The Good, Bad, & Ugly from Broncos' 15-10 Loss to Bengals

In Sunday’s 15-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, the Denver Broncos' inability to muster much offensive firepower likely cost the team an opportunity to continue competing for a playoff spot. Despite the Broncos' defense containing the Bengals' potent offensive stars, the hopes of the fans were dashed by the team's continued struggles to score.

As the Broncos] playoff hopes fade into oblivion, the backs of the coaching staff and players are officially against the wall. The Orange and Blue will have to win every single game for the remainder of the season to even have a shot.

Even if the Broncos accomplish this improbable task, there's no guarantee it'll earn them a playoff spot. Denver relinquished control of its destiny in its Week 15 loss to Cincy.

The lesson learned for the Broncos organization? Don’t let winnable games throughout the season slip through your fingers. It'll come back to haunt you.

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Let's get to the postmortem. What did we learn from Sunday's loss? Here's the good, bad, and ugly.

The Good

The Secondary

Other than one poor pass that led to a Bengals' score, the back end of the Broncos' defense played lights out. Safety Justin Simmons and his crew held budding star quarterback Joe Burrow to 15-of-22 passing for 157 yards and one touchdown.

The Broncos' secondary didn’t stop at just locking down the quarterback as the talented unit held rookie wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase to one reception for three yards. Give head coach Vic Fangio credit for having an effective game plan that held the Bengals to just 15 points. It was another outing where the defense had to compensate for the offense's ineptitude.

Javonte Williams

The rookie running back refused to let one defender tackle him and continues to produce valuable yards after contact. Williams ran for 72 yards, averaging 4.8 yards per carry vs. the Bengals.

Williams is a power runner, a human road-grader, whose power is plowing through would-be defenders. Look for the Broncos to continue to split carries between Williams and Melvin Gordon. However, make no mistake, Williams is the team’s true RB1.

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The Bad

The Offense

Let’s start with a positive: the Broncos outperformed the Bengals in every major offensive statistic from time of possession (32:36 vs. 27:19), to total yards (292 vs. 249), to first downs (19 vs. 12). When it comes to the most important stat, however (points), the Bengals came out ahead.

The Broncos' inability to score points in the red zone is a key reason they'll be sitting at home during the playoffs. No phase of the offense stepped up enough to create opportunities to put points on the board.

Prior to his injury, quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was under intense pressure by the Bengals front seven and focused on completing short passes. In relief, backup Drew Lock was able to generate deeper completions, however, his lack of competent ball security contributed to Broncos losing this game.

The Broncos' offense has been the teams Achilles heel throughout the season.

The Ugly

Playing Not to Lose

The Broncos are a one-dimensional football team that relies too heavily on their defense. Sorry to say, Coach Fangio’s style is in direct contrast to the NFL’s new-fangled rules that make possible the proliferation of offense and scoring.

The passing game is why it's become the most-watched pro sport in America. Unfortunately, the Broncos aren’t a good passing offense.

Until the team creates points through the air, it won’t consistently win many football games. The next three games provide the perfect opportunity to test passing concepts that will serve the organization well in the future.

There are tough decisions looming for Broncos GM George Paton. With Sunday’s loss to the Bengals, it’s likely he will need to steer the organization in a new direction. Hopefully, it's towards a course that recognizes the mandate to score points.

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