Fangio Defends Broncos' Conservative Offensive Play-Calling vs. Chargers

Drew Lock made the first start of his NFL career on Sunday, as the Denver Broncos defeated the Division-rival Los Angeles Chargers 23-20. As a rookie second-round quarterback just three weeks removed from being activated to practice while on injured reserve, the Broncos coaches understandably didn't want to put too much on his plate.

However, despite some early-game jitters, Lock made it evident by the time the first quarter was wrapped that many of those concerns were unfounded. In the first quarter alone, Lock was clearly in a rhythm, tossing two touchdown strikes to Courtland Sutton and leading the Broncos to a 14-0 lead.

That's when OC Rich Scangarello appeared to first pump the brakes. Starting in the second quarter, the Broncos began to go conservative in their play-calling, as evidenced by Scangarello's decision to call three consecutive runs after the Broncos recovered a muffed punt deep in Chargers' territory, resulting in having to settle for a field goal.

Remember, this back-to-back-to-back sequence of runs came on the heels of Lock lighting up the scoreboard with that right arm of his. Denver would go into the half with a 17-10 lead.

Lock went 12-of-19 for 123 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, with a QB rating of 116.8. The plays Scangarello scripted in the first quarter worked well and got Lock into a groove, which made the ensuing play selection coming out of the half all the more head-scratching. We'll get to how the second half unfolded but for those who question the Broncos' conservative approach, head coach Vic Fangio would take umbrage.

“I think the opening up thing and the so-called conservative label that I think some of you asked me after the game, you know, we had a third-and-1 and a third-and-2 that we thought the best way to go about it was running it," Fangio said on Monday. "When you don’t make those, that is immediately what you start thinking. Whereas if you make those or at least one of them, now you can open it up.”

The Broncos continued their season-long tradition, becoming the epitome of predictable in the second half. Nursing that seven-point lead, Scangarello and Fangio battened down the hatches, calling a conservative, run-first game that saw the third quarter end without the Broncos scoring.

"You establish some runs and you get a little play-pass in there," Fangio said. "I don’t think we were conservative to the point of protecting him, you know what I’m saying?"

Fangio might not believe the Broncos were calling a conservative game-plan simply for the sake of protecting Lock. But it was conservative, regardless of what the motivations were. It was a classic case of coaching not to lose.

Taking the foot off the gas allowed Philip Rivers and the Chargers to eventually battle back and tie the game up in the fourth quarter. When a team becomes as predictable as the Broncos did in the second half (first down, run, second down, run, third down (and long), pass), the opponent can sell out to stop it. That's exactly what the Chargers did, picking up quickly on Scangarello's penchant for calling running plays on first and second down, which of course, led to unfavorable third-and-long situations for Lock when the Broncos were forced to throw.

Only thrice in the second half did Scangarello mix it up on first down. The first was a passing play that came on Denver's first offensive play of the third quarter, which resulted in Lock scrambling for a two-yard gain. The second was a play-action screen pass to RB Phillip Lindsay that was stopped for a five-yard loss.

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The third first-down play in which Scangarello did not call a run came with just nine ticks left on the clock at the bottom of the fourth quarter. Lock dropped back and uncorked a pass deep down the right sideline to Sutton that drew a pass interference penalty on Casey Hayward and set up Brandon McManus' 53-yard walk-off field goal on the ensuing play.

Unfortunately, Fangio and Scangarello's penchant of coaching not to lose was nothing new in Week 13. There's a reason the Broncos went five games without scoring in the fourth quarter. Denver was able to put six points on the board in the fourth quarter in Week 13's victory, but it can be argued the scoring came in spite of, not because of the coaching.

At some point, Fangio and Scangarello have to recognize that the way they've been calling the second half of games isn't working. It comes down to a mindset.

The best coaches in the NFL, on both sides of the ball, are fearless play-callers who trust their players and scheme and don't take their foot off the gas because their team got out to a lead. If anything, you'd think that after seeing four fourth-quarter leads get squandered early in the season, Fangio and company would recognize how quickly a deficit can shift in the NFL, which is why coaches have to keep stacking wood on the fire.

On one hand, I can understand that the Broncos coaches wanted to protect an inexperienced rookie QB who'd gotten out to an unlikely lead. Lock's third-quarter interception likely didn't help encourage Fangio and Scangarello to open things up.

That's all understandable but it doesn't make it any more excusable. The dichotomy of Fangio is that he's shown the aggressiveness of a riverboat gambler at times, as evidenced by his decision not to kneel on it with nine seconds left and instead take a shot to Sutton to see if the Broncos could draw a PI flag. The rolling of the dice worked!

At others, Fangio has been stubbornly conservative or has at least allowed his offensive coordinator to be so. Maybe Scangarello fears for his job and is thus coaching not to lose. Whatever the rationale is, it's no way to approach the NFL game as a coach.

"They’re a good defense, too, and they played better than we did," Fangio said of the Chargers by way of explanation for the Broncos' offensive stagnancy in the second half.

Lock didn't blow the doors down in his debut but after the first quarter, he wasn't allowed to even try. He only totaled an additional 11 yards passing in the second half, for crying out loud. He finished with 134 yards passing and wasn't sacked once. In fact, the Chargers weren't even credited with a single QB hit in the game, so it's not like the Broncos coaches could point to the offensive line this time as an excuse to batten down the hatches.

"Our offensive line did an awesome job, they helped me get into a groove," Lock said post-game.

If nothing else, Lock's first-quarter performance in his debut should encourage Scangarello and Fangio and give them the confidence to be more aggressive and inspired as games wear on, especially when protecting a lead. It should be considered a Cardinal coaching sin to call a game that takes a young QB out of rhythm as a passer.

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.

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