. We got to play better in all three phases.”
The simple fact of the matter is this; Denver's defense did play well enough to win. Helped by a severe case of the dropsies by the Chiefs receiving corps, Denver's defense held Mahomes to his worst game as a professional.
The Broncos made several key stops, including forcing a massive three-and-out following Teddy Bridgewater's first interception of the night as well as holding the Chiefs out of the end zone following the muffed punt that set them up in the red area.
The Broncos' offense just couldn't put many points on the board to reciprocate the defense's effort. Finally, Fangio addressed the elephant in the room.
"We have to be able to score more points, no matter who you are playing, especially the Chiefs at home," Fangio said. "The three turnovers and we were only able to get one. It is going to be hard to do that. You are not going to beat many teams, especially the Chiefs scoring nine points and turning it over three times.”
Despite the loss, Denver is still in the playoff chase in a crowded AFC. Sitting at .500 this late in the season is uncharted territory for the Broncos of late, but they still have a legitimate shot to taste the glory of the postseason.
So what's the message moving forward?
"We just have to rebound and start this last five games playing Detroit this Sunday and get back on track," Fangio said. "We are still in the hunt and we can take care of business.”
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