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Broncos at Panthers Open Thread/Live Blog | Week 14

Log in and join the in-game discussion as we live-blog DENvsCAR. Missing two starters on the O-line, is this a game the Broncos can win?
Chad Jensen|
Broncos at Panthers Open Thread/Live Blog | Week 14
Broncos at Panthers Open Thread/Live Blog | Week 14

The Denver Broncos woke up Sunday morning in Charlotte, NC, to find that starting left tackle Garett Bolles was unwell. Indeed, Bolles came down with a sickness, was listed as questionable, and has since been ruled out according to reports. 

Not an ideal development considering that starting right guard Graham Glasgow had already been ruled out. The expectation was that Austin Schlottmann would start for Glasgow but no, it'll be Netane Muti — the sixth-round rookie. 

Really making the O-line all the more questionable is that the coaches got the bright idea to sit down the right tackle who hasn't allowed a sack all year — Demar Dotson. Yessir. Since Muti had been "working on the right side" with Elijah Wilkinson all week, it's Wilkinson — not Dotson — who'll start at right tackle. 

Wait, what? And to add to this slapdash decision, it'll be Calvin Anderson starting at left tackle. All I can say is, good luck, Drew. I can't wait to see what happens next. 

This will be the first missed start in Bolles' career since entering the league as the Broncos' first-round pick in 2017. Bolles had started 60-of-60 possible games up to this point. 

Meanwhile, we're going to be breaking this game down live and we want you to join us. We'll live-blog and discuss DENvsCAR here in our weekly Open Thread. Dive into the conversation — it's easy — by simply scrolling to the bottom of this page and click the orange 'JOIN NOW' button.

You can log in with Facebook or Google and either way, it's free. From there, sound off in the comment section and share your takes and observations with our staff, subscribers, and fellow members of the MHH community as we react to the game in real-time.

What to Watch For

OLB Bradley Chubb: Needs 2.5 sacks to reach double-digit sacks for the second time in his career.

RB Melvin Gordon: Needs 75 rushing yards to become the 12th active running back to rush for 5,000 yards in his career and 29 receiving yards to reach 2,000 receiving yards in his career.

RB Phillip Lindsay: Needs 61 scrimmage yards to become the 13th Broncos running back to reach 3,000 scrimmage yards for his career. 

CB Michael Ojemudia: Needs one forced fumble to become the ninth rookie cornerback to force three fumbles in a single season. 

S Justin Simmons: Needs one interception to become the second Bronco to record 16 picks during his first five seasons with the team (since the 1970 AFL/NFL merger). 

Inactives

First Quarter

Broncos receive. 

Gordon picks up nine yards on first down off the left side. 

Gordon moves the chains with a 3-yard gain to move the chains on second down. 

Lock completes the swing pass to Lindsay for a 3-yard gain. 

Gordon picks up three yards on second down. 

Panthers call timeout. 

On 3rd-&-4, Lock fires over the middle to Tim Patrick. Incomplete. Terrible throw. A hospital ball. Punt 

Sam Martin's punt goes 41 yards. Broncos penalized. Alijah Holder ineligible man downfield. Panthers will start on their own 21-yard line. 

Teddy Bridgewater swings it out to running back Mike Davis but Kareem Jackson sniffs it out. No gain. 

Davis stopped for 1-yard gain on second down. 

On 3rd-&-9, Bridgewater hits Rodney Smith but Duke Dawson and Josey Jewell stop him for 5-yard gain. Punt. 

Diontae Spencer takes the punt 83 yards to the house. Broncos score on special teams.

McManus misses the extra point. 

Broncos 6, Panthers 0

Trenton Cannon makes the error of returning the kickoff and only gets to the 14-yard line. 

Rodney Smith picks up three yards on first down. 

Bridgewater hits Robby Anderson for 13 yards, moving the chains. 

Anderson gets the reverse, gets to the edge and picks up 11 yards. 

Bridgewater scrambles for a 14-gain. Duke Dawson is down on the field. 

Dawson is being carted off the field. 

Cannon gets stuffed for a 2-yard loss by Michael Ojemudia and Jeremiah Attaochu. 

Attaochu, on the stunt, sacks Bridgewater. It's Attaochu's third sack of the year. 

On 3rd-&-20, Bridgewater hits Ian Thomas for an 8-yard gain. Matt Ruhle opts to punt instead of trying a 60-yard field goal. 

Spencer fair-catches the punt on the 9-yard line. 

Lindsay picks up a couple yards on first down. 

On a naked boot, Lock hits Nick Vannett under pressure. Moves the chains. 

Lock hits Lindsay for a 4-yard gain on first down. 

Gordon picks up five yards on the ground with some shifty moves. Brings up 3rd-&-1. 

Gordon swallowed up on 3rd-&-1 for a 1-yard loss. Tre Boston made a great play. Punt. 

Martin punts it out of bounds around the 30-yard line. 

Noah Fant exits for the locker room. Looks like his ankle could be flaring up. 

Anderson picks up two yards on first down. 

Mike Anderson gets six yards on second down. 

On 3rd-&-2, Bridgewater hits Brandon Zylstra on a short curl to move the chains. 

End of quarter. 

Broncos 6, Panthers 0

Second Quarter

Panthers open with a 1st-&-10 from their own 43-yard line. 

It sounds like Fant has an illness. 

Bridgewater sacked by DeMarcus Walker and Bradley Chubb for an 8-yard loss. Credit goes to Walker. 

Broncos moving the ball. Lock hits DaeSean Hamilton for a 12-yard gain. 

Lock throwing to Gordon and Linday on the checkdown. 

Lock hits Troy Fumagalli on the checkdown for a 6-yard gain. 

