Six big concerns coming out of Broncos' preseason Game 2

The Denver Broncos went to Seattle, losing 22-14 in the team's second preseason game. The Broncos got owned, for lack of a better term, by the team's former first-round pick, Paxton Lynch.

It was a game that saw a lot of areas of the team struggle and there were some concerning aspects that stood out. Here are six that really have concerned me.

Penalties: Denver got flagged a lot during the game against Seattle (16 times to be exact). Thankfully, it's the preseason, but the Broncos have gotten too many in two games so far.

The team has time to work it out. Vic Fangio says it is a result of not using good technique. That is partially true, especially the holding calls.

These players can do better, and they need to do better. Cutting back on the penalties should be a focus from here on out.

O-line depth: There's no getting around it; the depth on the Broncos' offensive line is poor, and I have said that many times over the last few months. This game the big boys up front really showed how poor they are.

Not everyone was bad, but as a group, they barely gave the quarterback much time to throw. There was also a big issue of not getting a push in the running game.

Denver took a step to address it by signing OT Adam Bisnowaty, but he has played one game and bounced around the NFL. The truth is, though, the tackles were not the biggest issue for the Broncos' OL depth.

Injuries: You don’t want to come out of a preseason game with any kind of injury, and it is worse when there are two serious ones. Alas, that's what happened with Denver.

The Broncos came out of Seattle with TE Austin Fort lost for the year, and FB Andy Janovich out for 6-8 weeks. That is a concern, especially after the Broncos emerged with two serious injuries after their first game, too.

Injuries can happen at any point, but four players lost with serious injuries, two done for the year, in two games, is not good.

Secondary depth: Denver has good second-stringers in their secondary, which is all that matters when it comes to the 53-man roster. Let's be clear on that.

So this is a concern to monitor over the final three preseason games to come. The third and fourth secondary units are just not good.

Cornerbacks Trey Johnson and Linden Stephens don’t look like they belong out there. Safeties Jamal Carter and Shamarko Thomas have been playing their way off the 90-man roster. There are a couple DBs that have stood out in a good way, but like the offensive line, as a unit, it is concerning.

Play-calling: There were multiple times that the play-calling for the Broncos got stale, but it really stood out in the red zone after a 50-yard Royce Freeman run.

The Broncos went with the predictable attack — a run/run/pass sequence — only to walk away with a field goal. This is a coaching staff that has talked about being more aggressive, and we just didn’t see that.

It wasn’t there in that sequence of plays, or at other points in the game, regardless of which QB was in. Another situation that stood out was the end of the first half with 35 seconds left and the Broncos took a knee.

I understand being worried about injuries, but in terms of having an aggressive mindset, the Broncos got passive. Drew Lock has a live arm, so take a shot deep once in a while.

Tell the rookie gunslinger to go get 'em in scoring range and see what he can do. It was a good time to test the young quarterback, and Rich Scangarello chose not to.

Special teams: Is it going to be another year with bad special teams play? So far, it looks like that is going to be the case.

Colby Wadman has the love of the special teams coach, but he had a horrible game punting against Seattle. The coverage units were really bad, and there is still no one that stands out as a returner. Denver has three games to figure it all out.

Follow Erick on Twitter @ErickTrickel.

Add us as a preferred source on Google