On 2nd-&-9 from the Panthers' 32-yard line, Jeremy Chinn gets home on the blitz, sacking Lock and forcing the ball out. Efa Obada scoops it up and returns it 54 yards but is tackled by Jerry Jeudy on the Broncos' 3-yard line. 

Great hustle by Jeudy. 

Two plays later, Panthers punch it in with a Mike Davis touchdown. Extra point is good. Panthers take the lead. 

Panthers 7, Broncos 6

Lock hits Vannett for a 3-yard gain. 

Lindsay picks up four yards up the gut on second down. 

On 3rd-&-4, Lock hits Fumagalli for a 5-yard gain to move the chains. 

Lock connects with Patrick for a 2-yard gain. 

On third down, Lock fires incomplete over Jeudy's head but is buried by Brian Burns. Burns flagged for roughing the passer, giving Broncos 15 yards and a new set of downs. 

On 1st-&-10, Lock hits Jeudy for a 31-yard gain, throwing off his back foot. 

Gordon moves the chains on 3rd-&-6 with a 9-yard gain. 

On 1st-&-Goal, Lock hits Vannett for the touchdown. Extra point is good this time. 

Broncos 13, Panthers 7

De'Vante Bausby drops a sure-fire interception. 

Will Parks sacks Bridgewater for a 16-yard loss. 

On 3rd-&-26, Davis gets the give and picks up nine yards. 

End of half. 

Broncos 13, Panthers 7

Third Quarter

Bridgewater and Panthers go three-and-out. Punt.

Lock hits Jeudy for an 11-yard gain. 

On 1st-&-10, Gordon picks up 15 yards on the ground. 

Two plays later, Lock goes deep for KJ Hamler for a 37-yard touchdown. McManus misses the extra point. 

Broncos 19, Panthers 7

On 3rd-&-3, Bridgewater hits Anderson, who makes a nice move to pick up 21 yards. 

Curtis Samuel picks up 12 yards on the give. 

Panthers stall on third down as Brigewater targets Anderson in the end zone. Ojemudia helps force the incompletion. 

Joey Slye connects on the 35-yard field goal. 

Broncos 19, Panthers 10

Lock connects with Patrick for a 31-yard gain. 

Lloyd Cushenberry and Lock put the ball on the ground with a bad snap. Lock recovers but gets crushed. 

Lock hits Fumagalli on a well-designed and executed screen, who rumbles 31 yards for the touchdown. Play is under review. It appears Fumagalli's knee was down at the 2-yard line. 

The call is reversed. The Broncos get a 1st-&-Goal from the 2-yard line. 

Lock hits Patrick for the Broncos touchdown. A nice play-fake to Lindsay. 

The Panthers jumped offsides on the scoring play, which Vic Fangio accepted on the ensuing extra-point try. Fangio is going for two points from the 1-yard line. 

The two-point try is no good. Lock had to scramble right, thrown to Vannett in the end zone. 

Broncos 25, Panthers 10

Fourth Quarter

Bridgewater answers, leading the Panthers on a nine-play, 75-yard scoring drive, culminating by a QB sneak rushing touchdown. Extra point is good. 

Broncos 25, Panthers 17

Gordon picks up 11 and five yards on back-to-back runs. On 2nd-&-5, Lock picks up four yards on a scramble. 

On 3rd-&-1, Denver calls timeout. 

The give is to Lindsay but he's stuffed for no gain. Punt. 

The ball returned to the Panthers' 18-yard line. 

Bridgewater is driving. Big-time completions to Anderson and Samuel. 

On 3rd-&-12 from the Broncos' 12-yard line, Bridgewater fires complete to Anderson who's tackled short of the sticks. Russell Okung flagged for holding. Broncos decline. 

Slye enters and connects on a chip-shot field goal. 

Broncos 25, Panthers 20

Kickoff is a touchback. 

Loss picks up six yards on a QB keeper on first down. 

Lock dumps off the screen to Gordon and with two blockers out in front, he picks up 20 yards and crosses midfield. 

Lock goes deep for Hamler and connected for the 49-yard touchdown. Extra point is good. 

Broncos 32, Panthers 20

Bridgewater leads Panthers on another 75-yard drive on just four plays, culminating in a Mike Davis rushing touchdown. It took :28 seconds off the clock. 

Broncos 32, Panthers 20

Panthers execute a phenomenal kickoff, faking an onsides and booting it deep only to have the ball stop on the 2-yard line, forcing Spencer to scoop it up and return it to the Broncos' 7-yard line. 

Lindsay is stuffed for no gain on first down. 

Lindsay loses four yards on second down in an ugly play that collides with his blockers behind the line of scrimmage. 

Broncos go three-and-out after Lock's third-down pass hits Cushenberry's helmet, pops up in the air and is caught by Gordon in the end zone, who returns it out for a 1-yard gain. Punt. 

Martin's punt goes 58 yards and Pharoh Cooper returns it 13 yards to the 50-yard line. A Panthers penalty backs Bridgewater up to his own 40-yard line. 

Down five points with 2:48 to go and no timeouts, let's see if Carolina can drive the field. 

Dre'Mont Jones cleans up Chubb's hit on Bridgewater with the sack. 

Bridgewater connects with Cooper for an 8-yard gain. 

On 3rd-&-8, Bridgewater throws incomplete as Jewell hits him hard. 

Two-minute warning. 

Panthers have a 4th-&-8. 

Bridgewater hits Samuel but Bausby tackles him for a short gain. Broncos take over on downs. 

Ball game. 

Broncos win 32-25. 

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Chad Jensen
CHAD JENSEN

Chad Jensen is the Publisher of Denver Broncos On SI, the Founder of Mile High Huddle, and creator of the popular Mile High Huddle Podcast. Chad has been on the Denver Broncos beat since 2012 and is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America.

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